On the Industry
Enough Hannah Montana, Please!
By Tommy Garrett
May 4, 2008 - 4:21:20 PM

When parents fail their children it can have disastrous consequences. In Hollywood it can have disastrous consequences with a lot of headlines. It takes a while to get used to being in headlines and here at “Canyon News” we try to be fair and balanced, truly, never taking the road of a tabloid or even trying to take a side. But it becomes very hard not to take a stand when you see a child in Hollywood making bad decisions, which children do, but with the help of parents, a grandmother and an entourage of handlers.

Disney Studios doesn’t quite know how to handle their stars lately. First there was Jamie Lynn Spears who announced last year that she’s pregnant, only to have her mother say, “I am really surprised, she always kept her curfew!” Huh? So a child cannot get pregnant as long as she’s at home by nine? Having raised or not raised first daughter Britney should have given her parents much preparation for what would become a smaller version of the same nightmare.

Miley Cyrus. Photo courtesy of thehollywoodgossip.

But most of us believed that Billy Ray Cyrus (and his family) would be a great stage family, mentor and source of guidance for Miley Cyrus, who has set Disney on fire as Hannah Montana. Children from all over the world have become fans of hers, also recently putting her concert on the best selling lists. Cyrus' hit movie was also a box office success. Then came the offer from Vanity Fair Magazine to photograph the starlet in a very “artistic way.” Her parents should have taken that term to heart. Billy Ray knows enough about Hollywood to know that artistic means scantily dressed and risqué.

Miley Cyrus has in the last weeks signed a seven figure deal to write her autobiography. I offer my pardon to any children reading this column, but how boring a 15-year-old’s life seems to those of us over let’s say, 40! But fine, she’s a young budding star and I am all for her getting great deals. After all, anyone who uses her name or image gets rich, so she should enjoy the benefits of her stardom as well.

The term “child star” makes me cringe. Gary Coleman was taken advantage of, and the late Natalie Wood’s history with her parents and the studios is sad and upsetting. And probably out of the history of Hollywood, Kirk Cameron and Shirley Temple were the only children stars that came out sane and rational. But many had hope for Miley. The scantily dressed starlet has caused a lot of controversy in Hollywood. This is a child. Of course Vanity Fair has some responsibility, but their main objective is to sell magazines to her fans. What were her parents, grandmother and handlers thinking? These photographs of the young lady are upsetting, too sexy and proof that when parents start making money off of their children, they lose any sense of decency. Billy Ray Cyrus is a wonderful singer, great star, but shame on him and his wife and every adult involved with making the decision to allow a young girl to pose in such provocative poses.

In a statement to her fans, Miley Cyrus apologized for the photos and says she’s disappointed with them and wants her fans to forgive her. When teenagers start making more sense than their parents, it is very scary.