Sounds like that makes sense when you get down to it, besides it’s not even the only charity that Miley supports. She’s worked with Youth Service America before, like that whole 16th birthday thing at Disneyland which was to their benefit. Then there’s her involvement in Blessings in a Backpack in Kentucky and of course we shouldn’t forget her foundation together with her dad named after her grandfather. She also did something with the organization To Write Love On Her Arms. Those are the things she does publicly, no idea if she supports more organizations that people simply don’t know about. I would say her getting an award like that makes sense.

So what does the media do? They question whether she is the right person to receive that award. Why? Because of her “wild” behavior and being a bad role model. Of course all scandals are being dragged up again. From the most recent one, the bong; to the oldest ones like the Vanity Fair pictures. That her dad Billy Ray did an interview with GQ didn’t help, especially seeing all the media fail to notice that things have changed since that interview was given.

Now here’s the thing; all this charity stuff that Miley does has been going for years. Yes, so have these scandals (though some of those still have to be really questioned, I’ve been questioning the quality of American strip clubs since Miley’s “pole dancing” scandal) but were they equally reported? Not by a long shot, as always the focus is on the bad stuff. Like she was more mocked that her 16th birthday tickets were so expensive rather than being praised for the revenue going to charity.

Sometimes it even seems like potential news stories are ignored just for the sake of not making her look good. She premiered her ear tattoo for the first time at a Blessings with a Backpack event, did anyone pay attention to it? No, if they had made a story about the tattoo, they would have needed to pay attention to the event. Seems like they preferred to choose to make a big deal out of it at a later time. Though that’s a bit conspiracy theory seeing a lot of media outlets are involved, I just can’t imagine no one ever noticing it.

Yes, Miley made some mistakes in her years as a celebrity, does that however disqualify everything she’s done in charity? No, of course not. I think that Miley should also be praised for not gloating too much about her involvement as some people tend to do. Thing is that when certain things are highlighted all the time and others ignored all the time, people get the wrong impression of a person. I would say that all the media does in their biased reporting is create an unfair image for Miley and this just proves it. There clearly still are people who see through it all and what do they get for it? They get mocked because the sad fact is; the biased people are the majority.

Due to its length; you can also download this blog as a PDF file

Media
The media will try and make people believe things; that has always been the case and sadly always will be. There is no such thing as purely objective media, it’s true for any area but it’s very true when it involves young celebrities. With this whole role model thing I think that the media are the main ones to blame for it actually, trying to make people seem a certain way. When they have succeeded in building up this image; they make things look worse than they actually are, focusing on the bad rather than on the good. When a media outlet reports on something that isn’t actually bad but presents it in a way that it is, is it really the “role model” that is doing something bad?

The thing with the media is that it has changed, a lot; mainly because of the internet. The pressures on young stars and the scrutiny on them is so much higher than it has been for people even one generation earlier. More and more people have access to the internet and also access to faster internet. Even when you look at when the likes of Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan had their career start, the internet for the most part was still dial up. Sites like TMZ.com and Perezhilton.com didn’t exist yet, they only started five years ago, let alone the million other clones that are out there by now.

When Britney broke through in 1998 it was still the tabloids that were in charge of celebrity reporting. Scandals existed yes but they were reported on once a week, maybe a couple of times a week. A celebrity was forgotten about fairly quickly, if a scandal even came to light that is. Today with who knows how many gossip sites there is a far greater call for material and modern technology helps them in that.

When we just look at private pictures that are being leaked of celebrities, whether they are scandalous or not they are still being leaked. That didn’t happen in the past. Why not? Because five years ago most phones didn’t have cameras, these days decent digital cameras cost next to nothing and every phone has a camera. A lot more pictures are taken, do you really think that in the past people didn’t do anything “scandalous”? Of course they did, there just weren’t any cameras recording it.

What also happens is that the media keeps the image alive even though it isn’t actually there. When you take Miley Cyrus as an example; her first “scandals” came along very early, when she was only fifteen years old. Be it hacked images or her topless shoot (let us forget for convenience that it was shot by a famous art portrait photographer), so she hasn’t been “perfect” for a long time, so why still pretend that she is?

The topless thing is just another way of treating her differently anyway. When Taylor Momsen does a topless photoshoot with pasties (17, so she can’t exactly show nipple) no one actually notices. Though that might be because the actual shoot isn’t out yet, it’s not even her first topless shoot as a minor, she’s done one before which no one paid attention to. So for something to be a scandal it also takes the media to make it one. If they’d report unbiased, there wouldn’t even be a problem in most cases.

Parents
The role parents play in the role model thing is that it seems like parents are trying to blame the problems of society on young celebrities. “My kid looks up to celebrity A, so if celebrity A does this, so will my kid.” Well no, that’s not how it works.

Having a kid admire a celebrity can be a good thing, it shows them what they can achieve if they set their mind to something. It also brings them joy in the form of music, TV shows and movies. There is nothing bad about it, however using celebrities as a moral guide for kids is wrong. Even worse than that is using them as a scapegoat for the troubles in society. Celebrities are a product of society, they don’t create it.

The unrealistic image
Celebrities are kept to an unrealistic standard, they aren’t allowed to make mistakes. When they do something that is considered “bad” they will be burned for it, doesn’t matter what it is and doesn’t matter whether it’s fair or not. Though the problem is that certain celebrities and companies actually feed into this image; with the purpose of increasing their popularity. Using an artificial image as a marketing tool is only going to do one thing; bite you in the ass.

You can’t present a young teenager as a perfect human being, they don’t even know who they are yet. They still have so many experiences to go through and can’t possible know where their path in life will take them. Yet somehow they are seen by media and parents as perfect human beings, they aren’t allowed to make mistakes. Thing is, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t make mistakes. There are always “bad” things about a person, even if they aren’t really all that bad to begin with.

The “bad” influences
So what bad things are these young celebrities doing that are such a bad influence on our youth?

