by Mathieas » Fri Dec 18, 2009 6:09 pm
It for the video Party in the USA, which Milo parodied for Party in the Breeniverse and is the reason I put it up. Plus I have this running joke in breefm about requesting Miley Cyrus songs, its funny you have to be there.
Second, I tried to read the whole rant, I really did, and I am actually proud of how far I got, but somewhere around the last paragraph or so my eyes rolled into the back of my head as I fell to the ground in an epileptic seizure; however, as I flopped about for a good 10 minutes, it gave me time to reflect on your comments.
To an extent I agree with you assertions, decency has become all too uncommon. Yesterday, I watched the entire run of a British show called Misfits on the advice of Glenn Rubenstein. This is a show that really irritated me, in that it presented the protagonists, a group of crude vile rude delinquents, as heroes. In fact, the last episode was about an evil girl who used her super power, the show has super powers, to make kids behave decently and there was the typical attitude that if a young person isn't drinking and screwing around then they are abnormal (that was actually part of the 'heroic speech' by the pot smoking rude vile leader of the Misfits group.) My point? There has been a steady decline in decency and decorum in society. People no longer by-and-large take responsibility for their own actions or consider the effect their actions have on others. People no longer think twice about swearing in public, the crudest topics are considered fodder for entertainment, base people are exalted as iconic figures.
However, I must disagree with your assertion about Miley Cyrus. Guys like looking at pretty girls (the topic of whether or not chimpunk-face Miley Cyrus is pretty is a topic for another discussion.) Her particular video, in this instance, is not displaying her in a base way. Obviously, everything from wardrobe to choreography to editing was carefully crafted to present a 'pleasing' image. But I assert what is wrong with that? What is wrong with her using her looks as part of her entertainment package? Attractiveness is a talent, nah I would argue it is more a skill given the amount of time and effort required to create and maintain said attractiveness.
From a purely economic standpoint its about maximizing resources and capital expenditures to achieve optimal efficiency. What is the difference between a person who spends 4 hours a day sculpting an impressive physique and a person who spends 4 hours a day studying a given subject in school? Granted, society stigmatizes the former and encourages the later, but I would argue that, that is a poor allocation of resources.
Take the supermodel. A cursory examination into the majority of them reveals that they lack a certain predilection towards academic achievement. In short, most of them are as dumb as a bag of rocks. However, through genetics, and perhaps a lack of food in their Eastern European village, they have marketable skills in the modeling industry. What if society forced them to spend the time they would have used perfecting and maximizing those talents into pursuing an academic discipline for which they had no talent? In summary, attractiveness is a skill and there is no reason one should not fully use it to one's advantage.
In the music profession, to use a closer analogy, there are singers who are more gifted vocally than other singers. Lea Michele, star of Glee, is a fantastic singer who's talent is rivaled by few. She could easily just stand there in a burka and sing, and it would be a moving and entertaining performance. Miley Cyrus and few, if any, pop stars can do that; therefore, they need to offer something more; they must enhance their performance. Most people who attend a Britney Spears concert are aware of the fact that she is lip-singing to a studio-enhanced recording of her voice, yet they attend in droves. Why? because they go for the show, for the spectacle. If Britney Spears were a more gifted singer, then she wouldn't need as much of a 'show'; however, she isn't so she does.
One last example, The Celtic woman, a very popular music group comprised of 5 very gifted classically trained singers, each are capable of holding their own against the world's best singers, yet if one watches their concerts one will notice one immediately obvious fact, they are hot! Do evening gowns and hours in the gym enhance their vocal performance? No, but it does enhance the visual aspects of 'the show' not to mention making the group as a whole more marketable and therefore more profitable.
For the aforementioned reasons I must asset that there is no reason for an entertainer not to use their physical attractiveness as part of their profession. Physical attractiveness requires not just talent but hardwork, dedication, and a certain degree of skill. It is a talent that must be honed just like any other talent be it musical, intellectual, or athletic. To decry performers for using this skill or to say they are wrong for using the benefits derived from it is not only short-sighted, but a poor allocation of resources.
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