Hannah Montana on an Unfamiliar Stage

The May 2008 print edition of Plugged In featured Disney star Miley Cyrus—aka Hannah Montana—on the cover and posed the question: "Can this tween sensation live the rock star life and keep her feet on the ground?"

It's proven a timely query.

No sooner had our presses cooled than the tabloids' print shops began heating up—as did the electronic buzz throughout the blogosphere. Twice in the space of a week, racy images of Miley made headlines.

The first batch of photos were private pictures gone public. In one shot, Miley playfully pulled down a tank top to reveal part of her bra. Other shots showed the star languidly draped across a young man's lap—her then-boyfriend and son of her producer, according to People magazine—with her midriff showing.

The smoke hadn't even begun to clear from that bombshell when a second detonated. Entertainment Tonight broke the story about Miley's photo shoot for the June issue of Vanity Fair. Suddenly, decidedly un-Hannah-like images of Miley were everywhere. The most controversial? The 15-year-old striking a sultry pose while holding a sheet to her chest and exposing a bare side and back. It's been reported she was wearing something underneath, but the effect made her look functionally topless. Another unsettling pic featured Miley—again baring her midriff—reclining against her father (singer and actor Billy Ray Cyrus) who summoned his best beefcake pose.

Enter the Spin Cycle
During the Vanity Fair shoot, everyone apparently found the pictures acceptable. Miley said of the bare back shot, "I think it's really artsy. It wasn't in a skanky way." Photographer Annie Leibovitz, whose most famous celeb pics are nude images of John Lennon and Demi Moore, concurred, saying, "Miley and I looked at fashion photographs together, and we discussed the picture in that context before we shot it. The photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is very beautiful."

Despite that generous assessment, backlash in the press and among many fans has been swift and vicious. Newsweek described the pictures as "Lolita Does Disney." A 15-year-old poster to Miley's MySpace page unleashed: "Those pictures were really slutty. You're losing a lot of fans doing that stuff. If you keep it up you're going to be like Britney Spears." Clearly, the star of Hannah Montana is now performing on an unfamiliar stage.

She quickly responded with a public apology.

"My main goal in my music and my acting is always to make people happy. For Vanity Fair, I was so honored and thrilled to work with Annie. I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic' and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed," Miley said. While she was at it, she also offered up a mea culpa for the other photos, saying, "The pictures of me on the Internet were silly, inappropriate shots."

In the wake of this controversy, many have asked, How could this have happened to a young woman whose handlers have carefully cultivated her image as squeaky clean role model? Multiple explanations have emerged. Disney claims the magazine deliberately manipulated the situation. Vanity Fair shot back, "Miley's parents and/or minders were on the set all day" and approved of every picture taken. Still others in the media proffer a more cynical assessment: that it was all a carefully calculated ploy intended to initiate Miley's transition from child star to young adulthood (never mind, of course, that she's still only 15).

Maligning the Media Machine
OK, enough news and enough speculation about that news. More important than the "he said/she said/the Mouse said" banter is what families are supposed to do about this new blemish on the face of a pretty respectable singer and actress. We'll likely never know whether Miley's miscue was a marketing stunt, a naive gaffe or something in between, but there are some lessons here for fans and parents of fans who're pondering the resulting mess.

In her apology, Miley thanked her fans and said, "[I] hope they understand that along the way I am going to make mistakes, and I'm not perfect. I never intended for any of this to happen, and I am truly sorry if I have disappointed anyone. Most of all, I have let myself down. I will learn from my mistakes and trust my support team. My family and my faith will guide me through life's journey."

We all want to give Miley the benefit of the doubt regarding her intentions. But anyone who's ever made a bad decision knows that good intentions aren't always enough to keep us out of trouble. The lesson: Even when a celebrity idolized by millions trumpets her plan to be a good role model and her desire to live a life that glorifies Jesus—as Miley has done over and over again—those good intentions alone may not be enough.