Smoking
An age old subject by now, the idea that when a young celebrity smokes that the youth will be doing the same. Let me first point out that about 1 out of 5 adults smoke, this is actually a fairly low number, for most countries it will actually be higher. I absolutely hate smoking, I have nothing nice to say about the subject but why hate on someone for smoking?

I also would have to point out that I think that young celebrities might actually take up smoking easier than other groups of people. Why? There are smoking roles in movies, not just for adults but also for teenagers. They of course can’t actually smoke cigarettes because it would be illegal, they use herbal cigarettes. It removes the addictive nicotine factor, however when someone learns to smoke, even if they aren’t real cigarettes they get used to the sensation of inhaling smoke. Combine that with a lot of people in the business smoking I would say that it’s not a stretch that they try smoking real cigarettes at a later date. Also when you add in the stresses of Hollywood and know that nicotine has a calming effect.

Someone like Kirsten Dunst had smoking roles at a teenager but in that process also said that she’d never smoke because she hates it. Doesn’t stop her from smoking now, just like Abigail Breslin just did a role where she had to smoke herbal cigarettes. She also said that she wouldn’t do it, that she hates it but she’s 14, who knows what she will do two or more years from now. Even at an older age when they are legal to smoke it can have an influence.

Anne Hathaway admitted that she pretty much became a chain smoker by shooting her Oscar nominated role Rachel Getting Married (though she says she has quit now). Celebrities will also be hounded for saying that they’d never smoke, they make those statements at a young age. How many things have you done you once said you’d never do?

Note that this is just a form of explanation, some understanding, it’s in no way an excuse. They are influences from their environment, just like there are influences in the environment of other teenagers. A teenager won’t start smoking because a celebrity does; odds are that in most cases they will never see them smoking other than in a movie or two. I would actually have to refer to a quote by Taylor Momsen; she’s not telling kids to go out and buy a pack of cigarettes.

With 1 out of 5 adults smoking, I would also think that it’s far more likely that kids get confronted by the habit in their surroundings. If a teenager has a parent, grandparent, sibling or whoever that smokes, are you really going to blame a celebrity for it? The “cool” factor would be enforced more in school than any other celebrity ever could.

Drugs
Celebrities do drugs thus kids will start doing drugs. No they won’t; when a celebrity goes to rehab for a cocaine addiction, do you honestly think that a teenager goes “I want that too!!!!!” I think quite the opposite. If we’re talking about drugs like marihuana I think it would be wiser to look at the laws in place. It’s attractive because it’s illegal and in the scope of drugs not really all that bad.

I’m willing to bet that there are more pot smokers amongst teens in the USA than there are in the Netherlands. Sure, it’s illegal to do so for teenagers in both countries but when it’s not all that illegal, the danger factor gets removed. Even in the USA it seems to be becoming more and more normal these days, though still illegal.

The recent “trouble” around smoking drugs was of course Miley Cyrus smoking Salvia from a bong. Supposedly causing a dramatic increase in Salvia sales; sales tripled! According to some media. Sure, they might have tripled but how much was the actual increase in volume? We never heard anything about that, did a head shop sell 3 bags instead of 1 or did they sell 300 instead of 100? Statistics can be manipulated and be used to tell your own version of the truth. Besides, who does a sales analysis over a period of one day? Make a statement about it a year from now, not the day after.

Besides, the drug is legal. I might not approve of that sort of thing but no crimes were committed. Miley is deemed such a bad role model for smoking the Salvia, people are crying out that Hannah Montana should be pulled from the Disney channel and what not. So why would those same parents let their kid go see Twilight? Kristen Stewart is a known smoker and most of all a known pot smoker. No idea how often she does it but she has been caught in public doing it yet no one really cared.

Rather telling really, Miley smokes something legal and the world comes to an end, Kristen smokes something illegal and no one really gives a shit. Sure there was a short blip in the media when it happened but nothing more than that. In the end however neither Miley or Kristen is telling anyone to smoke anything.

That Miley smoked a bong once for some reason makes a lot of people think that she is a drug addict. For a drug addict you’d expect someone to know how to smoke a bong a whole lot better but do these people even know what they’re saying? They’re reducing a case where a teenager seemingly tries something for the first time to an addiction. You know what that is? It’s actually an insult to addicts. There is no way to judge based on one single video whether someone has a drug problem or not.

Now there is this supposed idea from Disney to start counseling their young stars, to avoid the pitfalls of the celebrity life. Who better to do it than Britney Spears right? She’s been through things, she knows what she’s talking about. Though the general feeling seems to be that it would mainly be a way for Disney to save their face after Demi Lovato heading to rehab and a lot of people believing that Miley will do the same in the future.

It also makes me wonder about the media, why would you ask thirteen year old Bella Thorne on how she will avoid going the wrong way in the future? I’m pretty sure that if you’d have asked Britney or Lindsay the same question at that age they would have said the exact same thing. Make sure you stay close to your family etc, etc, etc. It doesn’t really matter. Bella doesn’t know what person she’s going to be five years from now and neither does the media. So presenting a thirteen year old as someone who has done nothing wrong is obvious. She hasn’t had the time to make “mistakes” yet.

Alcohol
Again focusing on the USA I have to say that I noticed one thing about people who turn 21. It’s all about the booze, even the ones that don’t really care for alcohol at least make it a plan to have their first drink on that night. There is this build up in culture where having your first drink is a big occasion, though for most it wouldn’t even be the first drink. Referring back to the illegal and dangerous factor as with drugs.

There was the story of Miley again, drinking a beer in a nightclub in Madrid (though the only picture that exists actually only shows her holding it). Outrage! It’s illegal for her to drink! The drinking age is 18 in Madrid? No media, it’s 16, not 18. You can pretty much drink beer and wine everywhere in Europe at that age, in some countries it’s even accepted younger than that. I’ve seen ten year old girls down a pint of Fosters without much trouble (though that isn’t exactly a positive example).

