Tween pop star and actress Miley Cyrus has posed semi-nude in the latest issue of Vanity Fair, and she's borrowing an explanation from Britney Spears: oops, I did it again.
It seems that she, her dad (real and on-screen played by Billy Ray Cyrus), and various "minders" were at a day-long photo session with celebrity fetishist Annie Leibovitz that involved shooting and reviewing various poses, including at least one in which Miley appears topless while wrapped in a stain sheet.
Now, Miley thinks they're "silly, inappropriate shots," and that she hopes her fans understand that she's going to "make mistakes" and isn't perfect.
Oops. (add nervous giggle and cast-away eyes for effect; cue Hannah Montana theme music; cut to commercial for Disney plush toys)
Of course, it's not an oops. There's a slight, outside chance that everyone in attendance at the shoot was rendered senseless at the exact moment Leibovitz suggested Miley pose for any picture without all of her clothes on, but I wouldn't put money on it.
However artsy or faux respectfully the solicitation may have been cast, the punch line is that there's no good reason for a 15 year-old to get photographed even sorta, partially, oh-my-gawd-like nude. Somebody on the set should have known better.
I'm curious about the bad reasons, though, and I can think of at least two:
First, it really is a case of bad judgment. A lot has been written about how Miley's parents work hard to keep her normal, and I actually believe it. Forget the marketing value of making her life as wholesome as possible: she's their daughter, after all, and I don't question the authenticity of her parents' desire that she get a chance to grow up as if she were the girl next door.
Only she's the girl next door who lives in a gigantic mansion, has more money than most families will ever see in a lifetime, travels with her own tweeny posse, and spends her productive time standing before thousands of screaming, adoring fans. She shows up at award ceremonies and other public events in spandex, plunging necklines, and grown-up amounts of make-up.
What aspect of that description strikes you as normal?
Miley and her parents (and all of their minders, whoever they are) live in a strange, exotic, rarified bubble, and they expect to be able to make sound judgments? That's like letting an alcoholic decide when he's drunk, isn't it?
If this was the result of bad judgment, it wasn't that Miley's reaction to the topless photo idea might have been "hey, cool, yah" (just consider the dumb, self-exploitive photos that lots of teenagers willingly post of themselves on social networking sites). Instead, it was a failure of perspective among those entrusted with the authority to make judgments for her. It might help if one of the 'minders' was culled from outside the bubble?
The second bad reason is that the entire escape was purposeful.
All child actors face an ugly, inescapable fate: they grow up. Miley, at 15, is within a year or two of losing her youngster fan base. So the marketing machine behind her brand has to find ways to slowly migrate her to another market which, by definition, is older, more mature, and probably appreciates its celebrities semi-nude (or worse).
This is a dicey procedure, and Disney fails at it just as often as it succeeds in inventing these tweener starlets in the first place. Sometimes, as in the case of Hilary Duff, the stars struggle to find relevance to an adult audience who can't forget how cute and cuddly they once were. Others, like Lindsay Lohan, age as if in dog years, and make you want to forget who they once were, because it's just too sad.
This is the "oops, I did it again" strategy, plotting moments now and then that introduce new, er, aspects of the brand to the market.
If this is the bad reason for the incident, expect a follow-up to be some more adult, thought-provoking themes for a song or two on her next album. Maybe she'll end up having to apologize for them, too, but it'll prompt more downloads among the very consumers who are interested in such themes.
Either way, the Miley Cyrus brand will chug along, apologizing (and perhaps ever-so-slightly chuckling) all the way to the bank.
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