James Poulos, being thoughtful:
So what we are worshipping turns out to be less Miss Cyrus' marvelous fresh fecundity and youthful radiance and more the erotic appeal of a giant confection. In an earlier era, this picture would in fact be a painting of a nameless young girl, and it would be a work of art. In this era, it's a brick in a long, high wall.Pity. I've argued before that our problem isn't honoring the sexual power of young women, it's in aggravating that power for the purposes of dishonoring it. Miley's evocative portrait alone doesn't contribute to this problem. But the premise of the picture, and so much of what brought it into being, does.
Question: is it in any way possible for a child star to have a successful showbiz career without being screwed up massively? IOW, if Miley Cyrus's parents did what was best for her, would they get the hell out of Hollywood with the millions she's already made, and move to somewhere like Chattanooga? That Annie Leibovitz photograph ought to be a sign to them about what the starmaking machine is going to do to their daughter, and how they are almost certainly going to be complicit with it.
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Well, even the left has its fundamentalist objections to art, regardless of context:
http://dennisthepeasant.typepad.com/dennis_the_peasant/2008/04/amanda-steps-in.html
I admit I didn't follow up on it like you did; thanks for the links, especially for dlisted. I do know (not an expert, just related to a couple of them) that no photo model goes completely without makeup. The idea is for the finished photo to look like she's not wearing any.
I thought of at least one example off the top of my head, Dale--Gauguin's numerous nude and semi-nude paintings of Tehamana, his teenage mistress. I can't swear that she was 15, but it is said that she was indeed young.
I tried to find some other examples just for comparison, without going to too much trouble. (Warning: don't google anything related to the subject of teenage nudity unless you have a good mental sorting facility.) One thing that was pretty interesting was the Victorian painter Annie Swynnerton's "Cupid and Psyche," in which the stunningly nude (save for one brush of a lush pinion) couple both look as if they're about 14. Female nudity in art is all-pervasive, and I'm sure you could find more teenage examples in a short time.
My son (12) did some stunt double work for the Nickelodeon show The Naked Brothers Band last fall and by all accounts those kids seem pretty well-adjusted. As in, not bratty or entitled-acting and not into the party scene. Of course they've only been famous for a couple of year so it remains to be seen whether they'll be able to stay grounded.
It probably helps that they still live in upstate NY instead of moving to Hollywood. Plus their parents (their dad is a long-established musician) manage them and their money.
Sig:
Thanks!
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