Wednesday, April 30, 2008

For some parents, the issue with Miley Cyrus' Vanity Fair bed-head photo isn't how much skin she's showing - but that the picture looks like she just got out of bed, possibly after having sex.

"I think they're trying to portray her in a totally sexual way, when she's 15 years old," one South Jordan mom told the Cricket. (Here's the story from today's Tribune.)

The Cricket also received this assessment of the situtation from Tish and David Archuleta (not that David Archuleta), parents who live in Salt Lake City's Avenues neighborhood:

As parents, my husband and I do not find the photo (or series of photos) in bad taste per se. It is the whole situation that has us scratching our heads.

Perhaps we are a bit naive, but we are under the impression she is a representative of Disney, presenting a very wholesome, country, down-home girl who always does the right thing. The photo is tasteful in an appropriate context. There is a bit of sexual innuendo attached to it with her bed head and very red lips. Were she independent and emancipated from her Disney persona, we would say go for it.

However, her key audience is pre-teen. A group of girls who emulate her hairstyle, language, look and behavior. She is 15. She barely wears a bra, for heavens sake. She is still young, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint) advancing into adulthood very publicly.

To have to explain all of this to a 9 year old, again (remember Vanessa Hudgens?) is a little bit awkward, and just silly. We would like to see this whole issue put it to sleep, quietly. If she is ready to start demonstrating this degree of teenage sexuality let her grow up, but on TV too. Release her from her Hannah persona in the media and show her pre-teen audience she is "all growed up" (as Miley would say) and lets move on. It may be time for a different pre-teen role model.

There's also plenty of commentary about the photos online. Kim Voynar at Cinematical finds fault with Cyrus' parents and with photographer Annie Leibovitz for pushing the envelope. David Poland at Movie City News dismisses it all as "nothing but a screw up by a personal publicist who didn't call Disney to get their input on Miley's Annie Lebowitz output before this became an issue." And S.T. VanAirsdale on Defamer.com let off a rant that the whole episode is a reminder of an uncomfortable truth: That teen-agers do engage in sexual activities (though VanAirsdale uses an earthier word for sexual activities - if you don't like to read profanity, don't click).

UPDATE: As if Cyrus' Utah connection couldn't get any weirder, check out this commentary by Donny Osmond - a prescient observation, written before the photo dust-up - for Cyrus' entry in Time magazine's "Time 100" listing of influential people:

"Within three to five years, Miley will have to face adulthood. Fans grow up, and their youthful interests quickly dissolve. Her challenge will be overcoming the Hannah Montana stereotype. Miley's fans are not thinking about the fact that she will grow up too. As she does, she'll want to change her image, and that change will be met with adversity."

(Photo: Annie Leibovitz/Vanity Fair)