So why is it a problem that Miley drinks a Corona in a night club in Madrid where she is allowed to do so? Because she’s a role model! Yes, a role model that’s not breaking any law; stop the presses
!. Just because the drinking age is 21 in the USA it doesn’t mean she has to conform to that in countries where other laws apply. It’s just a problem because it’s Miley though, when Hayden Panettiere was celebrating New Year’s Eve in Italy with champagne (or the Italian equivalent) when she was just 18, no one cared. Though she wasn’t actually on the Disney Channel but she also didn’t do anything wrong.

Partying
People say that Miley is the next Lindsay or Britney because of her hard partying ways! What hard partying ways? Yes, she’s been to nightclubs and she’s bound to have had private parties (besides ones where some lowlife records her smoking a bong) but does this actually paint us a picture of Miley’s partying life? We don’t see her coming out of night clubs in the middle of the night each and every week. We also don’t know what she does when she is at a club like that.

Oh hang on, we actually do. So far anything I read about Miley being at a club was in the range of she was dancing and drinking Red Bulls. Now I find stuff like Red Bull disgusting but the only thing it is, is an energy drink. It’s not exactly anything bad. Though most gossip sites won’t mention it that way, there it only matters that she was at a night club, that it could possibly have been rented out for a private party doesn’t really matter. Not really interesting anyway; telling the truth would make it seem harmless.

For all we know she actually might have been partying too much, we don’t know. Like so many things we don’t know, however the story the media tells about it isn’t the real one. I would have to ask what teenager doesn’t go to parties though, seems like a very normal thing to do. The thing with Lindsay Lohan also was that her partying ways interfered with her work, showed up to set late or not at all because she was out until who knows how late the day before. Has there been any report about Miley or any other current teen star in that sense? No there hasn’t, none that I know of anyway.

There of course was a tabloid that recently reported that people were worried that Miley would get Kelly Osbourne on the wrong path again (the tabloid in question is as reliable as a broken clock though). Kelly sprung into defense mode and revealed that Miley is actually being a good influence and that she’s learning a lot from her. Now when we shortly go back to the counseling idea with Britney Spears. People feel that it’s a good idea because she’s been through things.

So has Kelly Osbourne but how do people react? She’s a drug addict and parties herself! Have you taken a look at Kelly Osbourne lately? She changed, a LOT, she’s put some work into herself. She’s even admitting that she can’t promise that she will never relapse. Does that sound like a person who hasn’t faced their mistakes from the past? I think not, so why wouldn’t someone like Kelly be able to help someone like Miley? Guide her through things that come with the celebrity life at that age? The only thing I can think of is the prejudice against Miley and that for some reason people just don’t like Kelly.

Doesn’t every teenager go to parties? Even the biggest couch potato does once in a while, the only thing they look at in regards to young celebrities there is music. Depending on the party there might be some Miley playing or the Pretty Reckless. People throw parties; that is being taught to kids from a very young age, starting with their first birthday.

Clothing
Oh yes, the clothes celebrities wear. What would the gossip press do without them? When you go judging dresses on a red carpet, go right ahead. That’s a public spectacle anyway so people are bound to be judging what people wear. There is also a sort of dress code for certain events so it’s natural that people would be required to follow that.

What about their day to day clothing though? Does it really matter? People seem to think so and the number of paparazzi sort of prove that. Though what I don’t get, a couple of years ago there was this trend where you could see celebrities wearing three or four outfits on the same day. People complained that they were treating the streets as a red carpet and yes, it did make things look very fake. That seems to have changed though, when I look at paparazzi pics things seem to have gotten way more casual. So what do people do? They complain, that celebrities should try harder. You truly can’t please everyone.

If we look at Miley Cyrus again; she has this tendency to wear things more than once. Even days in a row when she could afford to wear something new every day! Why would she? If she likes a pair of shoes or if she likes a T-shirt why not wear it frequently? I actually commend her for that. Whether people like the things she wears is a personal matter.

The same goes for her stage outfits, too sexy a lot of people say. Sure, the outfits she wears aren’t exactly shy and there is bound to be some sex sells factor involved. That they fit with what she does and that they might be comfortable is of less importance obviously. If Miley wears a leotard on stage, does it cause an increase of leotard sales all of a sudden? No of course not, it’s a stage outfit, it’s for a performance, it’s not what she wears out in public on her off day.

It’s the same old story anyway. I remember that my high school made the national news because of our new anti-Britney Spears dress code, a ban on stomach revealing tops. You know, because it was a Catholic school and one or two students actually wore one to school. Were they inspired by Britney? Possibly, was it a fashion trend? No. If Miley was trying to start a fashion trend; wouldn’t her clothing line feature more leotards and less normal teenage clothes?

Same goes for any clothing range presented by a teen celebrity really. I would say that Selena Gomez’ clothing line is very conservative compared to what she wears. Yes, people tend to ignore Selena a bit but if they would actually take notice, her casual clothing style isn’t exactly all that shy either. Very casual yes but casual to the point of no bras being present. Even Dakota Fanning can be seen out and about revealing a whole lot of bra, there’s just no one that cares.

Tattoos
I honestly believed that tattoos were getting more and more widely accepted. That they were becoming normal, where in the past there was still a stigma on tattoos we even have tattooing celebrities these days. I mean someone like Kat Von D. is doing well for herself and she’s a tattoo artist who managed to become famous.

You’ll also have a hard time finding a young celebrity who doesn’t have any ink, sure they exist but in a way I believe that the tattoo has truly become mainstream. Until Miley Cyrus decided to get inked up that is. The girl likes tattoos, that much has already become evident now. Getting three within a year when you’re only 17 is quite a lot, though none of them are actually really big and you actually need parental consent for it, so they would have been signed off on.

