Young stars shedding G-rated rep fast

On Tuesday, Disney darling Miley Cyrus will doff the Hannah Montana tag and release Breakout, what the 15-year-old calls her first "grown-up" album. If hit single 7 Things is any indication, America's Sweetheart is trading in puppy like for first-base love.

A week later, Nickelodeon star Josh Peck, goofball hero of the wildly popular Drake & Josh, will show up on local movie screens as a pot-dealing, virginity-eschewing slacker in R-rated flick The Wackness. Remember when Josh was cute 'n' chubby? Yeah, now he's moving weed.

A few weeks after that, Peck's TV partner, Drake Bell, will star in R-rated raunchfest College, about a bunch of randy dudes trying to wrap their lips around beer bongs and babes.

Finally, on Oct. 24, High School Musical 3: Senior Year will be released in theaters, celebrating the Mouse House juggernaut's ascent into adulthood . . . even though beloved HSM stars Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale have already traded their mouse ears for pushup bras.

The other night, my 4-year-old and I sat down to watch a new Tisdale movie, Picture This!, on ABC Family. I just about launched a mouthful of Jiffy Pop when some young thing started gossiping about getting "deflowered in the tower."

The next morning, my kid was dancing around to Hudgens' grindy hit Sneakernight, a hip-shaking, club-sweating booty jam. "Oh, let's go all night long," coos Hudgens. In the liner notes of her new album, V-girl throws lusty looks that would get you tossed out of the Magic Kingdom.

Listen, I'm not pulling the prude card here. I'm a music critic who dutifully rewards rebellion and the chaos theory. I'm also a father of two girls who knows his life is about to become a hellish battle of hormonal wills.

Cyrus and friends are entitled to move on with their careers, to court an older fan base. Tisdale is 23. Peck is 21. Bell is 22. Young actors routinely go overboard when trying to break from the family-friendly model. The Cosby Show's Lisa Bonet stripped butterball naked for that nasty Angel Heart sex scene. Family Ties star Michael J. Fox hoovered drugs in Bright Lights, Big City. Alyssa Milano ditched Tony Danza and courted a lesbian lover in Embrace of the Vampire.

But this latest crop of young stars is different, both sociologically and economically. First of all, they all come from shows made exclusively for children. This decade, pop culture has been largely defined by the 12- to 14-year-old set. The Hannah Montana franchise conquered cable, album charts, cineplexes and the concert industry. The billion-dollar High School Musical brigade (yes, billions) has moved CDs, DVDs and clothing in tsunamic bunches. In many respects, the rules of commerce have been changed to accommodate the whims of people too young to grow body hair.

More than that, this latest crop of world-turning teen stars is breaking free of its G-rated rep at the same time. Good lord, it's like an epidemic of after-school urges! Kids are losing their guiding lights en masse. Part of the problem is that Tisdale & Co. were always much older than their onscreen "selves," so when they stopped playing young, they immediately started acting their age — leaving a large fan base in the lurch.

Disney and Nickelodeon are run by smart, savvy showbiz folks, so they naturally saw this mass maturation coming long before I did. Thus, the Jonas Brothers have already been positioned as Disney saviors, and Miranda Cosgrove's iCarly is the It Show on Nickelodeon.

But no matter how well those acts do, things are about to change, from parents explaining why their kids can't see Josh in The Wackness to the music industry struggling to find replacements for HSM. Such was the rare allure and world-turning power of this glut of teen stars. They won't be easy to replace.

As a chronicler of popular culture, I'm curious to see if Cyrus can succeed without Hannah's bad wig. I'm curious to see if Drake and Josh can still find work without a laugh track.

As a parent of two, however, I have no idea how I'm going to explain "deflowered in the tower."

Sean Daly can be reached at sdaly@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8467. His Pop Life blog is at blogs.tampabay.com/popmusic.

