Middle-aged mom goes to the beach with her son, gives him a hug and a kiss. Major news?
Maybe if you look like Stephanie Seymour. The former Victoria’s Secret model was photographed on the beach with her son, 18-year-old Peter Brant, II. She gave him a kiss as they walked up the beach – and the paparazzi were there to capture the tender mother-son moment.
Cue blogosphere tizzy.
“Perhaps it was purely innocent, but there's still a certain "Eww" factor,” sniped PopEater.
“How close is too close between mother and son?” Gawker asked.
“Might there be something of an Oedipus complex?” the New York Daily News diagnosed.
Finally the 18-year-old decided to play the voice of reason, and responded to Gawker:
I would just like to say that these pictures have been taken completely out of context, my mother and i are very close as she is with all her children. she often hugs and kisses me and my siblings in an manner that is intimate, any mother in the world does the same. that day on the beach we walked around with each other completely aware of the presence of photographers there. We have nothing to hide and with that in mind I would like to say that I am openly gay. At my age my mother and I are almost like friends and I feel open to talk to her about anything (and yes our relationship may be different because of my sexuality).
Not sure what his being gay has to do with all this, but the kid’s got a point. No matter how hot she is, she’s his mom – to her, he’ll always be a little boy. Most mothers of teen-aged boys would love to have their kids merely acknowledge their existence on the beach – much less give them a hug and a kiss. Great, now we have another reason to envy Stephanie Seymour!
What do you think? Does your teenager give you hugs and kisses (or allow you to do so)? Do you think the moment captured in the Stephanie Seymour photo is weird, or normal?