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Contractual Purity: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.ContractualPurity 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.ContractualPurity, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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When a young actor comes to public prominence in association with clean, wholesome family entertainment roles, the expectation of studios and audiences is that the actor's personal life will reflect the same upright morality of the character he or she plays.
Heaven forbid, then, that said actor should be found engaging in perfectly legal, perfectly normal adult activities like drinking alcohol or having sex. And should said actor take a role in a production where he or she will do things like nude scenes, using foul language or engaging in criminal behavior, then [[Moral Guardians]] will arise against that actor for [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks|betraying their expectations]]. Some actors [[Playing Against Type|deliberately seek out such roles precisely to shed their image]], and seemingly the majority of male ones lately go through a phase of sporting stubble for photoshoots and red-carpet events to remind us they're not boys anymore ([[Dawson Casting|even if they are still playing high school students]]).
There are two sides to what happens with this controversy. First is that [[Moral Guardians]] really have no right to get upset that it is "corrupting our youth" because an individual of a certain age is well within their legal rights to smoke, drink, swear, have sex, etc. On the flip side, being a public figure, especially one who is popular and well-known amongst young people, carries a certain degree of responsibility for the influence one may have, since he or she ''will'' be treated as a role model. [[The Adventures of Superman|George "Superman" Reeves]], for example, took great pains to not smoke or be seen with his lady-friends in front of children. (He was also careful because kids wanted to see if he was as invulnerable as he was on TV.)
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** Attempts to drum up outrage over a video showing Cyrus smoking pot backfired when it turned out that it was salvia, which is legal in California where the video was recorded.
** This [http://laist.com/attachments/laist_lauren/Miley-Cyrus-penis-cake-01-TMZ.jpg picture]. NSFW.
* [[Hilary Duff]], Disney's ''[[Lizzie Mcguire]]'', has somehow managed to avoid this for years, despite several close calls. She keeps a low profile in the press, doesn't publicly party, drink, or go out without underwear, and keeps mostly to family-friendly roles like ''[[A Cinderella Story]]'' and ''[[Raise Your Voice]]''. While there were some minor controversies involving her relationship with [[May
** She lampshaded it in an interview on Chelsea Lately, when they talked about how she got pregnant.
{{quote| "Everybody thinks I'm a good girl, but I figured it out."}}
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* Julie Andrews did this both in and out of character in her husband Blake Edwards' film ''S.O.B.'', playing an expy of herself who appears topless in ''her'' husband's new film. She also has a reported tendency to curse up a blue streak, which still shocks people to this day that see her as her more wholesome roles of [[Mary Poppins]] and [[The Sound of Music|Maria]]. (In fact, ''S.O.B.'' is partly based on her and Edwards' experience with the notable 1970 flop ''Darling Lili'', in which she attempted to break out of her goody-goody image by playing a [[Mata Hari]] [[Expy]]).
* [[Ingrid Bergman]], anyone? She first tried to get out of her goody-two-shoes image with ''Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde'', but it didn't work. Later on, she destroyed the image quite accidentally by leaving her husband for director Roberto Rosselini. The backlash was ''massive''. She was even denounced on the floor of the US Senate. How many victims of this trope can say that?
* The press had a frenzied field day when Elizabeth Berkley, formerly well-known for playing a straight-laced, [[Soapbox Sadie|vocally feminist]] high schooler on ''[[Saved By the Bell]]'', played a nude, bisexual showgirl in, well, ''[[Showgirls]]''. The flop of that [[Star
* To get out of her contract on ''[[Seventh Heaven]]'', [[Jessica Biel]] [[Invoked Trope|invoked this trope]] by [[Public Exposure|posing topless]] (not frontal) in ''Gear'' magazine. [[Jail Bait|When she was just seventeen.]] This was enough to get her character [[Put On a Bus]] for a good while, returning only sparingly and practically evolving into [[The Ghost]] with her own entirely off-screen storylines.
* The exact opposite of this trope happened when Linda Blair, who played [[Creepy Child|Regan]] in ''[[The Exorcist (Film)|The Exorcist]]'', tried to break into romantic comedies.
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** That's because she was still under contract to Disney when she was loaned out to AIP for the first beach party movie, but she wasn't for the rest of them. And anyway, she wore a bikini (albeit a [http://www.flickr.com/photos/bryan10983/4529505906/ demure] one) in ''Beach Party'', so I have no idea why this rumor still persists.
** Annette Funicello even told the clearly ''incorrect'' version in her [http://www.beachpartymoviemusic.com/TheMythoftheHiddenNavel.html autobiography.]
