On Monday celebrity blogger Perez Hilton posted a so-called "up skirt photo" of actress/musician Miley Cyrus wearing a short, short dress, allegedly sans undergarments, getting out of a car. I’ll let your imagination fill in the rest but suffice it to say that there is plenty of blame to go around.
First where is Billy Ray Cyrus on this Father’s Day weekend? What is your response, Mr. Cyrus, and who do you talk to first --your daughter about teen appropriate dress or Mr. Hilton? If someone posted a picture of MY daughter on a blog like that I think "talk" would have a totally different connotation when we met to "discuss" the issue.
Next, Mario Lavandeira aka "Perez Hilton" the self-anointed "Queen of all media" what the heck were you thinking posting a provocative, uncensored picture of a SEVENTEEN-YEAR-OLD GIRL on your Twitter page? The only good judgment you showed was to take it down, but was this before or after ABC pulled "The View" ads from your Web page?
It’s one thing to "discuss" sex tapes of Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Kendra Wilkinson and most recently Danielle Staub (you know that “famous actress” from "The Real Housewives of New Jersey"?). But a 17-year-old? Really? Is the celebrity business so affected by the recession that you need to increase your audience or is this simply a case of anyone, who is in the public eye, regardless of age, being fair game?
Also, Miss Miley Cyrus, you’ve made the comment that "Hannah Montana" is gone and you now want to be able to dress the way you wish, which is becoming more seductive by the day. To quote from a recent interview, “I'm not trying to be 'slutty’... what I'm trying to do is to make a point." Hmmmm…and the point would be?
Finally, here's a question for our fame-focused American society. Did you realize that the Miley Cyrus flap received the same level of Internet interest as the oil spill, immigration and the coming midterm elections? What does that say about what we as a people consider interesting…..and newsworthy?
My question is simply this: In a world with spotlight craving, pseudo-celebrities mixed together with paparazzi, bloggers and media commentators all feeding a pop culture obsessed public...Where does it end?
Dr. Dale Archer is a psychiatrist and frequent guest on FoxNews.com's "The Strategy Room." For more, visit his website: Dr.DaleArcher.com.
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