More Active Posts
Front Page
Miley’s (massive) mistake
 |
 65 Comments |
Disney “good girl” Miley Cyrus took a tumble this week as word spread about her semi-nude, provocative photo shoot with Vanity Fair. The 15-year-old has apologized to fans, saying that she “took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed.” But as Newsweek’s Jac Chebatoris points out, how naive could Miley and her handlers be to not realize what a stir such photos would create?
If Miley were just some neophyte who hadn’t already appeared on “Oprah” and the “Barbara Walters 2008 Oscar Special” as well as in countless other magazine shoots, one might entertain the thought that she’d somehow been “manipulated” during the shoot, as a Disney spokesperson is claiming. But her parents attended and monitored the shoot. And Miley herself is by now well steeped in the maneuverings of celebrity. Witting or unwitting, she should have known better. And she plainly did not see the backlash coming until too late.
Chebatoris says the ironic thing “is that Miley was supposed to be the last great hope. With Britney and Lindsay making the rounds of rehab and back again, Miley was the shimmering example of how to keep it together.” And now this.
Thoughts?
 |
Topic: Featured, WorldMagBlog |  |
Email a friend |
 |
Keywords: |  |
RSS 2.0 |
 |
Both comments and pings are currently closed. |  |
Share this: |
Reporters? choice
I was looking for this horrible photograph to see what the fuss was about.
I know nothing about this girl, but to me it’s a positive statement to know that she could be embarrassed about this photograph with her holding a sheet with her back showing (If that’s, indeed, the one) .
A lecherous guy looking for excitement could do better at the mall.
Her parents dropped the ball & allowed their daughter to be exploited.
I”m with Chas.I’m not saying the photo is edifying. But it show some character that something this mild embarassed her.
What on earth were her parents thinking. Artistic, my foot. A 15 year old child. Vanity Fair should be prosecuted for Child Porn.
Joe: A bare back is not porn under any definition. I thought the pictures were questionable for a girl her age, but they are not even close to being “porn.”
So let’s not go overboard.
Actually, I agree with JoeB. This borders on child pornography. It isn’t just the bare back, it’s also the expression on the girl’s face. It is suggestive, and not suggestive of anything good. She looks very much like a sexed up young child in this photo.
How did Annie Liebowitz ever say to a 15 year old girl “take off your clothes” for this? The kid is still a kid, but the others were adults, and how anyone thought a picture like this would not affect this kid’s “image” is beyond me. These people and Vanity Fair are clearly selling child sex.
I hope this kid is sufficiently embarrassed that she’s learned never to follow the advice of an adult to take her clothes off for a picture again.
When are these girls going to realize they are looked up to by little girls. Twenty somethhings aren’t interested in Miley Cyrus. 10 year olds are.
My opinion on the matter is that the photo is not all that inherently scandalous, but for the fact that Miley is 15 — too young for that sort of picture. Besides, has anyone else noticed that she looks sort of weird and sickly in the picture?
The responsible party here, IMHO, is her parents, who allowed the photoshoot to take place.
I am so thoroughly sick of hearing about Miley Cyrus this and Hannah Montana that. I wish it would all go away. Very un-Christian, I know.
Not only did the parents allow the shoot, but Mr Cyrus posed with Miley in at least one shot. I agree the photo in question does not show any more than some beach wear, but for the parents of a 15 year old to allow it to happen at the family home is questionable.
She’s 15 and as a 15-year-old she is expected to do dumb things sometimes. Why her parents/handlers allowed this picture is the question. She thought of the picture as “artsy”, not erotic. Others with more life experience should have seen that this is not the image that Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana should be projecting. Vanity Fair is going to try to get the pictures that their readers want and it is up to the adults around Miley to protect her from dangers that she might not see.
Hannah Montana is anti-christ. She intends to take over the world through a guise of innocence and purity. Do not be deceived. Her father had a mullet and sang stupid country songs when she was conceived. That can only be a recipe for disaster. Run for your life!
BTW, Cyrus SAYS to THE MEDIA that she was embarrassed. Does that mean she was ACTUALLY embarrassed? Come on, people. You’re killing me here.
