Morning Coffee is a collection of top-fold news, oddities, observations and wisecracks, peppered with financial advice, movie reviews and more gathered by TheSequitur.com contributors and editors.
As evocative photographs of 15-year-old superstar Miley Cyrus, star of Disney's “Hannah Montana” franchise, hit magazine stands, millions of reasonable people are hitting themselves on the forehead. This billion-dollar asset is dangerously close to joining the ranks of adolescent girls expectorated by the feigned family friendliness of the Walt Disney Corporation. Whenwillit end?
Maybe she was so honored by the prospect of a full spread in Vanity Fair that she forgot to ask anyone what “vanity” meant. Or perhaps she’s still young enough to have not yet learned that the media spins these things the way a hyena spins a fresh kill – without thinking or remorse. More likely, she’s just a little girl moving up in a big world that is eager to exploit her tween appeal.
The real tragedy of this story is not who she is or what she did; it’s that people let her do it.The real tragedy of this story is not who she is or what she did; it’s that people let her do it. When I’m a father, if anyone ever asks my daughter for a “full spread,” I’ll give them a full spread across my windshield. Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley’s father and the man behind such irresponsibilities as “Achy Breaky Heart” and originally naming his daughter “Destiny Hope,” was present at the photo shoot. He posed right there along with her. It is parenting like this that makes me abandon all my previously held philosophies and wish that the government would impose an idiocy fine.
In an official statement, Ms. Cyrus (is she even a “Ms.” yet?) remarked that the photos, snapped by famed portraitist Annie Leibovitz, were “supposed to be ‘artistic.’ ” I would like to clear the media frenzy away for a second and just speak to the little girl: you can’t just say something is artistic, sweetie. Remember that forever, and this will never happen again. [Wall Street Journal, People, BBC, NYMag.com, Vanity Fair, NY Times]
Jeff Dubbin is a member-at-large of TheSequitur.com editorial board.
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