Alexandra Kerry Makes an Impression at Cannes

As reported just about everywhere, filmmaker and presidential candidate's daughter Alexandra Kerry enjoyed a succès de scandale, resulting from her choice of clothing, when she ran the mandatory press gauntlet on the Croisette at the Festival de Cannes. The flashbulbs of photographers' cameras made the black fabric of her already revealing gown semi-transparent. The flattering photo from Agence France-Presse is shown in a hilarious article (La fille de John Kerry met en émoi la presse américaine [John Kerry's daughter puts the American press in a titter], May 18) in Le Figaro. What makes me laugh about the French take on this event is that Ms. Kerry's self-exposition is not the story. The Puritanical reaction of the American press is (my translation):

American newspapers partially censored a photo showing the daughter of the American Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in a very transparent gown, revealing her breasts at the Cannes Festival. Alexandra Kerry, 30 years old, had arrived Sunday, on the Croisette's red carpet, dressed in a long gown, baring her right shoulder and covering her left shoulder in an ample sleeve. A large bow held together a slit at the top of her right thigh. Under the effect of photographers' flashbulbs, her gown became transparent, revealing that Alexandra Kerry was not wearing a bra.

The Washington Post decided to publish the photo, in spite of everything, but with a censor's band over her chest. Not wearing a bra "is no big deal on the French Riviera," the newspaper proclaimed. The New York Post, as early as Monday, had published the photo with the caption "Kerry daughter is in top form." The Boston Herald settled for publishing the young woman's photo, but only from the neck up. "She seems to be doing her best Janet Jackson imitation," joked Robi Blute, a local Boston celebrity interviewed by the newspaper. (The singer Janet Jackson had scandalized America by uncovering her right breast in an impromptu way on television, in the middle of the American football championship in February.)

Here are the links for two of the American articles (you have to pay to get the New York Post's Web site):

· Alexandra Kerry's 1/125 Second in the Spotlight, in the Washington Post's Reliable Source (with the doctored photo described in Le Figaro)

· Andrew Miga, ...And lots more of Kerry’s daughter, May 18, in the Boston Herald (they used an older photo, not from Cannes at all)