* [http://www.deadline.com/2010/10/racy-glee-gq-shoot-creates-controversy/ The controversy] over the ''[[Glee]]'' photo shoot for ''GQ'' magazine. According to [[Moral Guardians|the Parents' Television Council]], two 24-year-old women and a 28-year-old man posing for PG-13-rated photos "borders on [[You Keep Using That Word|pedophilia]]" just because they [[Dawson Casting|play teenagers]] on a TV show that was [[Periphery Demographic|never intended to be]] [[What Do You Mean
* For a long time, Adrian Hall, who played Jeremy Potts in ''[[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang]]'', would omit the movie on his resume and ask his manager to not mention it because he was afraid it would damage his credibility as an adult actor, i.e. that casting directors would only see him as a "child actor". But as he got successful in his adult acting career, he would put the movie on his resume and speak about it more often.
* Nicholas Hammond (aka Friedrich von Trapp) remarked in the special features of the ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' DVD that he had tried to avoid doing anything that would get him in the papers in a bad light because he "didn't want to ruin the image" and the rest of his castmates agreed with him. Slightly subverted in that A) they didn't seem to mind all that much and B) Nicholas is really the only one involved with film these days (in Australia).
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*** Surprisingly, despite the tattoos, he has oddly played with this trope, what with having a ''Christian MMA clothing line'' named [http://www.jesusdidnttap.com/ Jesus Didn't Tap.]
*** Frank also appeared on MTV's sex drama ''Undressed'' after leaving the franchise (but before returning for ''Dino Thunder''. Nobody really noticed, though that says more about the show than about Jason.
** Cerina Vincent (Maya from ''[[Power Rangers Lost Galaxy|Lost Galaxy]]'') reappeared after ''Power Rangers'' in a [[Naked People Are Funny]] role in ''[[Not Another Teen Movie]]''. She's also shown up, clothes-optional, in some [[B
** Ricardo Medina Jr. (Cole from ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force|Wild Force]]'') eventually showed up on the reality competition ''Kept'' for VH-1. It was, in a nutshell, a show with a lot of muscular guys being male models and being photographed in their underwear or even in their birthday suits with a [[Scenery Censor]]. Ricardo was considered to be quite a [[Jerkass]] by both the other contestants and some viewers, and was ultimately eliminated from the show for simply being too vain to have around. He has since become an exotic dancer in an all-male revue.
*** Apparently the [[Nostalgia Filter]] is stronger than this trope, as he's returned to ''Power Rangers'' as the [[Worthy Opponent]] [[The Rival|Rival]] in ''[[Power Rangers Samurai|Samurai]]''. This may be helped by the fact that it's been almost ten years since ''[[Power Rangers Wild Force|Wild Force]]'', Medina (now going by "Rick") looks very different now, and his acting skills having improved considerably.
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* [[Daniel Radcliffe]] invoked a wave of moral outrage when he appeared on London's West End as Alan Strang in a production of ''[[Equus]]''. It's an incredible (albeit disturbing) role that any actor would be insane to turn down the chance to play. The [[Moral Guardians]], however, only saw Naked![[Harry Potter (Film)|Harry Potter]] -- which is probably [[No Such Thing As Bad Publicity|what the production company was banking on]], anyway.
** Similarly, there was some uproar about Clémence Poésy (Fleur Delacour) appearing topless in a French movie, even though it was before she was even cast in the film.
** [[Emma Watson]] has let it be known that she's willing to do nudity in other films, which means it's just a matter of time before the Moral Guardians scream about Hermione Granger showing her breasts in some movie or another. Watson has also berated by [[Moral Guardians]] for the shocking crimes of... [[What Do You Mean
** Jamie Waylett (Vincent Crabbe) got this in 2009 after being arrested for possession of marijuana, being written out of the last two films (when his character {{spoiler|was slated to be killed off later}} -- they wound up replacing {{spoiler|Crabbe's death with that of Goyle}} for the movie to compensate), even though Crabbe isn't a particularly "wholesome" character to start with. Waylett later attracted further controversy after being charged with violence during the London riots in August 2011.
** On the other side, it seems pretty much no one cares that [[Rupert Grint]] acted in ''[[Cherrybomb (Film)|Cherrybomb]]'', playing a character who does drugs and steals cars. Then again, [[Ron the Death Eater|he's a bad guy who's supposed to do bad things]].
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** Radcliffe has managed to avert this in other ways: around the release of the final ''Potter'' movie, tabloids started reporting that he liked his liquor a tad too much. However, at this point Daniel's in his 20s and he openly admitted he had a drinking problem and got help for it, so this story produced sympathy and "attaboy"s rather than parents screaming about "Harry" being a bad influence for their sweet little darlings.
* It was fair enough that Paul Reubens got arrested for masturbating in an adult theater. When he was later arrested for having pornography in his house (not child pornography, as rumored), comedian Wanda Sykes remarked, "Just where is Pee Wee allowed to masturbate?"
