Hey, Did You Know That Zac Efron Is Virile?

(We support the use of condoms 100%. So let this not be taken as a critique of Zac Efron's safe-sex practices.) That being said, if a condom falls out of a young heathrob's pocket and it happens to land on the red carpet of the animated children's film that he stars in, does anyone care?

Unfortunately, yes.

This isn't quite as notable or deliciously blond as the time an .8-gram baggie of cocaine floated out of Paris Hilton's purse, and she claimed she thought it was gum. (Because, you know, gum and cocaine are often the same consistency and are both contained in unmarked plastic bags instead of packaged in colorfully branded tins or foils or wrappers or anything...) But it should be noted that Zac Efron "accidentally" dropped a condom that he "forgot" was in his pocket at the premiere of The Lorax a week ago. And I think it's weird and kind of stinks.

Why is this newsworthy? It's not, really. We even blogged about it last week. But I just watched this interview with Matt Lauer (below) on the Today Show, where he creepily wants to talk about it--"it" being the condom that dare not speak its name--but doesn't know how to bring it up.

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The Matt Lauer video bothered us because it so clearly illustrates how garrulously we interpret celebrity minutiae and how transparently celebrities play right back into it, even on the red carpet, when they know they're under watch.

Slate made an excellent video recap of the absurd backlash following Angelina Jolie's deliberate Oscars leg flash (below), of which entire think pieces and TV segments, featuring expert women's advocates, blowhard cable television hosts, and, naturally, Tracey Gold, were conjured over the past week.

While that may not have been the starlet's desired effect, Efron uses the red carpet (assuming it was not an accident, but a plant) in a much more self-serving, calculated way, to exhibit his seemingly healthy sex life. Ultimately, no one can criticize him for bringing something so indisputably responsible, however R-rated, to the awareness of children. But can we at least encourage people like Lauer to not beat around the bush (no pun intended) if they're so clearly interested in indulging these idiotic tidbits. How about this: If you want to ask Zac Efron if he's having sex, and with whom, just do so. Don't be all, You dropped something on the red carpet the other day. What was that something? You know, that something that starts with a "C" and rhymes with "-ondom," ha ha ha, just kidding, but really. The thing you dropped...

(p.s. We didn't really understand how the condom could've just fallen out of Efron's pocket, even after watching the video, so we just started weirdly Googling and Getty Image-searching photos of Efron from the premiere, like the one above. Notice how he is posed, with that right hand on the trigger. Here's a treasure trove of images just like it. Here's another one. The guys is serial pocket-diver.)

Photo: Getty Images