Much Ado About Miley

[bascule]

Culture warrior Bill O is at it again. This time, he's up in arms about one Miley Cyrus:

 

http://www.usmagazine.com/bill-oreilly-dad-turned-miley-cyrus-into-a-sex-symbol-at-fifteen

 

MIDDLE AMERICA DOES NOT APPROVE! Since when is "Middle America" code for uptight prudish assholes?

 

Yes, the 15 year old star of Disney's Hannah Montana will be appearing in a provocative photo in a magazine nobody gives a crap about. Here it is for the curious:

 

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/05_01/MileycyrusVF_468x613.jpg

 

OH NO! You can see her... back!

 

Is this indicative of America's growing cultural debauchery, or do child stars just naturally grow up and turn into sex symbols once they develop the requisite body curvature?

[Realitycheck]

That's really stupid on a bunch of people's parts - hers, the magazine's, her parents', her agent's. I really don't see the point of trying to sell her that way. If she falls out of favor, I won't be surprised. It was way too soon, selling pedophilia out of corn-fed innocence. Really stupid.

 

Of course, it could have been all her decision, in which I would say that makes the magazine look bad, since that's not exactly her repetoire.

[iNow]

It's likely calculuated. It's not as if her publicist didn't know that dumb asses like Bill O'Reilley would be talking about it.

 

She gets mountains of free publicity, and simulataneously achieves what I will call the "Allyssa Milano" effect, where a few "dirty" pictures make the world realize that she's no longer a little girl and is to be taken seriously.

 

Frankly, what disturbs me most is not only that so many people actually care, but that so many people get down right enraged about such ridiculous nonsense.

 

Remember, we have real problems to fix, people... Let's stop trying to stuff puritanical square pegs through 21st century round holes.

[Realitycheck]

She ain't no Olsen twins.

[ecoli]

She ain't no Olsen twins.

 

indicated by the fact that there's only one of her.

 

I honestly don't know why people care... probably because its something much more insignificant to worry about than 'real' problems. That way people can feel that they're staying informed about "politics" without actually having to do anything. And sex sells.

[Realitycheck]

I am just saying that, from a marketing standpoint, I believe that it was a poor decision. Coming from a C&W background, a large constituent of her fans are probably fairly conservative. I know that times are changing, even for C&W, but hey, she is 15 years old, young by any definition.

 

and who wants to read another thread about Shias caught in the crossfire of Shia militia warfare?

[ecoli]

I am just saying that, from a marketing standpoint, I believe that it was a poor decision. Coming from a C&W background, a large constituent of her fans are probably fairly conservative. I know that times are changing, even for C&W, but hey, she is 15 years old, young by any definition.

 

I read that Cyrus will be worth ~1 billion by the time she's 18. I don't know how they figured this, but I'm sure that her Britney Spears-type demographic is potentially larger than the CW crowd.

[Pangloss]

To me the interesting question is how parents come to acquire this f'd up worldview in which musical talent and ability can only be recognized through heavy electronic manipulation and mass marketing appeal.

 

With a case like Britney Spears (however the frack it's spelled), at least you can write off the parents as gold-diggers, and their idiotic public displays will back you up. But with a case like Cyrus, wouldn't you think he would know better? What the heck could someone like that possibly be thinking? When your pre-teen daughter comes to you asking if she can be "just like daddy", what possible reason could you have for NOT screaming "WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER!" and locking her in the deepest dungeon in the castle?

 

Oh well, go figure.

[bascule]

To me the interesting question is how parents come to acquire this f'd up worldview in which musical talent and ability can only be recognized through heavy electronic manipulation and mass marketing appeal.

 

When your father is Billy "Achy Breaky Heart" Cyrus I'm sure opinions regarding musical talent are rather distorted.

 

As far as Miley's music goes, she makes Avril Lavigne look good, and Avril is pretty much the bottom of the barrel in my book...

[doG]

Much ado about nothing. I wish the mainstream media would quit trying to compete with the tabloids....

[ecoli]

Much ado about nothing. I wish the mainstream media would quit trying to compete with the tabloids....

 

It's a big market...

[ParanoiA]

Sex is awesome. What's the rub? I'd rather her wait until she's 18 so I can see the front...

 

If I was her father, I would kick her ass for doing it.

[john5746]

I don't think the picture looks that good. She looks like a girl that tried on her mommies makeup. Nothing sexual at all in that picture to me.

 

But, she has a job and has to answer to her employers....

[bascule]

I don't think the picture looks that good.

 

I like the picture

 

Nothing sexual at all in that picture to me.

 

I don't know about that, but I certainly wouldn't say it's the picture's main undertone. She certainly looks very young still...

[Pangloss]

Sex is awesome. What's the rub?

 

Quote of the week.

[Taq_is_hot]

Miley a sex symbol???? I own almost all her albums and none of them imply anything sexual! Her songs talk about friends, boyfriends and just life in general! And the boyfriend ones have nothing to do with sex!! All the outfits I have seen her in are nothing near what girls like Lindsay Lohan or somebody would wear! OMG They show her shoulders!!!! I can maybe see her becoming like that when she's older...but she most certainly isn't one now!

[iNow]

Much Ado about Nothing... as implied in the thread subject.

[Pangloss]

Miley a sex symbol???? I own almost all her albums and none of them imply anything sexual! Her songs talk about friends, boyfriends and just life in general! And the boyfriend ones have nothing to do with sex!! All the outfits I have seen her in are nothing near what girls like Lindsay Lohan or somebody would wear! OMG They show her shoulders!!!! I can maybe see her becoming like that when she's older...but she most certainly isn't one now!

 

 

Hehe, whatever you say man.

[bascule]

Miley is doomed to be Britney 2, who is, in effect, the new Jacko...

 

[Phi for All]

The only thing that's truly bad about Miley Cyrus is the parents of her fans. Does anyone remember when their parents took them to their first rock concert at the age of ten? Remember when they shelled out $300 a ticket for floor seats for you and your two best friends (and Mom and your little sister, of course)? Remember when she bought you all that great fan stuff from those nice people in the lobby? Remember when she did it all over again the following year?

 

Yeah, me neither.

[ecoli]

The only thing that's truly bad about Miley Cyrus is the parents of her fans. Does anyone remember when their parents took them to their first rock concert at the age of ten? Remember when they shelled out $300 a ticket for floor seats for you and your two best friends (and Mom and your little sister, of course)? Remember when she bought you all that great fan stuff from those nice people in the lobby? Remember when she did it all over again the following year?

 

Yeah, me neither.

yeah seriously... I think paying 20 bucks for a concert ticket it too much.

 

Then again, few of my favorite bands perform anymore. But, if they did, they probably would charge $200+ per ticket.