** [[Misaimed Fandom|Oddly enough]], the character of "Pee-Wee Herman" was originally an [[Affectionate Parody]] of '50's [[Subverted Kids Show|kiddie-show hosts]] created for a Groundlings comedy sketch. It was filled with [[Double Entendre|double entendres]] and [[Getting Crap Past the Radar|subliminal adult humor]]. The character was [[
* [[Molly Ringwald]] appeared nude in the film ''Malicious'', going against her "sweet teenage girl" image. However, the film wasn't really memorable, and she hadn't been a teenager for over a decade at that point, so the ripples were minor. Before that, [[David Lynch]] offered her the role in ''[[Blue Velvet]]'' that eventually went to [[Laura Dern]], but her parents refused to let her do it, worried that it would ruin her "sweet teenage girl" image.
* Similar to the Kathleen Turner example below, Meg Ryan played a number of sexy and borderline-dark characters early in her career, like Donna Caldwell in ''The Presidio'', but has since become known almost solely for her cute and perky roles in romantic comedies -- to the extent that there is considerable audience backlash whenever she tries to return to her dramatic roots. (''City of Angels'', anyone?)
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* A big furor was kicked up when [[Britney Spears]]' sister Jamie-Lynn got pregnant at age 16. She was the star of [[Nickelodeon]]'s hit [[Kid Com]] ''[[Zoey 101]]''. It is widely believed that the scandal was responsible for the show [[Cut Short|not getting a fifth season]].
** The outrage was somewhat justified, though, as she was only sixteen at the time.
* ''[[Sesame Street (TV)|Sesame Street]]'' Muppeteer Carroll Spinney describes a bad encounter in his autobiography. One day, some moron drove onto his lawn, rolled down the window and yelled, [[What an Idiot!|"Hey! You the Bird? Do the voice!"]] Spinney says he wished he could yell "Get the hell off my property!" in Oscar the Grouch's voice, but instead just silently went inside in case any of his young fans were watching.
* [[Kristen Stewart]] became a victim of this after photos of her smoking pot outside her house were published. She began as a child actor and then got her big break as Bella Swan in ''[[Twilight (Literature)|Twilight]]''.
** Knowing how Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson feel about their roles as Bella and Edward, it's entirely possible that the reason she didn't take that joint inside is because she was hoping on this trope coming into play. She and Pattinson have admitted that they don't go along with contractual purity because neither would see being dropped from the ''[[Twilight (Literature)|Twilight]]'' series [[Creator Backlash|as such a bad thing]].
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** She never seemed to make any bones about her pornographic past, even making statements to the effect that "sex symbols and children go hand in hand". However, she's actually successfully sued Google to block search results for [[Old Shame|that one film]].
* [[Madeline Zima]], best known as the little girl in ''The Hand That Rocks The Cradle'' and as youngest child, Grace, on ''[[The Nanny]]'', later was [[Heroes (TV)|making out with]] [[Hayden Panettiere]] and [[Californication|punching David Duchovny in the face while fucking him]].
* H.B. Warner and Dorothy Cumming, who played Jesus and the Virgin Mary in the 1927 silent film ''The King Of Kings'', were forced by director [[Cecil B De Mille]] to sign agreements stating that they wouldn't take any unsavory film roles during a five year period, in order to protect their "holy" screen images. In addition, DeMille also forbade them from [[What Do You Mean
** During filming, DeMille allegedly paid an anonymous woman to leave the country, as she was trying to blackmail Warner over some unknown scandal.
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== Musicians ==
* Pop stars in particular are held to this on account of their fanbases typically being largely comprised of teen and tween girls.
* [[The Beatles]] had something of a (relatively) clean-cut, madcap, teen-friendly "mop-top" image, and were a youthful breath of fresh air in America following the JFK assassination. They were advised to stay away from politics and kept much of the rougher aspects of their personalities and humor (and [[Sex, Drugs and Rock And Roll|burgeoning marijuana use]]) under wraps. Then came John's "[[Blasphemous Boast|more popular]] [[Bigger Than Jesus|than Jesus]]" misquote, and later Paul's admission in the British press of trying LSD. Though it took a toll on their "[[Idol Singer|Beatlemania]]" image, [[The Sixties|the changing times]], refusal to tour and their [[New Age Retro Hippie|psychedelic]], [[Important Haircut|facial hair-wearing]] period would soon follow with ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. They would be [[Growing the Beard]] in [[Incredibly Lame Pun|more ways than one]]. By the late '60s, the group would develop a [[Cerebus Syndrome|more serious image]] for the rest of their careers.
