I thought Salon was supposed to be different from mainstream media. But this interview was just one big advert for a commercial pop star.

Just because she swore a little, and the word 'punk' was introduced doesn't mean this young woman is any more cutting edge or meaningful than any other sexy hottie on stage.

So she keeps her panties on and doesn't do the red carpet bullshit all year. So what. It takes more than a former grunge kid, who musically still acts and looks like a bratty girl singing about boys, but who offstage is a married woman who has joined the style make over set replete with blonde straight hair and designer femininity, to cut it as a sound role model for our teens.

is a flaming moron. In 10 years she will look back at these interviews and be mortified.

Uh, ok, whatever, as we say. I didn't think she came off as stupid and have a difficult time seeing what exactly she said that she will be mortified about ten years from now. If anything, she seems pretty well grounded and happy. I guess the cool cynical approach dictates distain and mockery. I have a feeling the only person who will be looking back in mortification ten years from now is you.

"Now I know who I am and I understand life."

Who would have thought: 22 is the new 75.

And I still think this kid is better than the average teen pre-packaged pop star. But I'm not reading her for life advice, since I'm old enough to be her dad.

I hope she socks away enough money and keeps her head so we're not reading about her in the tabloids or watching her on some "washed up" VH1 special in a few years.

So...Barbie Doll #3247 has been upgraded to perform interviews. Big freakin' deal. What is it with Salon lately? It is not your damn job to promote and sell pre-packaged, manufactured "pop stars." Avril Lavigne is not a musician, and she sure as hell isn't punk. She is a consumer product.

What's next? An interview with a 2-liter bottle of Pepsi? A shiny hubcap? A Subway sandwich?

Salon owes its readers and the general public better than this manufactured corporate drivel. This is nothing more than glorified advertising. Perhaps this is the new phase of the daily site pass - read a commercial before moving on to the real website.

I try not to be so hard, since I've always been a Salon fan. You should not be in the business of hyping consumer goods...er, excuse me, "pop stars."

This is the reason this is the worst decade in the history of popular music. Everything has become a manufactured, fake, plastic product. Everything is exactly the same, every Ken and Barbie doll is exactly the same, and all the, ahem, "songs" sound exactly the same. We're dealing with interchangable parts, folks. You can plug one part out and replace it with another without missing a beat.

Why is Barbie Doll #3247 - otherwise known by the informal title, "Avril Lavigne" - given a credible interview on her latest pre-packaged CD? What's the point? Why don't you interview Pac-Man next? It would be the same thing. She has no influence upon what she does. It's all created and built from the top. We all know this. This little Barbie clone is no more punk rock or riot grrl than a pair of shoes. Let's hope and pray your next interview isn't with the pair of shoes.

You know what would be really great? Interviewing some actual, real-life musicians. You know, the ones who play musicial instruments an' stuff. The ones who actually write their own songs, and create all the melodies and words. You know, words, an' like, uh, stuff.

But, then, you probably won't be hanging out with the Beautiful People. It's much more important to be seen with Ken and Barbie, because, uh, like, being good-looking and popular is, like, the most important thing in the world. An' stuff.

What the heck has Ani Difranco been doing lately? Go send a reporter out to find out. Oh, and while you're at it, ask her if she'll marry me. Make yourselves useful for a change.

I am a 36-year-old married father who loves Avril Lavigne's music. She is an extremely talented artist and a seemigly good person.

She sounds like your average 22-year-old girl/woman. She sure doesn't sound like your average 22-year-old millionaire. She is much more grounded than that. She recognizes her fame. She understands and appreciates the impact her art and fame has on people's lives. The interviewer opened the door for her to tear Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan to shreds, but Avril took the high road and didn't walk through it.

The interviewer also opened the door to the mature Salon readers to tear apart the young pop star, and I see most people walked through it. What a bunch of uptight, self righteous, windbags.

Exactly what about the link to this article made you people feel it was going to be some politically insightful piece? Nothing, that's what. You just couldn't wait to read the article, and by the time you were done with it, you were jealous of her artistry, wealth, and fame; and decided to write a nasty comment because you aren't as mature as her. Although you are unable to recognize it yourself, your hypocrisy is amusing. Tearing Salon and Avril apart, but jumping all over the article like a kid in a candy store.

Keep up the good work, Avril. Personally, professionally and artisticly.

Artists, etc. who have to repeatedly proclaim how much they don't care about what others think of them are usually whistling past the graveyard. The few people I've known who really and truly did not care what anyone thought of them never had to voice that point....and they were usually kind of scary, too.

How dare you include pieces that might get young people attracted to your progressively political website! What are you trying to do, get young people involved in progressive political dialogue? Don't you know your site is geared toward middle-aged intellectual yuppy hippies who need you to confirm their pre-determined beliefs?

For those who don't know what a yuppy hippy is, it is someone who cannot wait to read an article about Avril Lavigne, but hates themselves for it. Kind of like Tedd Haggard being an ultra conservative gay man.