So why is it scandalous that she gets them? It seems that just because it’s Miley, it’s a bad thing that she gets tattoos. That she’s getting them because she’s rebelling, trying to get rid of her Disney image and what not. I really need to find a new definition of the word rebel when it means that someone gets a tattoo in memory of a dead friend, designed by her own mother no less. The word LOVE in her ear, as a symbol to keep the negativity out or a heart on her pinky finger because everyone in her family has a heart tattooed on their hand. Here I was thinking that things like skulls and cross bones or upside down pentagrams were signs of that. It’s also odd to rebel by getting tattoos when your parents both have who knows how many tattoos.

If it’s a way of getting rid of a Disney image; why has no one ever written about the many tattoos of Hilary Duff? She was a Disney star a big one and can be seen sporting something like half a dozen tattoos. When someone like Hayden Panettiere gets a tattoo it’s funny because there is a spelling error in it, otherwise it doesn’t matter. Those girls aren’t exactly old either and teenagers also look up to them, so why is them having tattoos fine but not for Miley?

I’ve also never really heard anyone make a statement about Demi Lovato rebelling with her tattoos, while she has one in pretty much the same place as Miley (just on the other side of her chest) and one behind her ear. Because no one cares really, though maybe now they will more seeing she was in rehab. Which in itself is quite wrong, putting more pressure on someone right after they have dealt with underlying issues.

Why are tattoos bad? There are many forms of body modification. A lot of people are saying that Miley should get her front teeth fixed because she has a crooked tooth. Getting this fixed would be a form for body modification, just like a tattoo or piercing. If she’s fine with her crooked tooth why would she get it fixed? Just because other people think she should? People also wouldn’t be bitching as much if she had gotten breast implants, sure they’d bitch about it somewhat but tattoos? Oh yeah, those are way worse. You know, a little ink added as body art is far worse than being put to sleep and two small silicone bags shoved into a chest.

Plastic surgery isn’t a bad thing for people who it can help to improve their body image, just like a tattoo isn’t anything bad. People are free to do with their bodies what they want, I wouldn’t be surprised if some gossip blog writer goes to visit her botox clinic right after trashing Miley for getting a tattoo. No, you don’t have to approve of tattoos, you can hate them all you want. Does it mean they are a bad thing? Of course not, they’re a choice like so many things in life.

Sex
Oh yes, the sex subject. Are celebrities still virgins? Are they staying pure until marriage? Honestly, why do people want to know and why are they putting their noses into private matters?

Here is an example of where marketing ties in with the whole role model shit. The purity rings, rings that are shoved on teen stars swearing abstinence until they are married. These promises are made by young teens, when you ask someone in the age range 12-14 on whether they plan on having sex anytime soon, I think that the answer will most likely be no. It’s not a subject they would have thought about all that much yet.

The promise ring is just stating the obvious at that stage, something the media feeds into and blows up as something good. Don’t we live in a world where sex before marriage has become widely accepted? I’m not saying that abstinence is a bad idea, it’s something that is a feeling that someone can have, something they feel they have to do. I don’t think a ring is needed to enforce that. Teenagers change, when a teenager puts on a ring at 12 and at 16 realizes that they want to have sex, is the ring really going to stop them? I sincerely doubt it.

Now that Selena Gomez is rumored to be dating Justin Bieber it has actually become a subject of interest that she doesn’t wear a purity ring anymore. Somehow that means that she’s having sex now. What if she did? Who on earth cares, it’s her business and no one else’s. She doesn’t need a ring to show whether she is still a virgin or not. She also might simply not feel that way anymore and removed the ring for other reasons without giving up her virginity. The gossip sites want the juicy stuff though obviously.

In a way, I always felt a bit strange about people like Selena or Miley wearing them. It almost seems like they were told to put them on, seeing that in a way they are an insult to their parents. Why would you advocate something as wrong when you’re saying that you yourself are a mistake in that sense? Though it seems that Disney and the media have toned down on the whole purity ring thing, I haven’t seen it pointed out anywhere in a while. Except for the Selena thing that is.

Homophobia
Recently there were leaked pictures of Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato, pictures in which they are close to other girls. Wildly inappropriate is what people are calling it, girl on girl action! First of of all, if you want girl on girl action go rent a good Lesbian porn movie. Second, has the world gone homophobic or something?

Since when is it wrong for a girl to kiss another girl? Whether people approve of it or not, being gay is a normal thing in our society these days. So what if Miley or Demi would be gay or bisexual? If that’s their nature, so be it; there would be nothing about it. Even suggesting it is a stretch, have the people who write that stuff ever gone to teenage parties when they were younger? Girls getting cozy with each other really isn’t anything rare and in a lot of cases there isn’t even anything gay involved. Miley and Demi goofing off in pictures isn’t anything different by the looks of it.

So what if her make up artist lifts up Miley’s dress a little or has her mouth close to Miley’s breast? Miley’s expression to me suggests that they’re goofing off. She’s doing it to keep up with Demi is what some people are even suggesting. Those pictures aren’t leaked by Miley herself, or Demi for that matter. The picture was taken back in June (which can be easily figured out but the media are just too lazy to do so), long before there was any Demi “picture scandal” so how was there any intent to spread it? If she wanted to start a scandal she’d take a new pic now and spread it, not use one from six months ago.

It’s a pretty well known fact by now that Miley has a serious picture leak somewhere and that is something she should take care of. The idea that anyone would leak pictures on purpose, to ask for bad press is just beyond weird. They really should take a look at how humans work, when you’re beyond hounded, beyond trashed in the media, no one is going to do anything on purpose to make it worse.

Then there are is the on stage move where Miley dips one of her dancers. Girl on girl kiss on stage; Scarlett Johansson and Sandra Bullock did an on stage kiss this year and that was even acted but it was still more of a kiss than anything Miley did. I haven’t seen any lip locking on stage by Miley, it’s just a dance move, part of the choreography, deal with it. I really question what people are thinking when they write that sort of crap. Do they even realize that they’re being beyond homophobic, by calling something interpreted as gay, bad?

