MANILA, Philippines?The recent flap over Miley Cyrus? ?sexy? magazine photos underscore a number of troubling issues, not the least of which is the need for stars to periodically change their public persona or image.

For years now, Miley has become popular with younger viewers by way of her ?Hannah Montana? character on Disney TV. Now that she?s turned 15, however, it appears that her handlers feel they need to ?prepare? for her future in the biz by beginning to project a more grown-up image, hence the more revealing photos.

Revealing

Trouble was, Miley?s recent photographs were so radically more revealing than her ?sweet? pictures of old that the ?too precociously adult? photos shocked the socks off some of her fans.

Older observers similarly fretted, because Miley is so popular with children and adolescents that some of them could end up emulating her ?sexier? poses and behavior. Thus, parents have been advised to ?discuss? Miley?s photos with their children, to nip any possible temptation in the bud.

Truth to tell, however, Miley isn?t the first young star to ruffle society?s feathers with precociously sexy image changes:

In ?Taxi Driver,? Jodie Foster ?scandalized? some viewers with her disturbingly believable portrayal of an adolescent streetwalker. And, in ?Pretty Baby,? shot years before ?Blue Lagoon,? the very young Brooke Shields? nubile charms were showcased in what some adult analysts described as a pedophile?s fantasy.

Despite these cautionary observations, however, the stellar need for periodic image change cannot be gainsaid.

Former child star Elizabeth Taylor?s career is a case in point. After delighting viewers with her sweet and innocent beauty in ?American Velvet,? Taylor officially became a young adult in ?A Place in the Sun.? She then established herself as one of the silver screen?s most beautiful and popular female stars in a number of hit movies.

Popularity and beauty

But, time came when she felt the need to go beyond popularity and beauty, and establish herself as an exceptional actress, so she flexed her thespic muscles in ?Butterfield 8,? ?Suddenly Last Summer,? ?Cleopatra? and ?Who?s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,? for which she won a number of awards.

Even later in her very long career, Taylor eased into even more mature roles in films like ?The Taming of the Shrew? and ?Doctor Faustus,? and she got involved in a number of worthy causes, thus further enhancing her public persona with significance and value.

So, she may be in her 70s now, but through the inspired use of periodic image changes, Elizabeth Taylor has remained a cinematic icon of the first order, unlike many of her contemporaries who have long been forgotten.

On the local show biz front, one of the career-change moves initiated recently was Katrina Halilli?s ?graduation? from young kontrabida to romantic-dramatic lead actress by way of the afternoon soap, ?Magdusa Ka.?

?Transformation?

We tuned in on the show to see how her ?transformation? was coming along, and our early finding was: Not all that noticeably well. Katrina?s new character was still feisty and the actress did pretty much what she did before, except that Iwa Moto?s character was bitchier and more scheming than hers was.

Dennis Trillo also make some sort of image change in the new soap, from his usual debonair character to a streetwise toughie who tries to hassle and hustle Katrina into liking him.

Dennis gives his ?nastier? role everything he?s got, but it turns out that it isn?t all that much, so his ?transformation? is more superficially achieved than truly felt.