Ustwo

You don't have a penis, I do, that picture was meant to be 100% provocative.

If she were 18 and on the titty board the next picture would have dropped the cover and most likely been a MET series.

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mixedmedia

Last I considered neither Annie Liebowitz nor Miley Cyrus have a penis.

Maybe you just expect the world to revolve around your penis.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

highthief

"Ignorant" is the word you are looking for - I can't remember, is this irony?

Anyway, Britney, Lindsay Lohan, the list does go on. Or perhaps she'd be better as a bulimic (or was she anorexic?) like that Olsen twin? A shoplifter like Jennifer Capriati? Maybe just dead like Dana Plato? The reality is that when overwhelming success comes to women at a very young age, more than a few of them have gone on to self-destruct. It's more than fair to question whether this is the fate that might await her.

The Britney note was, BTW, specific in that both were associated with Disney from a young age.

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lotsofmagnets

i think i have to agree with ustwo and say the objective of the photo is to be at least a bit provocative.

__________________
mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

ASU2003

http://www.vanityfair.com/images/cul..._miley0806.jpg
This picture? Are you kidding? It might be a year or two too soon, but there is nothing wrong with that picture. And there is a difference between using the female form as art and provocative or pornographic material.

It looks like she has a strapless prom dress on or something.

Tell me about it when she goes to some topless beach or something.

Is this thread NSFW now?

mixedmedia

Thank you.

And I'll interject so far as to say that if your first impulse is to think "i want to fuck that' then perhaps YOU are the one with the problem.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Ustwo

No but you just violated the sites image policy on children.

No one is claiming it was pornographic, but if you don't think thats a provocative photo of a 15 year old, you need your eyes examined.


Yea well I'd hit it, sorry.

/enter Chris Hanson

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Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

filtherton

No, really, it's the underage girl's fault for being all sexy.

ASU2003

We know that she gave her permission for that picture to be taken though. And it's not like she is naked or anything. She has pants on. And her parents were there and it's for a major magazine so she wasn't forced into doing this or anything.

And yeah, I bet any red-blooded male would hit it. It would be worth the jail time too. Hell, I would even wait the three years to hit it to stay legal.

Here is some art from 1515 that was probably pretty shocking too. (I hope it's not nsfw)
http://www.artknowledgenews.com/file...thAMirrori.jpg
http://webed.vw.vccs.edu/vwbaile/Media/birthven.jpg

Frosstbyte

Prom dress? Tousled hair, coy smile, not a stitch of clothing to be seen? You must've had an awesome high school prom. She looks like someone who just woke up after a "long" night and is sitting up in bed covering herself with a sheet. Which isn't to say it isn't artistic as well, simply that it's without a doubt provocative and intended to titillate. The fact that the photographer and subject were both women doesn't in any way change that.

I think any uproar about the whole thing is silly, as is this country's puritanical view of almost all things related to sex, and I think any attempt on her part to feign ignorance of what was happening is just as bad. She went for a "sex sells" angle and, shockingly, a lot of parents of 10-15 year old girls aren't thrilled with having sex sold to their children. The routine is getting to be a little tired, but I suppose that's the danger of being young, famous, attractive (?) and fabulously wealthy.

Looks like next harvest will be even better.

If you can't see the myriad, obvious differences between the picture in question and the use of nudity in classical art, I don't think we can really have a conversation. The cultural contexts and the purposes behind the images are blindingly divergent. About the only similarity is that they're images featuring a partially clothed female subject. That doesn't count for much given everything else.

Willravel

Eww, jailbait.

Ustwo

I think the whole puritanical US is a bit overstated but otherwise I would guess we are in agreement. I say this as I have the playboy channel showing hardcore sex on the TV next to me. We may be a more conservative in what we show on the public airwaves, but thats about it. I've been to nude beaches, seen public sex acts, and all that stuff right here in the good old USA.

The issue here is that you have a girl under the age of consent, in a deliberately provocative pose, who's main source of fame is being the wholesome child entertainer with a TV show on the Walt Disney Channel.

Its the perfect shit storm, and I have to wonder if it was done on purpose. Sort of a primer to her adult career so she doesn't disappear like so many other child actors.

If so its a perfect job at it, though I think they should have waited another 2 years for 17. You would get the same press but with less 'shes too young' and be closer to her 'adult' career stage.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

mixedmedia

I think it's counterproductive to view her portrait as overtly sexual and acceptable at the same time.

