Spring Break
Pop Culture
by Michelle Shore
Arts | 2/10/09
Posted online at 2:30 AM EST on 2/10/09
When someone mentions Disney Channel pop stars, Miley Cyrus is probably the first person to pop (pun completely intended) into mind. The 16-year-old singer/actress has given tabloids field days for months with her antics from her breakup with Nick Jonas to her relationship with 20-year-old model Justin Gaston (to quote The Soup: "It's still a felony!"). And while she may have raised some alarms with her risqué Vanity Fair photo shoot in 2008, she hasn't really offended anyone-at least until now.
Disney Channel princesses have a habit of having incriminating photos appear on the Internet, and this isn't the first time it's happened to Cyrus. But there's a fine, fine line between PG-13 MySpace pics and borderline racist jokes. This week, a picture of Cyrus and her friends imitating Asian faces was posted on her website, and it promptly sent the press into a frenzy. Despite Cyrus's half-hearted apology ("I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context!" she wrote on her blog), the Organization of Chinese-Americans is demanding a better one. "That's not enough. It's not a real apology. We're not backing down without a fuller apology," George Wu, the director of the OCA, said on Friday.
They'll probably get one, since Cyrus is still a minor, and if her parents tell her to apologize, she will. But let's be serious for a bit, here. Cyrus is a 16-year-old kid, and she's going to do some stupid things. Now, granted, she should be smart enough not to let evidence of those stupid things leak onto the Internet, especially on her official site, but what can you do?
I'll be the first to admit that Cyrus' work isn't my cup of tea, that she's fairly overrated and that she needs a lot more parental supervision. But the fact of the matter is that when you combine a 16-year-old with several million dollars and not a whole lot of boundaries, there are going to be times when her freedom comes back to bite her where it hurts. To be fair, she's handled most of her scandals pretty well, and so far, she's done the same with this. Cut the kid some slack, media. At least she's not following in Lindsey Lohan's footsteps and and getting hooked on crack.
You know. Yet.
Disney Channel princesses have a habit of having incriminating photos appear on the Internet, and this isn't the first time it's happened to Cyrus. But there's a fine, fine line between PG-13 MySpace pics and borderline racist jokes. This week, a picture of Cyrus and her friends imitating Asian faces was posted on her website, and it promptly sent the press into a frenzy. Despite Cyrus's half-hearted apology ("I'm sorry if those people looked at those pics and took them wrong and out of context!" she wrote on her blog), the Organization of Chinese-Americans is demanding a better one. "That's not enough. It's not a real apology. We're not backing down without a fuller apology," George Wu, the director of the OCA, said on Friday.
They'll probably get one, since Cyrus is still a minor, and if her parents tell her to apologize, she will. But let's be serious for a bit, here. Cyrus is a 16-year-old kid, and she's going to do some stupid things. Now, granted, she should be smart enough not to let evidence of those stupid things leak onto the Internet, especially on her official site, but what can you do?
I'll be the first to admit that Cyrus' work isn't my cup of tea, that she's fairly overrated and that she needs a lot more parental supervision. But the fact of the matter is that when you combine a 16-year-old with several million dollars and not a whole lot of boundaries, there are going to be times when her freedom comes back to bite her where it hurts. To be fair, she's handled most of her scandals pretty well, and so far, she's done the same with this. Cut the kid some slack, media. At least she's not following in Lindsey Lohan's footsteps and and getting hooked on crack.
You know. Yet.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
give this kid a break
posted 2/11/09 @ 9:49 PM EST
I agree she is young & will mess up & she does handle this well & I totally agree that this garbage needs to stop. GIVE this kid a break. I cannot understand why people think they have the right to say what this kid should wear, who she should or should not date & whether to crucify her over some silly picture, but what I don't understand is why these same people are not outraged over the way the paprazzi hound this kid & take pictures of her trying on clothing inside a store with their zoom lenses & plastering those pictures of this underage girl all over the web. (Continued…)
sarah
posted 2/14/09 @ 11:36 PM EST
she is young, even adults mess up. not even god was perfect
Joe Mama
posted 2/19/09 @ 2:36 PM EST
She is a role model for young children...or alot of dumb little kids watch her, so for her to make "chinese eyes" or whatever it is she did, she should apologize. (Continued…)
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