Don’t Worry, Google Will Let You Know What’s Popular!
If it is on TV it is popular on Google. I check my Google trends almost every morning to see what is hot and what is not and how I can profit from that just like any good blogger. What I have found out this morning is neurosyphilis, which was this week’s featured but wrong diagnosis on House sits in the number two slot, right behind Harvey Dent and just ahead of grand theft auto 4 cheats.
I am not sure what it means when the cheats for a new game rank well above the rating for the new game itself. I sometimes long for the days of simple video games that required a quarter slug to cheat. The fact is I just don’t the point of a lot of new video games. I love first person shooter games like Halo or Ghost Recon, but I think that goes with having extra helping of testosterone. Kill! Kill! Kill! I never got that kind of satisfaction out of pacman.
Back to the latest trends. While Harvey Dent still ranked above neurosyphillis plain old syphilis ranks above the new dark knight trailer. A recently found tape allegedly of the guitar legend Jimi Hendrix having sex with two women at once known as the hendrix sex tape is more popular than all the Miley Cyrus scandal links. My question since this is a tape close to 40 years old, how much distortion is on it? Is there any Purple Haze?
While Jimi is and always will be popular as a musician, I have my doubts about Miley Cyrus saying the same thing. She is a hot young woman, even if she is only fifteen. What irritates me is all of the over protective mothers and religious groups thinking they need to stick their noses into this situation, because frankly it is none of their damned business. I am disturbed at the number of links we are still finding today in Google Trends such as Miley Cyrus scandal, mylie cyrus, hannah montana naked, miley cyrus vanity fair, miley cyrus provocative pics, hannah montana vanity fair, miley cyrus photo shoot. I do have to laugh at the last one which ranks right above how i met your mother the goat.
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April 29th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Thanks for the pingback.
I’m neither an over-protective father (or mother for that matter) and I have no religious beliefs.
I am concerned at the sexualisation of children, not just 15 year-olds but much younger. The fact that Hannah Montana’s fanbase includes a sizeable proportion aged 10 or younger is one of the reasons why I have to take issue with the photographs. Equally, the fact that so many so-called responsible adults buzzing around the Miley brand felt it OK to allow such shots to be taken is a real worry.
In the UK we’ve effectively failed an entire generation, something I’ve written about a number of times. The pressures we place on them are not the sort we would tolerate ourselves, so why are we allowing them to impact so damagingly on this generation?
That is the real scandal.
Anyway, thanks again and I enjoyed reading your take on the Vanity Fair “scandal”.
Paul Grovess last blog post..24-hour news - never wrong for long
April 29th, 2008 at 11:58 am
For me there is absolutely nothing sexual about the photo. As a former photographer, I look at it both with the critical eye looking at style, technique, and all the technical aspects of it. From that angle I am less than impressed with it. From the casual observer standpoint I see a pretty teenager showing her back, no big deal.
I understand your view of sexualizing young girls, but for me this is not a case a of that. Nudity doesn’t equal sexuality in my book. I know there are a lot of people that can’t separate the two. If we fail to make that distinction we validate every Muslim man who says it is a a disgrace for a woman to show any skin in public and if they do, it is their fault for being raped.
For me I am actually glad we could see both the final shot and the behind the scenes shots. I am also glad they showed as much of her back as was shown too. First off The behind the scenes picture just looks awful like she was rolling out of bed. This first a foremost shows that Miley isn’t always perfect looking, that is something we need to point out to young women and girls. Secondly showing as much of her back as we do with the rest of her looking as near perfect as anyone in an Annie Leibowitz photo ever looks. What you don’t in that photo is the body of some emaciated teen trying to be thin. She is slim and from what I heard does exercise a fair bit, but she is showing parts of her that would look healthy under normal lighting. Personally I would be more horrified if I could count her ribs than if she was pulling a Tracy Lords number for us.
Back to the issue of how we portray young girls. You are right, it is shameful that we feel the need to sexualize them. This photo for me isn’t that though. What gets me irked is walking through the huge retail giants like walmart and not only seeing thongs for toddlers but girls as young as five or six wearing low cut pants or skirts so short that when they bend over you know they aren’t wearing underwear. This is something parents as much as the media are doing to these girls.
For older girls I don’t mind it so much. The last time I saw stats on it the average age of menarche right now is roughly 11. Along with the physical changes, there is a need to flaunt their new found sexuality, even if they don’t realize they are doing it. As parents there is a lot we can do to protect these girls, but in reality there is very little we can do stop them from becoming sexual creatures.
In the end the best thing we as adults can do is work on changing ourselves and our own attitudes. Just then maybe the world will follow suit.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I’m happy to disagree on the photo in question!
A photographer friend was suprised and disappointed with the behind-the-scenes stuff on VF’s website. On a purely quality point of view, I’ve seen far better images from less hyped photographers.
In the UK we have one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in Western Europe. An American friend visited for the first time recently and was amazed at the number of very young mums she saw and naturally asked why. I still believe photographs like this, but more so the examples you cite, are close to the top of the list of reasons.
Paul Grovess last blog post..24-hour news - never wrong for long
April 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Ugh, I can’t watch people play Halo. Something about it makes me nausious. >_< The Miley thing is getting old.
Ever play the James Bond game on the old 64? That’s always entertaining.
April 29th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I play bond on my xbox, but don’t get the same destructive satisfaction out of it.
You shouldn’t worry too much about the Miley thing going on too much longer really. Tonight is idol and by morning it will grip the headlines. By Thursday morning everyone will hopefully be going OMG or WTF depending on if you like Archuleta or not.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
True enough. I haven’t been keeping up with Idol this year. Though the whole “Music of the Night” thing might pull me into watching.
April 29th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
well there is always the next reality show coming up to get into which I believe is so you think you can dance. This year’s idol has had some of the most original people I have seen. Unfortunately originality hasn’t translated into success this year, or any year for that matter.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
[...] brad: well there… [...]
April 30th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
No, it hasn’t, has it? Quite honestly, I’m just dying for another season of Who Wants to be a Superhero? on Scifi. It’s just hilarious sometimes! And you gotta admire Stan Lee for coming up with it.
April 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
I miss a few channels not having cable like sci-fi, but I really don’t miss those $85 a month checks I wrote for the five channels I watched.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Lol, I’m sure. Don’t worry, you’re really not missing too terribly much. It’s just funny, ridiculous stuff.
Though, I do have an urge to join up in the competition. If you win, you get a comic book created for your character, a year in Universal Studios to be in the parades, and your own action figure. I mean, really. Who doesn’t want to be a superhero?
April 30th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
[...] saying the things Miley did at the interview then come out and saying “how embarrassed” she is now jerks away any [...]
April 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
You temptress Ryan, tease me with becoming an action figure. This is just what I need to happen this year. When the baby gets old enough to ask question like “Dad what did you do before becoming a writer?” Then I can whip out the action figure…
May 1st, 2008 at 12:28 am
Bwahaha…That would be awesome. See, aren’t I just a wealth of silly ideas.