Austin360 blogs > TV Blog > Archives > 2009 > August > 21 > Entry
Of papas and pole dances
I recently took some heat on Twitter for a post I made in advance of MTV’s Teen Choice Awards.
Word leaked that tween idol and Hannah Montana alter-ego Miley Cyrus’ live performance would include a pseudo pole dance on top of an ice cream wagon. This news broke on the same day that the Internet exploded with naked photos of another Teen Choice nominee, “Twilight’s” Ashley Greene (who plays Alice Cullen in the series notably popular with teen girls and their moms).
“Miley pole dancing? That ‘Twilight’ actress whose naked pics just broke on the net? I think my daughter will be skipping Teen Choice Awards,” I wrote.
“Yea! And don’t let her play video games, they cause violent behavior!,” a follower replied. “Keep her locked in a closet between school days to be safe.”
I thought that reply was a little sarcastic and extreme, and not particularly helpful. But maybe I’m wrong. Because now Miley’s own dad, country music personality Billy Ray Cyrus, is defending his daughter’s performance, according to US Magazine.
“You know what? I just think that Miley loves entertaining people,” the mag’s Web site quotes Miley’s dad. “I always tell her to love what you’re doing and stay focused for the love of the art and not worry so much about opinion.”
“I give my kids a lot of freedom to make the art they wanna make, and make it in their own voice. I think it’s important,” he added.
Although the performance turned out to be relatively mild, does anybody really think that pole dancing on an ice cream wagon was Miley’s idea and not strategic packaging by parties interested in publicity and the continued shedding of her Disney-clean image (already tarnished by risque Internet pics and suggestive photos in Vanity Fair)? To me, that exploitation is the most obscene part of this whole mess.
Is this the type of thing you’d want your 11-year-old daughter exposed to? Watch the video, then tell me what you think:
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment Categories: Entertainment, Random thoughts
Comments
When commenting, we ask that you keep things civil and abide by our Visitor Agreement. To report comment abuse, click here.
By Michelle
August 28, 2009 11:39 AM | Link to this
Miley did NOT pole-dance. She was holding on the pole for support, both when she squatted down to sing and when the ice cream cart was moving. There were no pelvic thrusts or swinging around the pole. I object more to the moves her dancers were doing at the beginning.
Much ado about nothing!