Art or pornography? Anna Nicole or Dr. Laura?

"What made us care about Anna Nicole?
Combination of dysfunction and beauty made her perfect pop culture icon.

AP Updated: 11:53 a.m. PT Feb 9, 2007

Scant hours after news emerged of her death Thursday at age 39, many people were hard pressed to describe what exactly Anna Nicole Smith was. Actress? Model? Reality star? Rich widow? “I don’t know exactly what she did,” said talk show host Joy Behar, hearing the news over the phone. And yet, trying to put her finger on why we watched this strange woman over the years, she came up with two things: Dysfunction. And beauty."

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In memory of Anna Nicole Smith, Playboy magazine:
"Anna Nicole appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine four times: March 1992, June 1993, February 1994 and February 2001. In her 1992 Playmate profile, we wrote, "As earthy and wide open as the North Texas spaces she hails from, she tells the truth no matter how uncool it may sound. 'The people in [Texas] won't believe it when these pictures of me hit the newsstands, because I was considered a goody-two-shoes nerd back in high school.'"

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Dr. Laura? The photos by her elderly shack up hardly compare to Anna Nicole's body of work. I found Dr.Laura shallow when I heard her comment about the media attention paid to Anna Nicole. I did agree that it is too much. What is it about Anna Nicole? For myself, I would mostly pass on the news about her, I don't like reality tv. Her modeling, notably Guess, was art. In life her son, Daniel, was an impressive young man and their relationship endearing. Dr. Laura is on a "I'm all about kids" kick now, somehow she missed the children in this story. What did happen to Daniel? They also have in common estrangement from a parent, and Dr. Laura continues to advise others, in brief calls, to do same. What 2 minute advise would Dr. Laura give Vicki Lynn (Anna Nicole)? The Anna Nicole persona was bigger than life, but how much is she like anyone who struggles with addiction? She's not the only parent who is addicted to medications. And now a motherless child and all the uncertainty surrounding 5 month old Dannielyn...