** Not true in their own country. From the moment they emerged into the public consciousness they were seen in the media as [[Moral Guardians|corrupting the morals of British youth]] With their (comparatively) long hair and [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky image]] they were quite unlike the clean-cut would-be home-made Elvis clones that came before like [[Cliff Richard]], [[Tommy Steele]], [[Marty Wilde]] or [[Billy Fury]], whom one could comfortably take home to tea with one's mother despite those rebellious stage names. By the time the Beatles had hit America The [[Rolling Stones]] (and, heaven forfend, the [[Pretty Things]]) had emerged and one's mother could then accept the Beatles as cuddly.
* [[Bone Thugs-n-Harmony]] after ''Tha Crossroads'', much to the chagrin of fans that prefer their darker, harder stuff.
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* American politicians are under even more pressure to act as "role models" than actors or atheletes. While most voters are willing to accept certain levels of corruption from politicians, it's only the stuff that actually comes to the forefront that ends up hurting them. Typically, the quickest way for a politician's career to be derailed is to be caught in a sex scandal, [[Convicted By Public Opinion|guilty or not]].
* [[Bill Clinton]], US President 1993-2001 had a reputation as a womanizer before becoming president, which was used against him during his first term campaign, as well a sexual harassment accusation, but these failed to derail him, and in fact, may have helped him by [[Streisand Effect|bring more attention]] to him, as he was a dark horse (unknown) candidate. However, this reputation was a key issue his detractors frequently used against him throughout his presidency. Most of his first term was rocky, but he recovered in time to get re-elected in 1996. Most of his second term was dominated by the coming to light of his affair with White House intern, Monica Lewinsky, which led to Clinton being impeached (only the second US President to be) after he lied about it under oath but was acquitted. However, it was largely only in the media that it was such an issue. Despite the scandal and impeachment and Clinton being the [[Butt Monkey]] of countless sex jokes, he still maintained a high approval rating from the public, with only his detractors considering the affair to be a huge deal, and even left office with a record high end of term approval rating.
** Chris Rock made light of this in his stand up "Bigger And Blacker", stating that it's wrong of society to expect a holier-than-thou behavior from him (or any other politician) because at the end of the day, [[I'm a Man, I Can't Help It|he's just a man]].
* [[Al Gore]], Clinton's Vice President, suffered on account of his belief in this trope. Despite the fact that Clinton still was popular during the Lewinsky scandal, Gore made the foolish move of distancing himself from Clinton on account of the scandal when Gore ran for president in 2000 and wouldn't let Clinton campaign for him. This cost him voters who liked Clinton and failed to win him the ones who didn't like Clinton. This is considered a key factor in Gore losing what political experts think should have been one of the easiest presidential wins ever.
* [[Barack Obama]] might not have been elected US President in 2008 without this trope, as he might not have been elected to the US Senate in 2004. Obama's opponent for the seat, Republican Jack Ryan ([[
* Anthony [[Punny Name|Weiner]], US Congressman, Democrat for New York, from 1999-2011, had his political career shot down after he posted a link to a sexually suggestive photo of himself on his [[Twitter]] account. He first denied that he had posted it but later admitted that he had and that he had exchanged sexual pics and messages with at least six other women. Weiner initially [[The Determinator|refused to resign despite enormous pressure]] from his fellow Democrats and President [[Barack Obama]] to do so. However, after a sexually explicit photo was leaked he did so.
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* ''[[Super Dimension Fortress Macross]] : Do You Remember Love?'' Hikaru is chastized by his superior officer, Misa Hayase, for having been found kissing [[Idol Singer]] Lynn Minmay, never mind it was ''her'' idea, because the press had a field day with it, splashing the incident all over the tabloids. Later, after Hikaru "borrows" a training Valkyrie fighter to take Minmay on a joyride. Her manager/cousin claims that it would be the end of her career if the press got hold of it.
* An interesting case in ''[[Pokémon Special]]''. White freaks at the idea of one member of her star Tepig couple evolving, thinking that they would no longer be as marketable if it happens. As such, she ''forces'' Tep to stop evolving by ''shaking'' him real hard.
* In the episode "Fallen Angel Rina" of the [[Hentai]] series ''[[Cool Devices]]'' Rina, a [[Rose
* In ''[[AKB 49 Renai Kinshi Jourei (Manga)|AKB 49 Renai Kinshi Jourei]]'', members of the [[Idol Singer|idol group]] AKB48 are forbidden from entering into any love relationships. This particular rule is even directly referenced by the sub-title.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Paz in ''[[Peace Walker]]'' is something of a parody of this treatment towards Japanese pop idols. She has [[Hair of Gold]], is a [[Pollyanna]] and is voiced (in the Japanese version) by a Japanese pop star, who even contributes an [[Image Song]] for her for the soundtrack. But Paz herself is a [[Bitch in Sheep's Clothing]], who is a lot older than she says she is and hates her false identity more than anything else on Earth. The whole game is themed somewhat around singing and the pop industry, making it likely this is a metaphor. [[What Do You Mean
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