Miley Cyrus: The Truth Is Unbearable. A Reasonable Perspective. TheShellyPalmerReport

We are at war Gas prices are at record highs There are food shortages a credit crisis the financial markets are in hell and we are about to enter a recession So it makes total sense that Annie Leibovitz39s photographs of Miley Cyrus are frontpage news The rumor mill is running at 100 capacity and the blogosphere is replete with pundits and selfproclaimed experts foretelling the end of Mileyamp8217s business relationship with Disney Itamp8217s Cyrusgate A scandal Everyone is outragedFirst of all Disney is not kicking a multimilliondollar franchise to the curb any time soon Miley Cyrus is a amp8220bigamp8221 star by any measure and she is a massive cash cow for ABCDisney Money talks so you can absolutely ignore anyone who is floating rumors about a CyrusDisney split BTW Miley if by some bizarre cosmic shift in reality the Disney guys actually want to cut you loose Iamp8217ll be happy to pick up your contract right now no questions asked If Selena Gomezamp8217s star is rising it will do so on its own She is not going to replace Miley Cyrus If anything programming execs will try to spin her off as a separate asset Remember Cyrus is a proven earner Gomez is notOf course Cyrusgate could just be a massive publicity stunt Vanity Fair could really use the boost in circulation and thereamp8217s nothing like a controversy to drive sales But I donamp8217t think anyone in marketing at Vanity Fair is that smart No offense Disneyamp8217s corporate governance is setup to prevent individual executives from intentionally packaging this kind of scandal and truth be told they donamp8217t really need this kind of PR Miley doesnamp8217t need this kind of PR either she is already overexposed no pun intended So what is this really about Letamp8217s review Love her or hate her Annie Leibovitzamp8217s art cannot be ignored She is a gifted photographer with a unique highly recognizable style Like all art Ms Leibovitzamp8217s work is a reflection of the society from which it emerges It is not her job to create culture it is her job to observe it feel it and use her creativity to help us see and feel it too Her photographs are not just amp8220artisticamp8221 they are art as they show us who we are As a professional photographer Ms Leibovitz is used to directing her subjects She composes each shot and communicates with the oncamera talent much the same way a television or motion picture director wouldMiley Cyrus is a 15yearold professional actress She is in the business of taking direction from professional directors It is how she makes a living She doesnamp8217t write her show she doesnamp8217t choose her camera angles her costumes her makeup or anything else about the Hanna Montana character She is directed by various adult professionals who have made her a superstarSo when Annie Leibovitz arguably one of the most famous photographers in the world tells a 15yearold professional actress how to pose you can bet she is going to do as sheamp8217s toldThatamp8217s the whole story Now letamp8217s add the narrativePeople are all bent out of shape about the amp8220seminudeamp8221 seductive picture of Miley Cyrus As if somehow this photograph defiles this supposedly cleancut virginal 15yearold role modelicon If you look at it closely you can argue that her expression is anything you want it to be Put your fingers across the photograph to cover her body and if you look only at her face she could be thinking or doing anything It is nondescript in the extreme Her back is bare So what Anybody with a long lens could catch a much more disturbing picture of her in a bikini at the beachThe truth is that none of my interpretation matters The only thing that matters is what you think What does this image say to you Whatever it is amp8211 you are right And more importantly you are entitled to your feelings and they are valid Thatamp8217s what makes Annie Leibovitz an artist as opposed to a Paparazzi She can evoke emotions from you that are under her controlNow if you donamp8217t like what you see You have only yourself to blame By this I mean you have only our culture to blame If you think that this particular 15yearold is not exhibiting behaviors that are appropriate for her age donamp8217t blame the artist or the subject In fact donamp8217t blame anyone just go fix it Are our children exposed to too much adult content at too early an age Are they striving to live faster than we would like Do you feel it is inappropriate for tweens to dress like young adults If so then fix it one child at a time You can start right in your own house But donamp8217t blame the artist or the artistamp8217s subject They are simply a reflection of who we are and what we are doing Of course the socalled amp8220seminudeamp8221 picture was not the only picture that caused a controversy Thereamp8217s this very nice fatherdaughter portrait In truth this one makes me a little bit uncomfortable Billy Ray and Miley look a bit like em err amp8230 well they donamp8217t look like theyamp8217re in a fatherdaughter kind of pose here So much for the amp8220her dad had already left the photo shoot when the amp8216controversialamp8217 shots were takenamp8221 theory If you were Billy Ray and Annie Leibovitz with camera in hand told you to amp8220lean back on one arm put the other arm around your daughter and look out into the distanceamp8221 youamp8217d have followed directions too In conclusion I must remind everyone that there is not one single consumer in the Hanna Montana universe who reads Vanity Fair or at least there wasnamp8217t until nowShelly Palmer is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted The Transition from Network to Networked TV 2006 Focal Press Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts ampamp Sciences NY the organization that bestows the coveted Emmyamp174 Awards He is the ViceChairman of the National Academy of Media Arts ampamp Sciences an organization dedicated to education and leadership in the areas of technology media and entertainment Palmer also oversees the Advanced Media Technology Emmyamp174 Awards which honors outstanding achievements in the science and technology of advanced media You can read Shellyamp8217s blog here Shelly can be reached at shellypalmernetCheck out the Shelly Palmer Report archive

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Miley Cyrus: The Truth Is Unbearable. A Reasonable Perspective. TheShellyPalmerReport

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