I wonder how many young women have been lured into the world of porn with promises that the photos would be “artistic.” That sounds like something from a bad movie of the week. And her parents were there?!? Good grief.
No, it’s technically not “porn”, but it is a 15 year old girl in a very sensual pose. It may not be in the batter’s box but it certainly is in the ballpark.
The Legion of Honor in San Francisco currently houses a retrospective of Annie Leibowitz’ photographs (Did you see it when you viewed the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit, Victoria? It made for an ironic contrast). She’s a glorious photographer, but a lot of her work has erotic undertones–when it isn’t being blatant. What savvy person doesn’t know that?
After all the publicity this kid has received recently–even I know who she is–this decision smacks of crass commercialism. Someone was after even more money.
What I continually don’t understand is what parent in their right mind would want a life like this for a child they love? I don’t care how talented my beautiful daughter is, if Disney came calling we’d run out the back door.
Someone needs to be an adult here.
A William Gibson character (a magazine editor, no less) comes to mind:
wow this got you guys all excited huh. my grandmaw was married at 15. why don’t you put a cork in all the self-righteous harrumphing. she is a woman, despite what the law says.
#14 - Good point. That’s what I thought. Vanity Fair’s contemporary history of racy, push-the-envelope covers should have been considered.
Annie Leibowitz + Vanity Fair = something Miley Cyrus wouldn’t later be embarrassed about? Someone wasn’t thinking clearly.
Erasmus,
This isn’t “self-righteous harrumphing.” This is fear. She’s preparing to be our evil overlord. We’re just attempting to find the chink in her armor. Alas, we’ll find none. Soon we’ll all be forced to fanatically listen to her music, wear skirts over our jeans, and adorn ourselves with gaudy jewelry. We’ll adore her on the outside, but be screaming in terror in the depths of our souls. Be afraid…very afraid.
It never ceases to amaze me how people cannot separate the person (Miley) from the character they play (Hannah Montana).
I suppose since “Hannah” is a Disney character, she (Miley) is expected by her adoring public to remain a child forever. That’s an unrealistic expectation.
The fact is, Miley and her family are in the entertainment industry. They don’t live ordinary lives. Miley has her own wing in their house. In the entertainment world 15 is something like 25 in the real world.
I’m sure the Cyrus’s were well aware of Vanity Fair’s reputation and Annie Liebowitz’s photography. (note: In the world of fashion, 15 is not uncommon).
I think they were unprepared for the Fox News/right-wing backlash, which turns everything into a major moral scandal/crisis.
Finally, if one visits their local mall, water park, pool, or beach, one sees far more skin and “scandal” than this. It’s much ado about little.
Not having seen the pictures and not wanting to, I’d say this is a pretty cynical ploy by the Cyruses to position Miley to keep going when her current fans abandon her because she’s “kid stuff.” I teach a lot of Miley fans and it is already happening, though not as fast as I’d once thought it would.
The outrage over this may have taken them by surprise, or it may have been foreseen in an ingenious (though risky) plan to have their cake and eat it too.
Glad to see you Anlir. How’s the voice, if any?
I think you made my first point. I don’t see any scandal. I had never heard of her. I heard someone say she won’t be a child star forever and is preparing for the world of grown-up attention. I doubt that. I just hope she doesn’t go the Brittany Spears way. I hadn’t heard of her (Brittany) until she got into trouble.
Even bad publicity is great publicity in the celebrity world. This small scale scandal, if that’s what you want to call it, will net everyone involved a nice tidy sum. Moreso than if nothing was ever said about it.
This is small potatoes next to Britney and Linsay, and even Justin. - Those evil Mousketeers!
she is a woman, despite what the law says.
Based on what?!? The fact that someone could convince her to take her shirt off? That she’s pretty?
Hi Chaz. The voice? Not so good. There are few options left for restoring my voice, and they are serious. So I’m taking a “wait awhile” stance. Doing nothing is also one of my options.
I understand that Hannah Montana is a huge tween girl idol. But parents should be explaining to their daughters that a real person (age 15) is playing the role of “Hannah”. They should also be using this “scandal” to teach their daughter that no one can live up to their “idol” image. No matter how wonderful a person is, they’re still human and they’re going to make mistakes.
