Before the days of Hannah Montana, Zoey and other young female role models, there was Marcia Brady. She was wholesome, she always made the right decision, and she would never get caught doing something illegal because she wasn’t that kind of girl.
But just like Miley Cyrus and Jamie Lynn Spears, Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on the hit television series “The Brady Bunch,” had a personal life that was not at all like the life of the eldest Brady girl.
This week, McCormick admitted to having sex with cocaine dealers in order to score some blow when she was younger. She also admitted to allowing a man much older than her to film her naked before he gave her the drugs she wanted. And all this time we thought Jamie Lynn was a bad role model for getting knocked up by her boyfriend.
With this confession, it made me wonder if McCormick is trying to prove a point that even the best of characters can be played by someone who is the polar opposite.
Some people worry about the examples set by actresses. But really, is it the actors and actresses real lives we should be worried about?
Most young girls who watch shows like “Hannah Montana,” “Gossip Girl” and the new “90210” are more obsessed with the characters than those who are paid to portray them.
So if the character is the basis of what people, mainly young women, shape themselves to be like, why are we so worried with what these actresses do in their own lives? These girls aren’t the ones who are reading the news and watching “E!”. It’s usually the parents of the kids or women who are in their late teens and older and know better than to think Blake Lively is actually her TV character.
Actresses who party and get out of control shouldn’t be blamed for young girls’ behaviors. They never asked to be role models by playing a good, wholesome character on a show or movie. It’s just one way to make money, especially when these actresses are 15 and get offered a paycheck with six or more zeros on it.
What about the “good” actresses that play murderers or complete bitches on these shows? That is what affects young girls, not what the actresses are doing at night in Los Angeles.
Did the innocence of young starlets leave Hollywood long before the crotch shots and DUIs? Pressure has put young actresses into corners since the beginning of the mania that comes with entertainment. And I stand firm in the belief that there is too much pressure put on these girls to be who they are more commonly known for in their roles.
Call me crazy, but it seems as though young men are spared from this booing and hissing women get. What about Shia LeBouf getting arrested for a misdemeanor? Many moons ago, he was playing a good, wholesome kid on Disney’s “Even Stevens,” and most people just ignore his wrongdoing but consider it blasphemy when Lindsay Lohan, who played (past tense) an innocent twin on the movie “The Parent Trap,” flashes her bare crotch a couple of times.
She and other actresses who do normal things such as smoke, drink or party are not the ones ruining the young girls today. If anything is ruining them, it’s other girls in school. In fact, in my persuasion class last week, we discussed body image in the media: actresses who are too skinny, too sexual, that sort of thing. Most of the girls admitted that self-consciousness and eating problems arose from other girls and boys that tortured them in junior high. So instead of pointing the finger at Hollywood, I think we should just lay off and focus on real issues that we are dealing with right now.
Bailey Singletary is a senior majoring in communication. She can be contacted at [email protected]