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Here is the vanity fair photo that caused all the controversy:

I personally dont see what the fuss is all about: among other reasons, she looks 25 in the photo, not 15, so it does not give you the feeling that an innocent child is being corrupted, even if that might be true.

It is silly to blame the photographer for persuading her - she hardly needs any persuasion, see

even a shot of sharing candy with another girl

this video might also be enlightening: http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1487044469 Surely the parents should be pointing the fingers at themselves first?

As the daughter/grandaughter of well known entertainment figures, Miley Cyrus must have been "exposed" at a very young age. The culture there, and increasing in US and world society generally, is to flaunt your assets (and those who are a bit low on assets can always enhance them with liquidity - a joke I made up after I read about Britney Spear having a breast enlargement operation, a report she initially denied - she also claimed to believe in virginity till after marriage, even though she was already living with Justin Timberlake at the time; her fans, and reporters, were not at all bothered by the lies, which too is part of the culture)

In case you are still not getting what I meant, look at these photos:

who is this youthful looking guy? her boyfriend? no, he is her dad! Do photos like this look a bit creepy? well as the famous chef Harry Truman said, if you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. (Another one of my jokes, made up when Michael Jackson burnt his hair during a pepsi ad shot) Entertainment industry, or for that matter, any industry with potentially big money to be earned, is no place for the weak kneed. If still not convinced, try this video

http://www.youtube.com/v/3keEzdkCjW4&hl=en

Disney, of course, has to say politically correct things about family values, and as someone who gets multiple millions from the company, she has to follow suit, but I find it hard to take what they say seriously. Underneath, they must be laughing at all those uptight people out there.  I hear she will be a billionaire by the end of this year from the Hannah Montana show and CD sales; she can actually afford to tell critics to go to hell, but I guess it is easy enough to put on a solemn face and wipe away a few tears, while you cry all the way to the bank.

as a matter of interest, someone saw a disney ad in beijing that is not any better than miley's photo

no this is not a unauthorized fake - it was a real disney subcontractor - just as miley is a genuine disney entertainer; it shows how hard it is to maintain family values these days

No I would not let my daughter take photos like these at age 15, or even 25, but if some entertainment companies have a few hundred millions to spare, then of course we could come to some suitable arrangement...

The earliest case of scantily dressed singers I remember was the spice girls.

Spice Girls  
 
Spice Girls is a band of five girls who wear scanty clothes and prance around while they sing. They are very popular, because people like to see scantily dressed girls prance around. Why? It has something to do with Eastern religion. Everyone gets reincarnated, and you either were a scantily dressed young girl in a previous incarnation, or are going to be in a future incarnation, or want to be one in the present incarnation. Modern psychology says the same thing. According to Freud, inside every middle aged, overweight man or woman there is a scantily dressed youth struggling to get out. One of the rare situations where science and religion agree.  
There is a sixth spice girl who prances around with a violin instead of singing. She produced CDs like Red Hot, Storm, Violin Player, China Girl,... though in the Storm CD picture she looks more like an Indonesian. She has an English surname Nicholson, but was born under a Thai name, but now she uses neither of these surnames, but simply calls herself Vanessa Mae.  
The other Spice Girls also have short names. All this is the fault of the education system, which forces teenagers to learn things with long names, like Shakespare, I mean Sheik Speer, oops, Shock Sphere... Shiok Smear... eh well like.. you know what I mean... This puts them off long names for life. In any case, the Spice Girls show that you can make a good living without learning long words. You even get to marry exciting, macho soccer players. Only those people who want to be professors need long words, but professors are not young, they dont wear scanty clothes, they dont prance around, and they dont marry soccer players. They are not good role models for teenagers, the way Spice Girls are.  
That is the problem with the modern world, the shortage of good role models. We used to have Diana, who campaigned against landmines by taking a walk in Bosnia and having some pictures taken, and quickly went yachting with Dodi Al Fayed for some more picture taking; now that is the kind of things people want to do. Running a government and leading countries out of recession - well it sounds terribly boring; that's why people dont usually want Tony Blair or Goh Chok Tong to be their role models. It is much nicer to think of Bonnie Hicks.  
I am sorry to say that Bonnie and Di are both dead. But the Spice Girls are alive. Long live the Spice Girls.  

Michael Jackson, the Great Chef  
 
Michael Jackson was the greatest chef America has ever produced. Not only was he responsible for inventing numerous exciting dishes, he was also the first to successfully exploit the media of laser discs and video tapes to propagate his recipes. His discs and tapes were best sellers all around the world, including such remote places as Armenia, Botswana and China.  
In one of his video clips, Michael explains the techniques of cake making.  
First you must get some eggs, and "Beat it; Beat it."  
Then you must put the cake into the oven, and "Heat it; Heat it."  
Then you must take the cake out, and "Eat it; Eat it."  
The messages are direct and easily understood. They touched the hearts of his fans all around the world, not to mention stomaches.  
Michael puts all his energy and commitment into his work, and even risked his life regularly - the kitchen being such a dangerous place, where fire mixes with water, and water with oil; where lamb's meat is placed next to lion's meat, and in some Chinese kitchens there are even snakes! Once, Michael was taping a famous recipe sponsored by Pepsi Cola, and his hair caught fire. Coming out of the hospital, he was asked by reporters whether he would go through the same experience again, and he answered without hesitation: "Of course! In the words of the famous old Chef, Harry Truman, 'If you cannot stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.'"  
It is no wonder that Michael Jackson sets an example of professional dedication and personal mission to young people everywhere. Sooner or later, everyone learns to go into the kitchen and risk his life to cook a meal, inspired by the great example of Michael Jackson. The world owes him a debt.

Stars明星 and  玉女 discuss the star issue generally - in english and chinese