The Lady Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks

What is & what was


OK, right off the bat, let me clear this up. The quote is correct as I have written it in the title. Most people think that the word methinks begins the quote when, in fact, it ends the quote. Don't EVEN think you can quote Shakespeare to me incorrectly. Of course, in Hamlet's day, the meaning of protest was to affirm instead of deny as we use it today. It is in the non-Shakespearean manner that I use it. Having cleared all that up, let's move on.
Miley Cyrus, a.k.a. Hanna Montana is a far bigger bs'er than Britney Spears, and I'm far less gullible than I used to be. In an attempt to deflect the firestorm coming her way as a result of the "Lolita"-like pose on the cover of Vanity Fair, she claims to be embarrassed by the way the photo turned out (slutty, in my opinion, given the fact that she's all of FIFTEEN!). She is trying to get folks to believe that she never intended to look as if she just arose, naked, from a session of the mattress mambo; this, in spite of the fact that she claimed at one point that the photo was "artsy." ("Art" films meant something racy when I was a kid)
Pity all those preteens who mortgaged their Barbie collections just to get the several hundreds of dollars to see her live in concert this past summer(in which, by the way, she used a body double at one point!). Pity their mothers who now have to explain that it's probably NOT alright for their daughters to even pretend to be Cyrus at this point, much less go to Galmour Shots and have photos taken just like this or have "Hanna Look-Alike" themes for a birthday party or a sleepover.
All of this is not new, of course, and that's why I find it so heinous. We somewhat fell for this when Britny morphed from Mousketeer to deranged flasher (sorry, I promised myself I wouldn't pile on someone who obviously has come off the top rope onto herself!). Now, ANOTHER teen pop star is about to make the jump into "adult" music and begins with a daring photo shoot...then claims to be embarrassed by the result? Fool me once, shame on you, etc. etc. As if the millions scraped from the bottoms of young girls' piggy banks and sofa cushions weren't enough! (Of course, when one realizes that Beyonce was once a porn actress, I guess any publicity is good publicity).
So, I'm not buying the "apology." Annie Lebovitz, noted photographer for such expose-type shots, indicated that Cyrus AND her parents looked over the digital photos and agreed to use them. In one article, I read that Cyrus's "handlers" were on stage at all time...I thought of all the animals Johnny Carson used to bring on his show that had "handlers." Who has handlers at 15, and why weren't they handling this raunchy...oops...artsy photo shoot...and one of her lying across her father's lap in a somewhat suggestive pose? Even Hamlet would have objected to that. (Not protested, mind you, because it meant something different then).
Will this be too much for Disney, especially after the "High School Musical" nude pics on the internet? Will EVERY star now be created at Pixar studios? Should this even be a big deal? I dunno...maybe we just needed something to spice up the news.
But remember this the next time YOU stand in front of a camera lens: the camera doesn't lie...unlike its subjects