One of the American Idolers is on the current cover of Rolling Stone, staring up at us from an old cot covered in laundry (or burlap?) while a snake and a butterfly brooch fight over his lower half.
Clearly, it is an image rife with symbolism. But what do the rubber snake and the butterfly brooch represent? Here's a short list:
—Homosexuality (snake) and Mariah Carey (butterfly)
—Nature, and how it crawls up your leg
—Brooches, and how they land on your leg
—Wildness (snake), like Wet Seal wildness (butterfly)
—It's a visual representation of the ole phrase: "Stuck between a snake and a butterfly."
—The art director's lack of imagination
—Phallus (snake) and Claire's Boutique (butterfly)
—It's a visual representation of the ancient proverb, "If a butterfly flaps its wings in China, a rubber snake is placed on the leg of an American Idol contestant during a Rolling Stone cover shoot."
—Freedom (butterfly) and the Novelties Industry (snake)
While this cover proves that there are other ways to come out via magazine cover besides the usual "[Affirmative], I'm Gay," it also proves that 30 Rock (as always) is right: At photo shoots, don't use the props. "They always try to get you to take one 'funny' photo, and that's always the one they end up using."