In light of all the grief teen pop star Miley Cyrus received in posing provocatively for Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly shot back with evidence that if Miley were Miles she would not have had to endure the public's disapproval. The magazine dug up at least four instances, in which male teen celebs were given a pass for racy photos:

Vanessa Hudgens apologized after a nude shot hit the Web last year, while Pete Wentz got away with warning fans against taking risqué photos after his own pics leaked in 2006.

When Lindsey Lohan re-created a topless Marilyn Monroe photo shoot for New York magazine, the website received millions of hits--and so did her struggling career. Yet frenzied fans snapped up tickets to see Daniel Radcliffe get naked in Equus.

Sundance 2007: Dakota Fanning's Hounddog--featuring the actress in a rape scene--bows amid a public outcry and calls for an investigation. Sundance 2008: Audiences shrug off a sex scene in The Wackness that involves Nickelodeon star Josh Peck (Drake & Josh).

Blogs went nuts over video of a slurring Ashlee Simpson at a Canadian McDonald's in 2005. But after Shia LaBeouf was arrested for allegedly refusing to leave a Chicago drugstore in 2007? Lots of talk about his supercute mug shot. Oh, and the charges were dropped.

Then again, for the exception of Daniel Radcliffe, I have never even heard of these guys! Nonetheless, there does seem to be a pattern of double standards here. What do you all think?

In related news, R&B singer R. Kelly was charged with child pornography. This is the same guy who married the late artist Aaliyah when she was only 15 -- and has not served a day in prison for it. Ick.

Recently I was thumbing through Entertainment Weekly's "Summer Movie Preview" when I came across this little blurb in "The Shaw Report:"

IN: Postpartum chic
FIVE MINUTES AGO: Maternity style
OUT: Flat bellies

Postpartum bodies are chic? God bless you, Jessica Shaw!

The Bay State doesn't want to ban all video games -- just the ones "harmful to minors."

If Boston Mayor Tom Menino and other prominent state legislators have their way, Gov. Deval Patrick will sign into law House Bill 1423, which would prohibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to anyone under the age of 18.

“Harmful to minors”, matter is harmful to minors if it is obscene or, if taken as a whole, it (1) describes or represents nudity, sexual conduct or sexual excitement, so as to appeal predominantly to the prurient interest of minors; (2) depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, so as to appeal predominantly to the morbid interest in violence of minors; (3) is patently contrary to prevailing standards of adults in the county where the offense was committed as to suitable material for such minors; and (4) lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.”

As Stephen King, an author not short on R-Rated material himself, pointed out in an Entertainment Weekly column, politicians usually scapegoat violent video games, movies, music -- popular culture, if you will -- to score cheap political points. Even though King himself is not a gamer, he reprimanded Massachusetts legislators for attempting to play "surrogate parents."

One of HB 1423's cosponsors is Rep. Christine E. Canavan, of Brockton. ''I think this legislation is a good idea,'' she told the Boston Herald. ''I don't want this constant barrage of violence on young minds and for them to think it is all right.'' It's a good point...except that it seems to me that the games only reflect a violence that already exists in the society.

Nor will I argue for the artistic value of stuff like God of War, or 50 Cent: Bulletproof, where looting the victims of gang violence is part of the game (players use the money to buy new Fiddy tunes and music videos — classy). I do, however, want to point out that videogames, like movies, have a ratings system, and ones with the big M or A on the box mean ''Not for you, baby brother.''

And if there's violence to be had, the kids are gonna find a way to get it, just as they'll find a way to get all-day shooters like No Country for Old Men from cable if they want. Or Girls Gone Wild, for that matter. Can parents block that stuff? You bet. But most never do. The most effective bar against what was called ''the seduction of the innocent'' when this hot-button issue centered on violent comic books 60 years ago is still parents who know and care not just about what their kids are watching and reading, but what they're doing and who they're hanging with. Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find objectionable...and then explain why it's being forbidden. They also need to monitor their children's lives in the pop culture — which means a lot more than seeing what games they're renting down the street.

