A Disney Double Standard? My Opinion

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Poor Miley Cyrus. She exposed her bare back in Vanity Fair magazine and her stand as a teenage role model was overtly (and loudly) debated world-wide amidst an unprecedented amount of media attention.

Enter Drake Bell, one of the stars on Disney’s successful tween and teen series, “Drake & Josh.” The series ran from 2004-2007, and Bell has moved onto bigger and better projects, namely the newly released film, “College.” After viewing the trailer, I thought that it looked like another college film that followed in the tradition of “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder” and “National Lampoon’s Animal House.” According to the MPAA description on IMDB.com, it appears that I am right. The MPAA (The Motion Picture Association of America) rated Drake’s film an R for “pervasive crude and sexual content, nudity, language, drug and alcohol abuse.”  Unlike Cyrus, he has not been subjected to any criticism at all.

‘Well,’ you may say, ‘Drake Bell is 22-years-old and ‘Drake & Josh’ is now off the air, so what’s the big deal?’ The big deal is that Bell is currently involved with two “Drake & Josh” specials for Disney: “Drake & Josh in New York!” and “Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh.” Being that he is still associated with Disney and its young audience, how come no one has objected to him being in such an adult film? No one has even batted an eyelash about this. Why isn’t Drake Bell being subjected to the same standards and expectations as Miley Cyrus? They’re both on Disney’s payroll and influence a very young audience with their respective Disney shows.

I am not demonizing Bell for his career choices, because he has to earn a living just like the rest of us. However, I am disappointed that Cyrus was the victim of so much criticism and negative publicity for doing something that (I think) pales in comparison to the content of Bell’s latest film.

Click on the link below to view the trailer for Bell’s film, “College.”