Comments on this article

by Sharonda	Jul 22, 2008 11:50 AM
The kid stars do grow up and I expect them to look for and be apart of more adult roles as the themselves mature but I don't expect them to be in rough or crude roles either. Not because they started out as a child star I don't want to see any actor

by Aimee	Jul 22, 2008 11:45 AM
I think as a society we let our kids get so wrapped up in certain shows and they start to obsess over the stars on them. We definitely need to be turning the rot box off more its damaging our kids no doubt. And "ABC Family" is a joke! Family my butt!

by Mike	Jul 21, 2008 11:06 AM
I think people commenting may have misunderstood some points of this article. Its not about being upset they are in more mature roles now, but how quickly the transition was since they were already 18, but playing 13-15 year olds. We missed 3 years..

by stacia	Jul 20, 2008 8:17 AM
How old does this writer suggest these stars be before they stop the bubblegum kiddie stuff? Bell for instance is 22. Is he supposed to keep up playing a high school student who's most colorful dialogue contains "gosh" and "holy snot!"? That's absurd

by Ryan	Jul 20, 2008 8:03 AM
my kids don't give two hoots about HSM or Miley. They are too busy swimming and playing with their Webkinz. 9 and 6. There is an off button on your tv. It's amazing, you don't play Disney channel in your house, they are pretty easy to ignore.

by Diane	Jul 20, 2008 8:01 AM
Margo are you a card carrying member of NAMBLA or what? Do you break out the bong during family movie night just because one day the kids will be exposed one day?

by Freddie	Jul 20, 2008 7:50 AM
These child stars have no obligation to remain pure and childlike forever. They have the right to make a living as adults, and that means taking on more adult roles. Suck it up and deal with it, your kids will grow up one day, too.

by Michelle	Jul 19, 2008 10:23 AM
What makes things difficult is more the personal lives the girls are leading. Scandalous photos is not setting a good example. Peck and Bell in new mature movies I dont think is a problem. They need to grow up and parents need to talk to their kids.

by Sybil	Jul 19, 2008 7:13 AM
Miley, please keep yourself poure and you will be a role model to teens who will want to be the same. Give your heart to Jesus Christ and allow the Bible to be your guide. You will be a happy gal and many will follow you. Look up John 3:16.

by Margo	Jul 18, 2008 6:20 PM
Hey dudes with the smart remarks, if you dont let your kids get exposed to it, they will go and do it behind your back! then you'll learn the hard way. I'm not sayin let em run wild, i'm just sayin young ones should see dif things before hand & learn

by wow	Jul 18, 2008 4:44 PM
Nice Comment Margo.why not give them a beer and a condom too.after all, their going to be exposed to it eventually, right.your comments epitomize what is wrong with our children today.lazy parents that ALWAYS fall back on,their gonna see it sometime.

by Jill	Jul 18, 2008 4:40 PM
I think everyone is missing the bottom line-social life is making big changes at the 10-13 ages and quickly. Work in a middle school for one week and you will see the overall picture. It's darn right scary now for our kids growning up.

by brandon james	Jul 18, 2008 4:39 PM
but in europe most people become sexually active at 15. when did you become sexually active? are things realy that different

by JK	Jul 18, 2008 4:37 PM
I'm 65, I feel so sorry for these girls. Is what it is.

by katryna	Jul 18, 2008 4:35 PM
is that really true

by cj	Jul 18, 2008 4:34 PM
margo, that is shocking. is it not the parent's job to protect the child? this includes protecting their mind from being warped by questions they are not ready to know the answers to.

by James	Jul 18, 2008 3:30 PM
Look, those with a young one right now know even though we have an on/off knob it is difficult to control what society deems sexually acceptable. The point of the article was targeting youth for profit then exposure and this is not responsible.

by Margo	Jul 18, 2008 3:11 PM
Don't be afraid to let your 4 year old see movies like that, dont explain every detail let them explore. Kids have to learn at some point in time. The younger the better. You cant shield your kids eye from this sex crazed world, even if u want to.

by Ruth	Jul 18, 2008 3:11 PM
Miley Cyrus is the best role model out there, despite her leaked pics online she writes inspirational music and Drake Bell is old enough to do whatever movies he wants, dont judge him just because hes gonna be in an R rated film, hes very talented.

by LR	Jul 18, 2008 12:14 PM
This is really more about you and your kid than any of the kid stars mentioned. "Deflowered in the tower" is pretty mild, and you're gonna have plenty more to explain over the years, with or without Ms. Tisdale.

by Brad	Jul 18, 2008 10:57 AM
The Picture This! DVD is rated PG-13 and the TV rating clearly displayed the movie is rated TV-14, explain to me why you were watching a PG-13/TV-14 movie with a 4-year-old and expecting anything different. :/ Good article though nonetheless.

by Stan	Jul 18, 2008 10:56 AM
Why is a 4 year old watching a shows show that are targeted at 8 year old and old. Disney and Nick have 3 age ranges for their shows teens, tween, and young kids under 8. There is a little crossover but you have to know what to watch.