If HB 1423 becomes law, will it remain law? Doubtful. Similar legislation has been declared unconstitutional in several states. Could Massachusetts legislators find better ways to watch out for the kiddies? Man, I sure hope so, because there's a lot more to America's culture of violence than Resident Evil 4.

Prior to the end of the Writers Guild strike, author Stephen King raised an interesting question in Entertainment Weekly: Has presidential politics gone pop? Citing the record-breaking number of people tuning into the news since there were no shows to watch and the celebrities on the campaign trail, King said the race for president was starting to look like a reality show like The Great Presidency Race, or American Political Idol or even White House Survivor.

Knowing our penchant for capitalism and infotainment, I would not be surprised if one day there is a reality show to select the next president!

Are TV viewers’ habits changing because of the writers’ strike? Many reporters who cover entertainment—some at this very periodical—think they are, and that if the strike doesn’t end soon, the changes will accelerate. One change they’ve noted is the ever larger number of TV watchers who are tuning in to coverage of the campaign (which already feels four centuries old). The switch is partly because scripted TV episodes are in increasingly short supply, but it’s also because...damn, people are just interested. If anything has come clear in the last few months, it’s that citizens are tired of the Bush & Cheney Show. They want someone new. Almost anybody, it seems.

Programmers at cable nets like CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News may have been born at night, but it wasn’t last night, and they’re not stupid. They’ve jumped on the bandwagon and produced a constant din of political palaver. Most is generated by the motormouths my friend the Long-hair calls "the White Guys in Ties Brigade." But it’s not all Pat Buchanan and Chris Matthews; there are also real stars! OMG!!

2008 has become the political equivalent of Celebrity Match Game. Huckabee fans include Ted "I Never Saw a Gun I Didn’t Like" Nugent and Chuck Norris, he of the scary teeth. Hillary Clinton’s got Barbra Streisand. John Edwards is running on empty with Jackson Browne. Rudy Giuliani has got...er, Bo Derek? Romney is trailing the field, celeb-wise, but still trying with Donny Osmond. And even Fred Thompson had a pet celeb: Pat Sajak! (I was hoping my guy Obama would get Sajak, but disappointment is a part of politcs.)

King bemoaned how the election process has turned into a game show. But that is the same argument that has been made about all aspects of American life – not just politics – since self-proclaimed "old fogy" King was a zygote. The fact so many people are tuned into politics and actually participating in our democracy is a good result of the elections gone pop IMHO.

Since we read Eat, Pray, Love, a memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, I thought I would share with you two Entertainment Weekly reviews on it:

Love It

Shelve it among the fairy tales. Elizabeth Gilbert’s incandescent memoir succeeds as a wish-fulfillment fantasy for women who no longer relate to Cinderella. Replace the timid, motherless maiden with a newly husbandless writer in her 30s; instead of evil stepsisters, sub in David, a rebound boyfriend who’s Just Not That Into Her. And rather than a pumpkin coach, a juicy book contract transports our heroine to her metaphorical ball, letting her travel the globe, consume mountains of Roman spaghetti, practice yoga, and eventually replace David with a devoted Latin lover. She returns home not just healed, but a superstar. Is it all a little gooey? You bet. I can’t defend this luscious confection any more than I can resist it. --JR

Loathe It

The problem isn’t the book, it’s the author. Eat, Pray, Love is, after all, Elizabeth Gilbert’s lavish reward to herself for dumping a seemingly unobjectionable husband and taking up with a cad. For the next year, on perhaps the most expensive backpacking trip in recorded history, she babbles about her selfless generosity to her ex (!), how much pasta she can pack away, and what a devoted, spiritual creature she’s become. That’s scarcely a triumph over adversity—and even if it were, Gilbert created that adversity herself. Besides, courtesy dictates more grace in winning. If, despite a marked self-centeredness, you somehow manage to end up with everything everyone has ever wanted, keep it to yourself. --Alynda Wheat

Out of curiosity, I went to Gilbert’s website to see what she had to say about the criticism of her book.