Morality
Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan are apparently bad people for having personal issues. Yes, they have committed criminal acts in getting busted for things like DUI but I think it’s widely proven that they have underlying causes for their problems. They’re not bad people, they’re just people who have made mistakes and in some cases continue to make them. Do they have any bad intent in doing so? I sincerely doubt so and that is what makes a bad person stand out; intent!

The whole bad girl thing is beyond screwed up anyway. Like Miley and Demi are branded the new Disney bad girls now, sure, they could go the way of Britney or Lindsay but so could Selena. There is no way to predict the future and times have changed a lot since Britney and Lindsay started their downward spirals. Also just as I said, it doesn’t actually make them bad people. That’s however what people make them out to be. Give these people a chance before branding them a certain way, or would you like to be judged as someone you aren’t? When someone says Miley or Demi are just like Lindsay or Britney; it just shows that people aren’t even willing to actually look at a person.

What I really can’t stand is people proclaiming what bad Christians people like Miley are. To me religion is still something that is a personal choice and something that is interpreted by oneself. So what if Miley is a Christian? Just because she interprets it differently than someone else doesn’t make her way wrong. People even playing the religion card on the leaked pictures is beyond screwed up. Miley has always shown support for the gay community, like a lot of other Christians. She’s dedicated songs to them and has even publicly commented in support of gay marriage, through all of it she still calls herself Christian. Why would one picture make her a bad Christian all of a sudden?

Morality is something that is based on your own beliefs and guide lines you were taught in your life. Just because one person considers something bad, it doesn’t actually make something bad. That’s the key with using celebrities as a role model, they were raised with different morals. So why would anyone want their kids raised by someone who doesn’t meet their own beliefs and values? What should be admired are the talent and what they achieve and on whether they actually area a good person or not. Whether they agree on certain things and choices in celebrity’s lives shouldn’t matter.

Sometimes I do wonder when masses of parents and the media will break out their pitch forks and burn someone like Miley at the stake. Because that is what it’s starting to look like; a witch hunt.

Lessons learned
It’s easy for parents to blame problems in society on celebrities instead of using them. So what if Miley smoked drugs? You don’t want your kids to smoke drugs? Use it as an opportunity to talk about it. Make it a subject of conversation, don’t remove Miley from their lives just because you don’t want them exposed to something. When your kids like Miley, they will find a way to see or hear Miley. The internet makes sure of that.

The main lesson that should be learned from that bong video is that you should be more careful in picking the right friends and be less naive in certain respects; which is a valuable lesson. Also what Miley has done since then should be commended; rather than coming up with some weak public apology (if she even needs to apologize for anything, though sooner or later she sort of has to address it to avoid the media going all over her) she continues to live her life and continues to work. That now her Christmas (which she spent with her whole family) and New Year’s wishes for her fans are being dragged through the media is weak at best. Miley being mature about a situation like this isn’t exactly news; it’s how she usually reacts.

Yes, celebrities can be used to teach, use it as an opportunity to discuss the pitfalls in life. Be it sex, drugs, smoking, alcohol or whatever. There are even examples of parents who rather discuss or share experiences with their children rather than shutting them out of their lives. It is a fair question, would you rather that your kid takes their first drink at a shady party or in the safety of their own home under parental supervision?

When you tell your kids that they can’t admire a celebrity because they made a mistake in their eyes, aren’t you telling your kid that they aren’t allowed to make mistakes? Mistakes are learning experiences in life, what they’re also saying is that you should shut people who made mistakes out of your life. How is that a good lesson to teach your kids?

These people also call someone like Miley dumb because they make mistakes; which isn’t very moral to me either. Do people honestly believe that there are no smokers, alcoholics or drug addicts in Mensa? It doesn’t matter how smart you are, everyone makes “mistakes” if you even want to call them that. Intelligence isn’t the same as wisdom and I think there is little wisdom in shunning someone for making mistakes.  Everyone makes mistakes out of naivety, it doesn’t make someone dumb, it’s how we learn. I would also doubt that someone with no brains at all could achieve the level of their craft as most of the celebrities that are being called dumb.

Most of all these celebrities aren’t telling anyone to do the same thing as they do. They will all say that they are growing up and that they will make mistakes, does anyone listen? No, they are branded as a role model and have to fit some stereotypical straightjacket. It’s not fair and it’s just not right, you can’t ask someone to live a fake life because someone else looks up to them.

Would you want to live a life with that constant pressure on you? The idea that whatever you do, however harmless it may be that people will look into it and try to find something bad? It’s no pressure that should be put on anyone, let alone teenagers who are still in the process of finding themselves. Even when they say things like that they aren’t heard, people focus too much on the role model thing. So in that sense celebrities are being a good role model, listen to yourself and admit that you’re not perfect, you’re going to make mistakes. That’s the sort of thing people should listen to. They have their own message, not just the one the media wants you to hear.

What is my conclusion?
So what if a sixteen year old teen star is sharing an after sex cigarette with her girlfriend while studying their new matching crotch tattoos. They’re not telling other people to do the same.

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I don’t believe that that is the case. As far as I see it, there are three sorts of people. People who seem to care too much about their image, people who do what feels right but still think about it and there are those who just don’t care about it at all. To illustrate what I mean I’m going to use three examples. For the first group Selena Gomez, for the second Miley Cyrus and for the third Taylor Momsen. Why those three? Mainly because the media likes to report on them the most, though they generally put Taylor in the same category as Miley which I don’t agree with. Some of them even turn it into an image competition.

It shows in everything really, let’s start with the kind of interviews they do for example. Selena is rarely caught on any even remotely questionable opinion, everything she says is just safe. Which as such isn’t a bad thing but it makes her just seem a bit distant, not very emotional, no real passion about something. You always get the impression that she thinks about every word she says and there better not be anything bad.

Miley on the other says what is on her mind (though less in the past, seeing quite a few jokes were misinterpreted because people don’t understand sarcasm), it’s not like she ever says anything really bad but she won’t not say something just because it might cause drama. Then there is Taylor Momsen who pretty much will talk about everything as long as it’s shocking. People especially liked pointing out her comments about vibrators and masturbation. She doesn’t care if she’s seen as an oversexed drug addict.

