Here is something wonderful. The November 1997 issue of FHM (British edition), which I just found lurking (and well-preserved) in a box in my garage. I guess I kept it thanks to a teenage obsession with Tomb Raider model Rhona Mitra (who appears on the cover), but I’m glad I kept it thanks to a load of other reasons.
It’s easy to look in any old magazine and find something to laugh at, in that hollow “oh, haven’t we progressed” kind of way, but given the tone and the timing of this magazine I found a few things that were especially of note.
Firstly, the games coverage. Given the magazine’s market the “reviews” section should be terrible, and in most ways is, but I adore that headline. I would also like to see more game writers try and get away with using the verb “twatted”.
Next, this advertisement for PlayStation Plus magazine. Remember, not everything about the good old days is worth remembering fondly.
Now, note the incredibly out-of-place (and two-page!) advertisement for Magic cards. I imagine the readership of FHM in 1997 and the market for Magic Cards in 1997 did not make for a cozy venn diagram.
I dunno. Maybe?
Or maybe this one is? After all, this one’s main selling point is that it can store a bunch of sexy phone numbers in it…
I will never complain about the keyboard on my laptop ever again.
Ah, and now we come to the real reason I’m glad I kept this. You may know Jason Statham was a male model before he was an action movie star. You may not know that, before he was a classy male model, he was a “lad” model. One so laddish he could appear in the same magazine not once, but twice.
Yup.
For reference, here’s the full cover. Like the mag itself, it’s an intoxicating mix of utterly inappropriate garbage and wonderful wordplay.
Comments
7 responses to “Lara Croft And Jason Statham Were Both Models In A 1997 Men’s Mag”
Seems pretty appropriate for it’s target audience to me.
Hold the damm phone! That laptop comes with Lotus installed! Sign me up for three!
I don’t understand the tone of this article. Obviously, it derides men’s magazines for whatever reason. (I find them strange and uncomfortable TBH) But what exactly is the rule here on insults? I mean, it seems like Kotaku writers are able to insult those whose values they do not share, however… These insults are consistently found in articles calling for others to respect their values more. I think men’s magazine’s are in pretty bad taste but if we are to champion a woman’s right to proudly display and express her sexuality without labelling her – and i believe we should – why are we deriding the very idea that women are attractive to straight men, going as far is to call this “garbage” when the writer in question rarely shows themselves incapable of stringing even a few paragraphs together? Is equality or the rejection of gender norms a license for hypocrisy? Is it enough just to choose a side and support every single idea that comes from its general direction, going so far as to ridicule those who don’t share your values? Doesn’t it just become pandering?
My partner rejects gender norms of all kinds but we feel as if it isn’t in the best interest of the issue to use propaganda techniques or to demonize the faceless, intolerant other/outsider to get our point across. Aren’t you just as guilty if you promote blind objection without proper scrutiny? (even if you do believe you’re right) Far more effective the other way.
Stu Pickles was a hero.
2007 or 1997?
Fixed.
Ahhh, yes. Lads mags from the late 90s.
It’s bringing back some memories. 😀