Additionally, it's easy to sympathize with Miley's desire to please people. But many of us have learned (albeit much less publicly) that few things can undermine integrity and credibility faster than choosing to please the wrong person in the wrong circumstance. Could it be that Miley Cyrus, in a weak moment, just wanted to please the famous photographer her parents had paired her with? We'd—and she'd—do well to remember that the impulse to give the people what they want (which is, after all, the cornerstone of the entertainment industry) will inevitably conflict with any good intentions about being a healthy role model.

When a star such as Miley suddenly makes a left turn it's also fair to ask what influences in her life might have contributed. There's a not-so-subtle clue embedded in the first paragraph of the Vanity Fair story. Talking about her TV habits, Miley gushed about one program in particular, saying, "It's my favorite show! I love it!" The series in question? Sex and the City. Whether Miley's been watching an edited version in syndication or the nudity- and explicit sex-filled HBO original, her affinity for a show that glamorously showcases shallow sex and skin demonstrates a disconnect between the values of the faith she professes and her own media choices.

Sex and the City didn't make her pose with a sheet ... or with her boyfriend; nothing she's said suggests such a definitive link. But if there's anything Plugged In is committed to, it's the idea that the entertainment we ingest influences our perspective on ourselves and the world around us. So isn't it fair to ask, How much is Miley's affection for something like Sex and the City in the mix here?

Three Fingers Pointing Back
The point isn't to preach at Miley Cyrus. Rather, it's to set the stage for some concrete, practical thoughts about how families might navigate the increasingly murky waters of teen and tween entertainment—a deep-sea world which has lately been ruled by Cyrus and Co.

First, a note to parents: If your tween or pre-tween has yet to take the plunge into that ocean called Miley, you might want to hold off. Miley's given ample reason at this point to proceed with caution. Surprisingly, Disney may even be an unexpected ally here. An unnamed but high-ranking Disney representative was quoted by the New York Post as saying, "You won't be seeing her for a while. The company is keeping her away from events and wants her to keep a very low profile for the next four to six months. They're trying to keep her contained."

For those with tweens who are already so immersed they're starting to think Hannah is the capital of Montana, it's more complicated. But there may still be a silver lining to this pop-culture cloud ... if we're willing to wrestle thoughtfully with what's happened. Miley's missteps provide an opportunity to talk about several significant subjects and address some difficult questions that all tweens and teens will have to grapple with at some point as they mature.

1) Reputation. What does Scripture say is the worth of a good name? (See Proverbs 22:1 and Ecclesiastes 7:1.) What kinds of choices undermine a good reputation? What do we believe contributes to others thinking well of us? How do we think Miley's—and her family's—choices will affect what people think of her? Does it matter what people think of her? Of us?

2) Consequences. Scripture clearly teaches that our choices will always have consequences (Galatians 6:7-9). What are some of the consequences Miley may experience because of her decisions? What kinds of outcomes might we expect to face when we make careless or wrong choices? What lessons have we already learned from poor decisions we've made?

3) Modesty. How does one define the word modest in the midst of a culture devoted to its opposite? What's necessary to value purity and modesty despite what's around us? And what factors most influence a family's understanding and convictions about modest dress? Stumped? Proverbs 31:30 is a good place to start. In the New Testament, read 1 Timothy 2:9-10.

4) Entertainment. How do our media choices influence our values and behavior? (Read Romans 12:1-2.) What kinds of entertainment might be causing us to conform to the "pattern of the world"?

Miley's Mickey Mouse halo of wholesomeness has no doubt been tarnished. Is it a sign of things to come? Time will tell. Is it a painful reminder of how human we all are? Certainly. It may also be just the jolt we need to make us think about how easily we, too, are swept into the all-consuming, ever-present fantasy world that our entertainment culture ceaselessly promotes.

Forget about Miley. What about us? Can we live the rock star life and keep our feet on the ground?