6 comments

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  Jerel MacDermott

  1 year ago

  I'll start off with saying I don't think the pictures are that bad. We just had our school's prom this past weekend (I'm a teacher). Girls had strapless dresses showing almost that much back, and most of us didn't think it was inappropriate. How some of the young ladies proceeded to conduct themselves is another matter entirely; but girls wearing more conservative dresses were also behaving...not in a manner fitting to a private religious school.
  
  Ms. Cyrus was not alone during this photo shoot. Both of her parents were apparently present. Knowing fathers like I do, I'm sure if he felt that the poses were inappropriate, he would have stopped the shoot immediately. In addition, her comments from *during* the shoot indicate that she was pleased with the way the photo turned out, that it was tasteful and not "skanky" [her word].
  
  So, I am sorry that Ms. Cyrus regrets it now, but...honestly, she (or her parents) could have stopped it before it got to the printed page.
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  ariedana

  1 year ago

  I think she (or her representation) regrets taking a step over the line that her Disney contract has placed around her more than she regrets being in the photo. From what she said in the actual VF article, she really thought the photo was cool. Her parents had already left (it was said that her grandmother and homeschool teacher were still there when the picture was shot) but it's pretty clear that overall her parents trust her judgement, and I doubt she in any way was thinking, "What will people think of this?" She probably thought, "Hey, this will be really pretty" and went ahead, just like most of us would. I thought that press release was badly worded in light of what VF was already saying about the shoot.
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  Ontario Emperor

  1 year ago

  I'm not quite so sure that Britney is an anomaly as is stated in item 3. When you look at Lindsay Lohan, and link this up with the slightly older Paris Hilton and the like, there's a perception (rightly or wrongly) that fame goes to almost every teenage starlet's head.
  
  I'm not sure what I would have done at age 17 if huge fame had suddenly been thrust in my lap. (Frankly, I'm not sure what I would do at age 46 were it to happen tomorrow.) So while I agree that this is almost a non-story, I can't definitely say that Miley will survive the fame trip at the end of the day.
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  ariedana

  1 year ago

  I do think that a big factor in the downfalls of Britney and Lindsay have been their respective illnesses. In a recent article about Britney in Blender, some of the folks who helped build her career said she began having periods of delusional mania after her breakup with Justin Timberlake, and that probably was a big factor in everything sick. Lindsay is a drug addict whose father is a drug addict. Being in Hollywood did no favors for either of them because Hollywood is full of enablers. But they'd probably still be screwed up if Britney had never left Louisiana and Lindsay were a Long Island socialite. Paris is just a fameball who went too far.
  
  I do think that Miley's family is much more supportive and understands the ins and outs of fame a lot more than either Britney's or Lindsay's. Miley's dad was famous before her and would be reasonably famous without her, so there's no dependence on her for money or attention. She's also got strong faith, which is valuable.
  
  The one thing that bothers me is that she's so certain about herself and is putting herself on such a high pedestal with the virginity pledge. It's really easy to say when you're 14 that you're not going to have sex, but it won't be so easy to live that out at 16 and 18. I just hope that she can live up to her expectations of herself, much less everyone else's.
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  Michael

  1 year ago

  A couple of things that need to be considered here.
  
  1. The Hannah Montana fan-base skews younger than, say, Madonna.
  
  2. They've cultivated an image for Hannah/Miley that she has embrace of an "ordinary, sweet, innocent" girl. This clearly goes against that image. Is it a mistake she made or is she rebelling against the image she has? Do we have a Lindsay Lohan like meltdown on the horizon?
  
  Consider that with her fanbase and her own image, you've got somoene who was squeaky clean and seemed a positive role model. Now that's brought into question.
  
  Why do some people feel they have to sexy-ize themselves up like this? I find myself thinking of the Olsen twins and how they marketed themselves. They wanted to be sell themselves to younger kids but also tried to sexy it up. Why can't they just be happy with their image and their fan base? I mean, I don't think Hannah Montana mania was going to slow down any time soon.
  
  I think a big part of this, for me, is that my niece adores Hannah Montana. And I wonder about the kind of messages this kind of thing will send to her as a young, impresionable kid of six. I know that parents have a big part in this and I do as her Uncle...but it's still disconcerting.
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  ariedana

  1 year ago

  1. Obviously. She's on the Disney Channel, for crying out loud. But in no way is one backless photo turning her into Madonna. Perspective, please.
  
  2. I have a 6-year-old niece myself, and I'd still consider her to be a far better role model than the dozens of teen and tween girls she sees at stores wearing clothes that could've come out of Paris Hilton's closet. Beyond that one VF photo, Miley wears much more conservative clothing than practically any other star under the age of 25. One photo does not make her into Lindsay Lohan, either. And I doubt she's really going to change that for at least a couple more years.
  
  I would say more, but I just read this post that says it a lot better than I: http://suburbanturmoil.blogspot.com/2008/04/mil....
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