Montana Fishburne: Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places

Montana Fishburne, 19, daughter of actor Laurence Fishburne, has been racking up tabloid face time with her notorious turn as the next star to shamelessly self promote her sex tape in the hopes of reaching new heights of celebrity. This comes as no surprise, considering the fact that last year she was arrested on charges of prostitution, which resulted in two years probation and an order to no longer solicit acts of prostitution.

If you remove her last name, you might assume that Montana grew up in a rough neighborhood, with little opportunity for upward mobility, and parents who abandoned her to life on the streets. Nothing could be further from the truth. Her father is a Hollywood A-lister and her mother is a fitness professional. After high school, Montana had the opportunity to do anything with her life, so what drove her to decide a life of porn and prostitution was the best choice?

As we look at the ideals we instill in our children, it seems that what we claim to value and what we actually celebrate in society are not equal. We claim to value education, and yet our schools are underfunded, teachers are paid a pittance, and kids are pushed through the system without accountability of their knowledge and skills. What we do celebrate and teach our children to aspire to is the success of celebrity. Children are taught the value of want, desire, and possessions and are sent to the church of celebrity to fill their egos with substance. Fame has become the holy grail, the measure of life fulfillment and happiness, because once you have fame, everyone will love you.

Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Jessica Alba, Kendra Wilkinson, Pamela Anderson and a slew of other celebrities have pumped up their careers and status a sex tape (or threat of a sex tape) and catapulted themselves into the media spotlight. Like Marilyn Monroe before them, they have become sexually iconic figures entangled in a love affair with society. The message is being transmitted loud and clear: If you want to be loved by all, release a sex tape.

Now I don't intend for this to be a bash-fest of society, the media, or Hollywood, because we can't blame others for how are children are raised. This is a chance for parents to think about and discuss the messages that are being filtered to their children from all areas of life. Information is accessible at the push of a button, and parents have to do more to instill values in their kids that will help them to grow into healthy, highly functioning adults. Montana Fishburne could just be another drop in the Hollywood bucket of tabloid trash, or we could use this as a vehicle to address what's most important to us as a community.

At the core of all of us is the desire to love and be loved, and in a world where we have more face time with our computers, phones and TV's than with our children, is it really a surprise that this young, beautiful girl with all the opportunities available to her is looking for love in all the wrong places?

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Rebecca Brody is a relationship coach in New York City. For free relationship advice contact Brody@TheLuvCoach.com or go to www.TheLuvCoach.com. Ready to meet that special person? Come join Coach Brody for an evening of Improv Speed Dating- www.Improvdates.com