I saw the pics and they aren’t that bad - except that she is 15. The magazine isn’t geared toward tweens, so that may also be a consideration. I also read that her parents had left before these pics were taken, and her grandmother and handler were on the set. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and hopefully will not go the way of Britney Spears.
Very good point, Anlir, about using it as a teaching vehicle.
Sorry to hear about your voice.
Cameron, based on biology. You might look it up sometime.
Read the rest of my post, troll: she would have been married off already a hundred years ago. the only thing that has changed has been the law.
Erasmus,
You’re assuming she’s reached a biological milestone that you have no proof of.
We aren’t talking about marriage. We’re talking about a sexualized photo. Do you honestly think this same photo would have been published a century ago for all to see?
After Miley lied about being embarrassed (per Disney’s orders), and Disney attacked Vanity Fair, VF released a video of highlights of the photo shoot. Far more troubling, and infinitely more disgusting, than the sheet photo is the bunch of pics of Miley laying all over her father Billy Ray. With her scanty outfits and her facial expressions they don’t look like father and daughter, they look live lovers. It’s sick.
Anyone who is surprised at this turn of events is incredibly naive. Hollywood has no use for “wholesome” girls, except as bait for 10 year old kids who will then follow in their footsteps when they inevitably decide to start tarting themselves up.
And I guess no one here saw the pics of her a few weeks ago, making out with her older boyfriend, flashing her bra for him, and looking for all the world like her promise to stay a virgin until married is nothing but a publicity pose. Which is all it is.
I believe that Miley and her parents knew all about Liebowitz’s work and she was picked to shoot Miley because of her work - not in spite of it.
Miley being a forever 15 year old is great for Disney but bad in the long run for Miley and her career - if she wants one since she no longer needs one. It is my guess that a conscious decision was made to start moving Miley into adulthood and this little spat over nothing (and I mean nothing) will go away for Miley to finish her transition from teen star to young adult star in the next couple of years.
She will likely do a much better job of making this difficult transition than any of the others - using Justin Timberlake as her guide.
They knew her little apology would go far enough to cover her for 2 years. It was well executed and nothing happened that wasn’t exactly according to their well laid out plans.
She still has the chance to be the biggest star ever. It will be fun to see her continued success. She is no Brittney Spears and she is very well managed and parented. Having so many fail every which way possible also helps her stear clear of the pot holes.
cameron I will let you daydream about the proof. statistics are out there if you really care about the truth.
you seem to be insistent in thinking about this 15 year old Miley Cyrus as a sexual being. Seems like my comments are justified. Just don’t try to get the proof Cameron, harrison will be blogging about you next.
Hello, Night Train. Nice to see you back and making sense. I totally agree on the pics with Billy Ray. If I hadn’t read the caption, I would never have known who he was (not being a C&W fan).
Wow, some of you are so cynical. I know this world, the entertainment industry in particular, has given us reason to be cynical, but let’s try to give Miley a break, give her the benefit of the doubt.
From what I’ve read about this young lady, she has a strict, stable, & loving home life. They are Christians, they still ground her for stuff.
A big, bad mistake was made. I believe Miley is truly embarrassed & sorry. She does want to be a good role model for her fans.
And even though photos are “real”, they can portray an attitude that was not intended.
Like, Miley is soooo last season, girlfriends.
it’s an iCarly world now.
http://icarly.com/
NT - 28
I saw the photos, I agree with you. The pictures are more than suggestive, and I’m sure she knew it when she allowed them to be taken. And just where were her parents?
Dad was in at least one of those pix - that’s where one of her parents was.
Erasmus at #15: why don’t you put a cork in all the self-righteous harrumphing.
Whatever else would this blog be about then?
Klasko,
Here is the link.
http://tinyurl.com/5gv2z8
Don’t we have important things to talk about?
Publius
Yes we do, and this is one of them…in fact its on the top of the list.
The reason?
Young kids, love to watch and emulate Miley Cyrus. Parents of young teens are concerned, and they should be. Britney Spears caused enough trouble.
Maybe you don’t have teens, or you don’t care that young kids are being caught up in this garbage, but many of us DO CARE!
I suspect that Disney is being every bit as manipulative in this episode as they accuse Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz are being.
Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus in their property, and there’s nothing like a sexy-photo mini-scandal to juice up her value as a marketable commodity.
That said, while I don’t think the photo is pornographic, it is undeniably sexy.
Boudoir photography may have its place — between spouses, perhaps soon-to-be-married couples.
But it is totally, completely inappropriate for 15-year-olds.
Miley Cyrus has been flat-out exploited. (I don’t blame her too much — although pic 2 of 15 at this ABC News slide show of her leads me to think that she’s not completely blameless in the flaunting/peddling of her bod.)
But shame on Vanity Fair and Annie Leibovitz for doing the exploiting.
And most of all, shame on her parents — and her Disney “handlers” — for letting it happen in the first place.
I’ll go with Anlir and Karen O on this and leave it as a big bad mistake. I don’t blame the kid, she’s only 15. The adults should have known better, but okay, we’ll say it is a mistake. The proof of that will come soon enough if she makes the news like this again. It’s her choice now.
NJL, young kids who are as exposed to the entertainment industry and this girl is, aren’t naive.
I don’t think the photos are unduly bad (inappropriate, yes, not positive, indeed, but not all that bad).
I think the young lady will be just fine (and should be), if she behaves so as to make this an anomaly rather than the start of a slide into regular, much worse publicity over truely bad behavior (you know, the drugs, alcohol, sex scandals, being photograped in public lacking basic foundational undergarments, etc.).
Erasmus,
I notice you didn’t answer my question in 27…or define why or how you think she is a woman.
Is name-calling just easier?
Victoria, this girl is certainly exposed to more than I am, but at 15 you can’t possibly know the ramifications of things. She has a right to be “stupid.” Her parents don’t.
She has a right to be “stupid.”
NJL, my mom always called it getting over “Fool’s Hill.” It takes some of us longer to climb that mountain than others.
Read the rest — and see Brook’s photo of the Beijing billboard — here.
Of course, in the world of name-brand-licensed [ahem Disney ahem] consumer fashion, the modesty of minors is never deliberately manipulated to sell Mickey & Minnie undies jumbo billboards in one of the world’s largest cities.
But then this young thing isn’t Hannah Montana …
I read the VF story (or the part that is online), and Miley says that Sex and the City is her favorite show. (Not long ago I read that her favorite author is Karen Kingsbury.) I think that the pictures are suggestive; one with her father definitely isn’t your typical father-daughter pose. But they are the kind of thing for which Annie Liebowitz, an out-of-the-closet lesbian, is known.
My problem with it is that the Cyrus family makes a point of discussing their Christian faith. The same is true of Angie Harmon, who recently posed nude … again.
My 10 year old daughter watches the show but isn’t overly impressed. Then again she watches old Enimen videos on youtube so she’s not your ordinary girl.
There’s nothing wrong with the pictures, its fairly artistic. I was prepared to give my usual comment on silly American Puritanism but the look on her face and her hair left me slightly creeped out — a little to close to Lolita for my taste. Then again a trip to the beach is far more in your face than the cover photo.
WARNING: EXTREME OPTIMISM PRESENT IN POST
I honestly think people are getting worked up over nothing…
The photographs are not intended for a “tween girl” magazine, and so they wouldn’t impact her influence among rabid tween fans as much as people act like.
Her family may be used to the spotlight, but not the kind of attention that a FEMALE star gets in hollywood. This really could be an honest mistake. Caught in the moment, i can see her family thinking it was “artistic” instead of “sensual”.
I also don’t really have a problem with the father/daughter pose… It’s a bit unusual, but i don’t think it suggests anything “between them”…
I guess this is from a guy who hangs a LOT with the “artistic crowd” and see a lot of “artistic productions”… If they had wanted to make it appear sensual, you would KNOW it.
No ambiguity involved.
Artists aren’t subtle anymore. “Subtlety” to the kind of artists who took these photos means “hiding some OTHER message behind the blatant challenge to ‘traditional sexuality’.”
Tombob - I agree. I think some are reading things into the facial expressions. If one expects to see something sensual, one can find it.
TJ, I’m thinking some of the adults here are not over Fool’s Hill either. How low will we go before we reach what’s unacceptable for a minor. It would appear that some are willing to go lower than others.
NJL,
Oh, the sheet/nude photo IS unacceptable.
Whether it is PURPOSELY unacceptable or not is what I aim to challenge.
Well, i guess that I’m also arguing that the other, non-nude, ambiguously-sensual pics are less of a deal than people are making them out to be.
Cameron-troll
my granmaw was married at 15. miley cyrus is 15. what do you wanna make of it? are you going to get the evidence to prove me wrong? we’ll see you on TV suckah.
The way these comments are going, I’m sure Disney, Alfred Kinsey, Miley Cyrus, and Vanity Fair are just giddy. They all got exactly what they wanted. Everything appears to be working as planned. Us sheep are so predictable.
I hope all ya’ll are happy with yourselves.
Couple of things:
TOMBOB, It’s SUPPOSED to be a big deal. That was the whole point of the photo shoot. Who would have cared unless it was presented as “shocking” and “embarrassing.”
HRW, there’s SUPPOSED to be something wrong with the pictures. That way, everyone has to buy a copy of Vanity Fair in order to judge for them$elves$.
K., this wouldn’t be the first time celebrities have two faces.
NJLAWYER, in today’s world, she isn’t being stupid, she’s demonstrating business savvy.
OR….
15 year old girls are not as politically savvy as you think, and it’s not a hoax and we should STILL all get over it.
either story is as likely as the other.
I guess it depends on how optimistic you are as to which side you’ll take on the matter…
K at #50:
Annie Liebowitz, an out-of-the-closet lesbian
Oh well, there you go! Proof positive of evil intent!
(If not, then why would that be relevant to anything?)
I made the first comment, wondering what the fuss was about. TomBob later comes here and says essentially the same thing.
I have read sixty comments and still wonder what the fuss is about.
Nobody is going to be enticed by this picture.
Erasmus,
I’m no logician, but as I was thinking last night about your and Cameron’s “Miley’s a woman! / She is not!” argument, I realized that you seem to be engaging in the fallacy of equivocation. You seem to think that just because Miley is (presumably) sexually mature — i.e., that she is capable of conceiving and bearing a child — she is therefore a “woman,” and therefore has a legitimate moral/legal right to pose for sexy photos. But sexual maturity is not the same thing as legal maturity. And neither of those two are any reliable indication of moral maturity.
You’re correct to say that Cameron “thinks of 15 year old Miley Cyrus as a sexual being.” We all do, because she is a sexual being, Erasmus. But that isn’t the point.
At the age of 15, she is a “sexual being” under the legal and moral authority and protection of her father. She simply doesn’t have a right to say how far boys can go with her, her father does. And in exercising that right, all he’s really (supposed to be) doing is enforcing the sexual standards set down by God in His Word: i.e., Do not engage in sexual activity until you are married. By allowing his daughter to pose in a way that most honest observers perceive to be sexually provocative, Billy Ray has compromised her purity, if “only” in a cerebral way.
Despite what you might think, God’s Word doesn’t expect us to pretend that little girls and boys aren’t — or rather, don’t mature into — sexual beings. It does expect us to anticipate, protect and channel that sexuality in a way that honors God’s gift of sexuality.
I actually do think you are smarter than to try to define “womanhood” and “manhood” in strictly biological terms, Erasmus. We are not merely biological entities. We are moral entities, and that fact separates us from the entire animal kingdom. Next time you think about morality and ethics, consider those concepts from the perspective of a dog, a cow or a parrot. It can’t be done.
And lastly, I’d bet a paycheck that when your grandmother married at 15, she did so with the legal approval of her father or some other adult guardian.
If so, that proves Cameron’s point, not yours.
Frank, my mom married my dad when she was 15, my dad was 19. They didn’t get approval, but her dad, after considering, said, “Well, I’m not going to have it anulled.” So, even in 1926, he apparently had some authority.
They were married 73 years.
I’m just saying, SteveG, that Leibovitz does not share the values that the Cyruses claim to hold. Maybe she wanted to besmirch Miley’s squeaky-clean image.
It seems that far too much hope was placed in Miley Cyrus as the designated “role model” for the young girls of America. As we know, anyone placed on a pedestal has a pretty good chance of losing their balance and falling. It might behoove parents to take a look at what they are teaching their daughters about hero worship.