This is all so stupid.

__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce

Reese

Meh, It's not a horrible portrait but it's no Mona Lisa. Of course the girl is embarrassed by it once there's a big whoop-de-doo. She thought she was doing something artistic and everyone spits on it. Hell, It was probably the only photo of her that isn't a paparazzi shot or a Hannah Montana product logo. I feel sorry for her, She's so chained to her character that people just can't separate the two. I don't think it's anywhere close to pornographic, Slightly provocative maybe, but hasn't art has been that way for centuries?

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ASU2003

I could care less about it too. I think it is just a perfect example of the media making a huge controversy over a little thing to get people to tune in. If it wasn't reported on in the news, how many of us (or her fans) would have found a copy of this picture in Vanity Fair and been offended?

I do see her side of the story, and if this is the process of making the picture, she may not have known that it would turn out like it did.
http://bittenandbound.com/wp-content...hoto-shoot.jpg

fresnelly

Very interesting point.

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jewels

Since she and her family did approve the proofs, I think it's fairly safe to assume that the expression of regret may well have been a marketing ploy that Disney felt necessary, due to the nature of the average American consumer.

Remember, this is a country where breastfeeding women have to fight for the right to breastfeed their babies in public. God forbid their children might see a breast! Look at the hoopla that Janet's breast caused. It logically follows that the exposed back of a child was meant to titillate as well.

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We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
Mark Twain

Ustwo

First, if all you see from the provocative nature is an exposed back, you don't understand how something is provocative to the male mind.

Even a look with the eyes can say 'fuck me' and that entire photo was designed to say 'fuck me'. Call me old fashioned, but a 15 year old in a national publication with a 'come fuck me' photo, might be in poor taste a bit.

But I can't blame Disney if they are upset, she represents millions and millions of dollars to the company who has paid her VERY well, and has already had bad press in relation with their young female stars.

Add to it that the average Hanna Montana fan is most likely 9-12 and its rather apparent why they would be displeased.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

percy

I looked at the picture again and agree with this statement. The only difference from my point of view is that she has a more "just got fucked good", look rather than a "come fuck me", look, ..but otherwise,...

snowy

The magazine isn't even out yet--so by bringing this up now, before it hits shelves, just helps to sell more magazines. I smell a publicity stunt.

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highthief

I find it interesting that some find the image titillating - she looks even younger than 15 in the picture. I think the picture was a bad idea but I think anyone finding it an arousing image might have a couple of wires crossed in his head. Just a hint of pedo about such a thought.

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jewels

That's your interpretation.

__________________
We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.
Mark Twain

Jinn

I see nothing sexual about this picture. Women and teens younger than Miley wear backless dresses all the time, and oftentimes more is exposed than is exposed here.

__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel

lotsofmagnets

again, i agree with ustwo that the photo is provocative and was designed to be so. the inference from the photo is she´s in bed. the sheet is aranged to at least suggest she´s not wearing a top, especially since she appears to be holding it up. her hair is messy and wet suggesting sex and she definitely has a provocative smile. to say the photo isn´t a least designed to be provocative is in my opinion naïve. but yeah, at the end of the day what´s new? 15 year old girls and younger have been paraded as jailbait for a long time now and will be in the future so as onesnowyown has suggested it´s probably a sales grap and we´re all in on the publicity.

__________________
mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

Poppinjay

Ustwo, you got PlayboyTV? Hook a whitey up? All I have is my imagination and regular TV. But I agree. The Cyrus famliy is pimping out Miley, age 15. I think her original name was Hope? Faith? Destiny? Some stripper name.

But I do blame Disney, it's their MO.

I vote not in favor of Disney (former employee, so sue me) taking young girls and turning them into biz ho's. We like to think all along the way that now, NOW there are measures in place against causing young minds to handle adult situations, but it never ends. Not with the Olsen twins, not with Miley (Hope, Destiny, Faith) Cyrus, not with anybody. If you put your kids in show business, they will turn out poorly.

Good topic Highthief.

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dirtyrascal7

Actually, it was TWO stripper names... Destiny Hope Cyrus. haha

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"Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him."

Bill O'Rights

A few thoughts...

1.) Ustwo is absolutely correct in saying that this was meant to be provocative. Whether it is or not is subjective and open to individual interpretation, but it was certainly intended to be provocative. And, while mixedmedia may very well be correct, in that our adult minds are what took us there...I also believe that our adult minds were led there, courtesy of the talents of Annie Leibovitz.