Then there are the performance outfits they use, of course Miley and Taylor perform more but Selena is starting to get into it a bit more now. Miley does dress racy yes, I know that and I have pointed it out before and I even questioned it. When she wears things like leotards she doesn’t hide much but the thing with that is, that she never has hidden it really. She’s being accused of changing her image this year to get rid of her Hannah Montana fanbase. Now the people who say this are forgetting one thing; Miley has been criticized for her performance outfits from the very start.

Be it wearing a short plaid skirt at one of the first performances to short skirts during her Best of Both Worlds tour to hotpants on the Wonder World Tour. There has always been criticism and yes the outfits have evolved to wearing less but she has always been criticized for performing in too sexy outfits. So in my eyes that whole argument doesn’t make any sense, I just think she feels comfortable in it in a way. Sure there will be people advising her on what to wear and those suggestions would also be made with a certain idea behind it but I don’t think she would wear something she didn’t want to.

Taylor Momsen is just random in her performance outfits, there also isn’t a whole lot of them there. Usually showing off as much chest as possible, her main tool I think are her shoes. The giant stripper heels and she even says that that’s where she gets her stuff. Just like with the interviews it’s more to shock people than anything. The thing with Selena Gomez her performance outfits is that they are more sexy than they seem, in a sense even more than Miley’s. They usually show off a lot of chest and a lot of leg. Which isn’t a crime but to me it seems like she’s stepping it up just a little, hard to say really, she’s still new to it.

In a way Taylor needs what she does, her voice fits her music well yes but what else is there? When you see her performing in all reality it’s a bit bland, people can say she focuses on the music but when you flash your tits that argument is pretty much completely lost. It’s a part of the act, it’s a way of getting attention to it, her performances need the shock factor and she likes to give that. Miley wears little on stage but she also moves around a lot, she doesn’t actually show anything naughty on stage just a lot of skin. That she moves around a lot and tries to give people as good a show as possible is lost on them. If people would stop focusing on the leotards for a second they’d see that.

People even accuse Miley of getting her tattoos for the sake of her image, that her whole family is into tattoos and have a lot of them is lost on people somehow. Her mother has too many tattoos to keep track of, her older sister isn’t exactly ink free either and then there of course is her older brother who is one big tattoo. Besides, if you were to use that argument; why isn’t Taylor Momsen covered in tattoos yet? Would think that that fits perfectly with her “image” and yet there are none, well there is one but it’s so small that you have to question whether it can even be counted as a tattoo.

There of course also are what they wear when not “on the job”. For Taylor Momsen I honestly don’t know because you don’t see her hounded by paparazzi all that much, mostly only on the Gossip Girl set and when she’s out promoting something. Does she dress the same in other circumstances? I have no idea. Miley gets a lot of criticism because of her wardrobe, was it in the past for showing too much bra when wearing a tank tops, now it’s not wearing a bra when wearing a T-shirt.

She never actually shows that much but when she wears one of her ripped shirts and you can see part of a breast and read the tattoo under it of course the media is going to jump on it. Selena’s outfits no one cares about and she doesn’t even have to think about it, the paparazzi don’t pay her all that much attention. Would think that if they followed her more there would be more to complain about seeing she’s not exactly fond of wearing a bra either (if she even owns one). Accidents are bound to happen and seeing Miley is the one that’s being hounded the most, the bigger the chance of them finding a “scandalous” pic of her.

When we look at careers I’m going to ignore the music because you can read the reviews on this site how I feel about that. There has also been criticism regarding Miley’s career choices and how they fit with her quest to change her “image”. When you look at Selena you can see she’s only done safe things so far, though she recently indicated that it might be time to venture outside of comedy. When that will happen we’ll see, as for Miley, for now she’s actually sticking with comedy but she’s still expanding. LOL, her next movie is a comedy with some drama touches to it and with more adult contents like drugs, alcohol and sex.

Is that role a way of changing her image? No, I see it as a way to grow as an actress and to do that you also have to choose a different subject matter. People who think that this is such an attempt at changing things would also be wrong for the simple reason that this isn’t going to be a big release, it’s an independent movie. Odds are most people won’t even see it. The movie after LOL is So Undercover which is an action comedy, so again comedy but a different genre. How is that changing her image? Just because she plays someone she’s not it means an image change? They don’t call it acting without a reason. She also still has Wings planned which is a fairytale under Disney (though you never know if it will actually happen), if anything that would be dropping her whole “new image”.

What Miley does is broadening her horizon, while she steps out of her comfort zone she’s still staying close to it. Venturing out but carefully and not outright go into an R-rated film with who knows how much swearing and nudity. She’s making sure that in the future however she can make a transition into genres that she isn’t doing now. Crossing over without leaving what she knows but still a way to learn, it’s a different case with Selena. Selena so far has done the same basic character in several movies, never venturing out into something else. This could hurt her in the long run, when you look at someone who was in a similar situation, in this case Hilary Duff. She stayed with the safe roles at first but then decided to do more serious roles and failed to be seen as a serious actress. She actually did a good job in According to Greta but did anyone even see it?

Doing different roles and expanding is a way of preventing that, even though it will still take a lot of hard work from either Selena or Miley to prevent it from happening. The generic Disney star image is a strong one in people and it’s not easy to get rid of. Selena however is and she’s being seen as a great potential actress which in my eyes twists reality around a little bit, if Miley is seen as a generic Disney star why isn’t Selena? Doing the same basic character over and over again isn’t challenging and most certainly isn’t showing a large range. This weird safe image she has however overcomes that somehow. I do however believe that if she doesn’t do something outside of her comfort zone within the next year, it will hurt her in the long run. Don’t even know how to fit Taylor Momsen in here seeing I don’t even know if she’s going to continue acting as things are going now.

My main problem with image is the perception of it all, different standards apply to different people. Let’s change images around a little, let’s say that Selena had Miley’s image and was trying to be as sexy as possible as Miley is being accused of. Well to be honest she’s already trying in performances and people just see it as growing up, nothing more. I’m pretty sure that if Miley had Selena’s image people would say she’s trying too hard to stay “good”. Not even mentioning Taylor Momsen with Selena’s image because no one would have a clue who I’m talking about.

Images aren’t as black and white as people make them out to be. Selena seems to be all about image, the image is what carries her and if she were to do something that will harm herimage I don’t know what will happen. Miley hasn’t tried to maintain an image even though people want to believe she has. People who say that Miley tried to maintain her squeaky clean image over all these years and is now dumping it must only have the Disney Channel on their TV seeing that it’s a complete lie. If someone were to say it about Selena; they’d have a point.

You cannot base your view of a person on just one TV show, if people actually paid attention to what Miley says and does they’d see that. The thing with all these Miley “scandals” (you can only call one or two actual scandals) show is the different perception of Miley and actually is evidence that she did not try and maintain an image. While Taylor Momsen tries to be more shocking each and every time, whether it be in an interview or on stage. No sense of preserving any sort of image in there.

So there can’t actually a case of someone trying to change their image when they don’t have a real image to begin with. Sure they do things that will change the perception people have of them but are they for the reason of an image change? I don’t think they are. Selena uses image as a marketing tool, Miley does what she feels is right as an artist at a certain time and Taylor does what she does to boost her music career because she sort of has to. So three people who are all accused of going for an image but in my eyes, it’s just not true.

Miley smoked Salvia which is a substance which is legal in California so in that sense she didn’t do anything illegal. I personally however feel that substances shouldn’t be legal either, however they are. I also realize that this is my personal view and that a lot of people don’t agree with it, it’s not my choice. In the end it’s the law that decides and everyone can do what they want in that sense. So Miley didn’t break any law, she made the choice to smoke Salvia. It’s her choice, not mine.

I have stated before that I don’t agree with this whole role model nonsense, parents should be raising their kids, not celebrities. They can look up to celebrities of course but the celebrities aren’t the ones who set their moral boundaries, their own experiences in life and their parents should take care of that. However, it is a fact that people see her as a role model whether it be right or not. So she has to consider that if she does something it can affect her career.

If she chooses to try something like this, she should do this on her own terms and make sure it’s around people she can trust. I am now going to do something I never ever do on here, I’m going to judge someone I don’t know. Anna C. Oliver, get the fuck out of Miley’s life. This is a woman who actually eggs her on to do more and is actually fishing for her to say something while filming it (the voice has been confirmed to be hers). The video is said to be stolen well sorry but that sounds like bullshit.

There have been rumors around this woman regarding Demi Lovato as well, who she is/was friends with. There have been rumors about her selling information to the tabloids regarding Demi. Now this woman is Miley’s friend and assistant it seems, so what starts happening? Shit starts spreading about Miley. Mysteriously leaked pictures show up all over the place, from a stolen camera it’s said and now a little later this video. I wouldn’t be surprised if more stuff started to leak, Miley probably doesn’t have a run of the mill camera with only very little storage space.

Do we know for certain it was Anna Oliver who sold the video? No, even though she’s the prime suspect but that doesn’t actually matter. What matters is what goes on in the video, remember this is someone who works for Miley. Someone in a position of responsibility, she is supposed to protect her employer, not compromise her career and her life. She and her friends shouldn’t be encouraging Miley to do more and most of all they shouldn’t be filming it. They were also obviously coaching her in the usage of a bong, seeing she failed miserably and got it shoved in her face again.

Yes, in the end Miley is responsible for her own actions, she made the mistake of smoking the Salvia, despite it being a legal substance nothing good was going to come from smoking it. People who believed that she’d never do it are sort of deluding herself if you ask me, it’s known that for example her older brother smokes pot. He’s even open about it, so it’s not something that doesn’t happen around her and it’s something a lot of people try (though there also a lot who don’t). So there was always a chance that Miley would try something like this.

There are people saying that she’s the next Lindsay or Britney, that she is going to crash and burn and what not. I don’t agree with this statements. Yes, it can happen, doesn’t mean it will. As mentioned it seemed to be her first time using a bong, though that doesn’t mean she hasn’t tried other things before. It however also doesn’t mean she’s a drug addict as some people are trying to make you believe. Is it a warning sign? Of course it is, it’s a sign that people should pay attention as to what she does, how she does it and who she does it with.

I do sincerely hope that this Anna Oliver disappears from Miley’s life and loses her job, I have no sympathy for the woman. In my eyes she’s a leech, Demi Lovato went into treatment and what happens? She’s Miley’s assistant, sounds a bit too fishy if you ask me. I know that there were a lot of people who already felt about her this way but I was always in doubt, there is no proof as to what woman she really is. Now she however she has shown her true colors and the explanation for all these Miley leaks is probably also found. Miley should be confronted by her mother (her dad isn’t really any help it seems going by his statement on Twitter) and other people around her. Like Kelly Osbourne who she’s going to shoot a movie with, she knows what it’s like to have problems and have the wrong people around you.

As I said, Miley is responsible for her own actions, even if there is pressure she is still the one taking a hit from the bong. That doesn’t change the fact that she shouldn’t surround herself with leeches like Anna Oliver and her friends. She does have a responsibility to herself, to her career and also to her fans. They’ve been proven to not be trustworthy, it sucks so bad that Miley can’t even trust the people who she sees as friends. Miley has to take good care of who she surrounds herself with. It sucks that she has to be paranoid but that is the reality of her life.

This should be seen as a wake up call before she does things that could hurt her life even more. The people who are there now aren’t the ones who can prevent her from doing that. People like her mother can’t take care of everything, especially when someone in a professional relationship with Miley is trying to get her to do the wrong thing; people have to be fired. That in combination with her being away in New Orleans, shooting So Undercover, I hope it will make her reflect on things.

No, I will not shun Miley over this, everyone makes mistakes however it makes me questions things and makes me worried. In this case however it could be a costly one for her, despite it not being anything illegal. As I write this I don’t even know if I will post it on the blog, you will find out when you read this line. It’s not something I usually like to write about but it’s just a fucked up situation, a situation that Miley in my eyes doesn’t deserve. Because through all of this one thing remained; Miley is held to a different standard than anyone else. That however is something she should be aware of. I’m not asking her to change who she is, I don’t care about her wardrobe or what not as long as it’s her. When there however are people in her life that are out to hurt her, they need to go.

With having written this, I want the return the blog to its original purpose and focus more on careers again instead of private lives, though as we all know, in some cases they cross paths like it did here. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t to have a blog about things like this.

See here is the thing. The pictures came from a phone that was stolen together with a private camera when she had a party last week (though this is still somewhat of a speculation out there, it seems the most logical explanation, one fact remains, content was stolen, the way how doesn’t really matter). So we have someone who steals something and then goes spreading its contents around the internet. Not just that but something which according to the law is child pornography (even if only barely).

What the fuck is wrong with people? You are invited into a home and what do you do? You steal stuff. Not just that but then you go on to spread the stolen items with the intent of hurting someone? I’m not quite sure how to describe a person like that but they will never get any respect from me. In fact I’d question if I should even call them human beings because a heart and a conscience is something they don’t have.

That is the main thing that is beyond fucked up about this whole situation. Who’s going to get shit for this? Miley is, while she’s actually the victim here. Do I approve of her taking the pictures? Well it’s none of my fucking business, neither I or anyone else was ever supposed to see the picture. Do I have things on my computer that I’d rather have that other people wouldn’t find out about? Hell yes but it’s still there. I’m pretty much convinced that almost everyone has things on a phone, computer or whatever electronic device that they’d rather keep hidden.

Should Miley be careful with what she does? Of course, she’s a celebrity. The risk of this happening to her is about a million times bigger than it is for someone like me. Does it mean she should stop living her life? No, she can’t be thinking about what consequences some actions might have her entire life, it’s just not humanly possible. Especially when they are things that if someone else did it, it wouldn’t matter. It only matters because it’s Miley (or if it were any other celebrity) and in that process the real problem that arises here is forgotten.

The fact that celebrities have no right to be either human or have a private life. Everyone fucks up, it’s a fact. Did Miley fuck up in this case? Yes she did, she let someone in her house who’s obviously a morally defective low life who can’t be trusted. Someone who went in there with the intent to do nothing but hurt her. That the person involved would have a conscience even lower than your average criminal is the timing of it all. Like Miley hasn’t had enough shit piling up in her life lately, the most obvious being the divorce of her parents of course.

The treatment from the media in all of it is just appalling, writing this without knowing the exact extent of the scandal I can only guess how bad it will be. No doubt she will be called slut, bad role model and every other name they have for her will be dragged up again. She doesn’t fucking deserve that, no one does. I honestly wonder how these people can go to work and write trash gossip and articles like that. Then they go home and I have to ask, can they look their kids (if they have them, I somewhat hope not, THOSE are values I don’t want passed on to the next generation) in the eye and tell them they’re good people? Because in my book they aren’t.

Then there is another problem; her own fans. There are websites out there who actually say that this is something that should never have surfaced, that they feel sorry about Miley and what not. So what do they do? They post links to the bloody picture. Not just that, they actually blur the picture in areas which makes it look worse than it is, there is no crotch in the picture so why blur it? That is more suggestive than posting the full thing uncensored. I wonder if they know how the word hypocrite is spelled because that is what they are. I will never post that picture, it is something that was private and should remain private. The “It’s out there anyway” which seems to be a favorite with a lot of people is bullshit and they know it. Yes I am writing about it but I am writing about the shit that the unfair treatment towards Miley and other celebrities causes.

Will this hurt Miley? On a personal level I’m almost certain it will. What kind of life is it when you have to be paranoid about everyone you have in your life? Does she really have to do security checks when people leave her house? Maybe she should ask the TSA for some equipment to deal with it. Professionally it won’t hurt her, I mean what is her image to the gossip press already anyway? Can it really be hurt that much more? Even though it’s not a correct picture of Miley at all, she doesn’t deserve that. So I’m also glad to see that I’m not the only one out there condemning the actions of whatever criminal did this rather than just crucifying Miley because of it.

What I wonder though is where is this going to go? What other stuff is there on that camera and phone? It doesn’t have to be anything that would be bad for us mere mortals but we already established that Miley is different. She is expected to be a goddess but she isn’t a perfect goddess so that automatically makes her a demon it seems. While in reality it makes her the same as us, a human being.

Edit: a bit over 12 hours after the pics showing up for the first time now and it seems that there are quite a few media outlets who are calling it a fake (though plenty that are calling it real). While I said we can never be sure that it actually is Miley due to the missing face, it seems that this is the main argument for people. It however doesn’t change the nature of the picture and the idea behind it, so in the event of the picture indeed being a fake, most of the points would still stand.

Further Edit: there are now also claims that say that a Miley body double is responsible for the picture.  If this is truly the case people might say what is the point of leaving the article up? It still proves a point, in the original story there was talk about a stolen phone and no one cared about that, only the naked picture. So the fundamental problem is the same as it was before. Also the original article was not edited in an attempt to make anyone look right, like some other sites are doing. Also I’m not scared to admit it, if it indeed turns out to be a body double; I fell for it. Odds are that no one will find out for sure anyway; right now I’m expecting this to simply blow over due to the sheer doubt involved in the matter.

Final Edit: it seems certain now that this indeed is a fake picture. It has been officially denied as being Miley and that’s the only real thing people can go on now. Though there will always be people who doubt it due to the missing face. The legal consequences of this are uncertain though there is speculation about it.