Milley Cyrus

Is America really as prudish as it sometimes appears to be? It’s really hard for me to tell. Particularly as I’ve never been there. Judging a country solely on their cultural exports is clearly fraught with danger. I mean, I have seen American films from every degree of separation of morality’s compass. From ‘Wild at Heart’ to ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. So that tells me nothing. I have read that over half of all Americans would not vote for an atheist president, yet some of the smartest, wittiest , most liberal people I have ever heard speak come from the USA. Hmmm, it makes it hard to generalise doesn’t it.

So I’m at a loss what to think about the recent Miley “Hannah Montana” Cyrus scandal. On the one hand I get the feeling that it’s a cynical but very successful manipulation of the media, from everyone involved, including Vanity Fair, Disney Channel, Miley’s own management and possibly even the photographer, Annie Leibovitz. This explanation sits best with me, because the alternative is simply too weird to comprehend.

I saw some shots from the shoot last week, but until today I had not seen the “shot” that everyone’s knickers were seemingly getting into a knot over. When I did, it all became a bit weird. Because looking at it using my sensibilities, it is, as the photographer claims, a very tasteful, mature portrait of a young woman. There’s nothing sleazy about it in any way. But it seems America disagrees. On Usmagazine.com, you only need to read some of the pages of comments to see just how different people’s perspectives can be.

From a photographer’s point of view, I like it. The lighting and hair are great, the pose is beautiful, and the expression is very honest and revealing, but not at all sexy in any negative way. I probably don’t agree in an artistic way about the lipstick, but I don’t have a very hi-res copy to look at here. If her lipstick is however, as it appears to me, to be slightly dishevelled, then I think I understand where the “she looks like she just had sex” comments are coming from. Again, I need a larger version. But look. I don’t know this girl at all. I have no idea how old she is, and I don’t have any pre conceived notion that she is innocent or whatever. I’ve never heard or seen Hannah Montana, so I’m lucky there. What I do see then is a girl in her late teens, clearly in a sexual phase of her life. This girl has then a sexuality about her that is completely natural. She might only be 15, and might still be a virgin. I could care less. My point is that there is a natural inbuilt sexuality to her (however recent and immature, or even initiated that sexuality may be), and there’s nothing immoral or wrong about posing her in this way. It’s not as if she’s 9 and she has a very sexy pose and expression.

And I know Annie’s work. She’s a very good photographer. Totally overpaid, but good luck to her. She knows how to take a good shot, and I think her apology is the only sensible thing I’ve read today about the whole issue. She said: “I’m sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted..” She’s not sorry about the photo, just the fact that it’s been misinterpreted. Good on you Annie.

As for America…. I don’t know what to say. Thank God I don’t live there is probably foremost in my mind. The atheist in me despises America’s overt religious posturing, and I see this “moral outrage” as just another pretentious example of that. At least there’s one thing the religious zealots in America should be happy about. All the radical Muslims probably agree with you on this one.