2.) The ever intuitive onesnowyowl has pegged it. It's all publicity. Publicity for Ms Cyrus, publicity for Vanity Fair, publicity for Annie Leibovitz, publicity for Disney, hell...there's even publicity for Billy Ray. Publicity for all.

3.) Really? Who cares? Do 9-12 year old girls read Vanity Fair? I don't think so. If this hadn't been blown so out of proportion, then Hannah Montana's reputation could well have remained intact.

4.) Personally? As art? I like it. But, as the cheap publicity stunt that I believe this is? It's just whoring out a 15 year old girl.

5.) I wonder....just what is it about Disney careers that just completely fuck some of these girls up so bad? Hopefully, Miley will be able to dodge the landmines that took out those that came before her.

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"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.

The_Jazz

In case you missed it on Fark as well, you fell for the greatest stroke of marketing genius of the year.

Allow me to restate an earlier point: there is no such thing as bad publicity. And that VF.com just made tons of advertising revenue off that traffic.

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Ustwo

How exactly did we fall for it?

The fact that it was done on purpose, as some had speculated doesn't change anything.

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Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

ShaniFaye

Wouldnt I actually have to buy the mag for it to have worked? Its honestly not something I plan on wasting my money on

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I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

Jinn

No one was outraged by these:

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/01...pace-pictures/

And yet.. a professionally posed ART shot with father and mother standing by is the one that draws the controversy...

EDIT: I know the "controversial" picture got the waive because of it's presence in the media, but I'm not sure about these. Feel free to remove them, but it serves the point that they're 'worse'.

__________________
"I'm typing on a computer of science, which is being sent by science wires to a little science server where you can access it. I'm not typing on a computer of philosophy or religion or whatever other thing you think can be used to understand the universe because they're a poor substitute in the role of understanding the universe which exists independent from ourselves." - Willravel

flat5

..

roninjacen

I agree. From a strictly artistic point of view, there's is great contrast and composition. Having gone to art school, I have seen so many shitty photos and pretentious people trying to accomplish what this portrait does so simply. Every one just needs to chill the fuck out!

Strange Famous

It is outrageous that she should feel the need to apologise for this. I know very little about her, but she is 15 and the fact that this media storm surrounds her private myspace pics or someone taking a photo of her back is crazed and to me is a sign of the sickness at the core of the tabloid media in all of the West.

__________________
"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."

The Gospel of Thomas

ASU2003

http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Musi....ap/index.html

So, maybe he wasn't there when 'that' picture was taken, but I kind of doubt that. He was there for part of it and it sounds like a fake excuse for a fake 'news' story...

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/fe...ey_video200806
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/fe...de=1#globalNav

Charlatan

Are we still talking about this? Haven't we moved on to some other non-event yet?

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

ShaniFaye

its been brought back up because that no talent coat tail riding father was on the today show today and made a statement about it

__________________
I want the diabetic plan that comes with rollover carbs. I dont like the unused one expiring at midnite!!

Church

Common now Shani, thats mean. You're gonna break his heart, his achy-breaky heart!

__________________
Through counter-intelligence, it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble makers, and neutralize them.

blahblah454

You can tell the world
you never was my girl,
you can burn my clothes
up when I'm gone.
You can tell your friends
just what a fool I've been,
and laugh and joke
about me on the phone

You can tell my arms:
Go back into the farm!
You can tell my feet
to hit the floor.
You can tell my lips
to tell my fingertips,
they won't be reaching out
for you no more.

But don't tell my heart,
my achy breaky heart,
I just don't think he'd understand.
And if you tell my heart,
my achy breaky heart,
he might blow up and kill this man.

You can tell your Ma,
I moved to Arkansas,
you can tell your dog
to bite my leg.
Or tell your brother Cliff,
whose fist can tell my lips,
he never really liked me anyway.

Or tell your Aunt Louise,
tell anything you please,
myself already knows I'm not O.K.
Or you can tell my eyes
to watch out for my mind,
it might be walkin' out
on me one day.

But don't tell my heart,
my achy breaky heart,
I just don't think he'd understand.
And if you tell my heart,
my achy breaky heart,
he might blow up and kill this man.

But don't tell my heart,
my achy breaky heart,
I just don't think he'd understand.
But if you tell my heart,
my achy breaky heart,
he might blow up and kill this man.

The_Jazz

Funniest post I've read all day...

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo