In today’s sex driven culture, it’s incredibly naive to believe that the profit driven media will keep our children’s best interests in mind when they create entertainment and create articles in magazines. But it’s incredibly sad to see a father not protect his 15 year-old daughter from being exploited in a racy and raunchy photograph.
This is exactly what happened in a photo shot by Annie Leibovitz, possibly the most famous photographer in the world, of teen pop Disney sensation Miley Cyrus. Miley’s father, Billy Ray, was on the set to witness and APPROVE of this manipulative exploitation of a minor for Vanity Fair, and he [See Update #2 below] failed miserably as an advocate and protector for his young and impressionable daughter.
Telegraph has coverage of the controversy including the picture itself. The picture itself is of a topless Miley with lipstick smudged on her face and tussled hair. How could her father possibly approve of this crap and [See Update #2 below] sit back and allow it to happen? She’s a phenomenon and makes an incredible amount of money and we would hope that her father’s approval of the picture [See Update #2 below] this is not based primarily on marketing Miley as a sex object. That would be truly sad. Whatever happened to parental responsibility?
In the article, we read about Disney’s disapproval:
Executives at the Disney Channel are said to be furious about the shot, which is a far cry from the star’s usual squeaky-clean image.
A spokesman for the network said: “Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines.”
The Times Online has additional coverage in their article “Shame on you Annie Leibovitz, Carter – and Miley Cyrus’s parents.” The article indicates that Miley Cyrus felt considerable pressure from the star photographer:
One can believe Cyrus’s description of Leibovitz’s persuasive powers in the studio, pushing the young actress – fame-hungry and flattered to pose for the world’s most famous photographer for a magazine such as Vanity Fair – into ever more risqué poses. “You can’t say no to Annie,” Miley said. “She’s so cute. She gets this puppy-dog look, and you’re like, OK.”
Indeed, Leibovitz used the trick dirty-old-men artists have employed to seduce vulnerable girls through the ages: she persuaded Miley that the pictures were “artistic”. But this is no celebration of young beauty. It is a blatant bedroom shot. Leibovitz saw the shock potential, the lip-smacking titillation, in posing a star known for her wholesome, girlish role in Disney’s Hannah Montana as if photographed by her deflowering first boyfriend.
Of course, Vanity Fair should be criticized for publishing this picture in their magazine. It’s clearly exploitation of a minor for their monetary gain. But ultimately parents have to step up and protect their minor children. It would have been one thing if the young Cyrus had done something racy with her friends, but it’s creepy that her parents didn’t stop this from getting to this point. They were there, but apparently [See Update #2 below] they were a sleep on the job, the most important job of all.
Update #1 [4/29/2008]:
Continued coverage from Tuesday morning:
Baltimore Sun - ‘VF’ photo makes Disney, Cyrus unhappy
San Jose Mercury News - The Star Report: Who is to blame for stealing away the innocence of Miley Cyrus?
ABC News - Miley Cyrus Grows Up In The Spotlight
Update #2 [4/29/2008]:
Apparently, Bill Ray left the photo shoot prior to the pathetic raunchy photograph was taken basically abdicating his parental responsibility. He failed to guarantee that she would be looked after properly for the rest of the photo session.
Michelle Malkin has coverage here.
