Who would let their 9-year-old dress like Noah Cyrus?
You can't dress 9-year-old like that and not expect trouble
Noah Cyrus is the 9-year-old sister of Miley Cyrus. Over the weekend, Noah attended a benefit for Children Affected by AIDS Foundation. She posed for photographers on the red carpet in front of a banner bearing the logos of two major toymakers, Mattel and Toys R Us, and the foundation.
The little girl's Halloween costume defies belief. Shiny black boots that go to her knees. An alarmingly tight, almost criminally short black mini-dress. She's also wearing eyeliner and lipstick.
Nine years old.
Let's put it this way: If a cop saw someone dressed like this on a street corner, there'd be a reasonable assumption of possible solicitation.
Whether it's the Lohans or the Kardashians or the Cyruses -- or for that matter, the parents of non-celebrity kids who let their pre-adolescents dress like this -- what the BLEEP is it with these parents? How can you encourage a child to dress in this manner and to be photographed for the world to see? How can this NOT be construed as exploiting your kid?
There are hundreds of comments under the photo of Noah on Perez Hilton's Web site. While the great majority of commentators condemned her parents for letting her leave the house like that, a number of critics also ripped the little girl's looks.
Now there's an admirable way to start your Monday morning -- posting anonymous comments on a celebrity blog about the physical appearance of a child.
If you're the parent of that little girl, you'd probably want to smack around anyone talking about her in that manner. Then again, if you're the parent of that little girl, why do you want to put her out there as the target of such criticism in the first place?
If you watched any football over the weekend, you probably saw a certain commercial for DirecTV once. Or twice.
Or 20 times.
For the last three years, DirecTV has been enlisting the services of actors who re-create a famous role in a familiar scene from a movie, before breaking character and telling us about the benefits of getting DirecTV.
I can't deny the effectiveness of the ads. There's something jarring and conversation-starting about seeing the still-beautiful but 50ish Christie Brinkley reprising "The Girl in the Ferrari" from "National Lampoon's Vacation," Charlie Sheen back in uniform as the Wild Thing from the "Major League" movies, or Naomi Watts (!) doing the "King Kong" thing again.
It was a little unsettling to see Craig T. Nelson as the father from "Poltergeist," interacting with his daughter Carol Anne, given that Heather O'Rourke, the actress who played the little girl, died at 13.
But the latest DirecTV ad -- the one that aired again and again over the weekend -- is even creepier.
In the spot, David Spade is playing Richard Hayden from 1995's "Tommy Boy." Thanks to seamless technology, Spade seems to be in the room with Chris Farley's Thomas Callahan III, who's doing his "Fat Guy in a Little Coat" bit.
As Farley spins around and does the routine, Spade looks at the camera and says, "Great. I'm here with tons of fun when I could be at home watching DirecTV . . . but no, I'm stuck with either cable, or that."
Farley rips the little coat, and Spade chuckles and says, "Never gets old."
It's been nearly 12 years since Chris Farley was found dead in an apartment in the John Hancock Building. Spade was Farley's close friend, but he opted not to attend the funeral. He was quoted as saying he couldn't "be in a room where Farley was in a box."
Now, though, Spade has put himself in a virtual room with the ghost of Farley.
Obviously, permissions had to be granted and rights obtained for a commercial like this to happen. And this certainly isn't the first time the image or video of a deceased celebrity has been incorporated into a commercial. Remember the late John Wayne for Coors? Fred Astaire dancing with a Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner?
I guess it gets people talking. But I'm just wondering if there's anyone who ISN'T put off by the Spade/Farley spot.
Is it wrong to root for the Yankees to play as long as possible, if only because it means Kate Hudson will delay making any more movies like "My Best Friend's Girl," "Raising Helen," "You, Me and Dupree," "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," "Fool's Gold" and "Bride Wars"? (Talk about a scary lineup.) I'm just saying. Maybe after the baseball season is over, A-Rod can take up football.