Michelle Obama's surprise appearance at the Academy Awards - where she was beamed in from the White House dressed in a sparkling evening gown to announce the Best Picture award - provided ammunition for her critics.
First lady Michelle Obama knows she has star power, and she has used it for four years to champion her causes of fighting childhood obesity and helping military families.
But now that she has successfully made it through the last political campaign for her husband, President Barack Obama, the first lady is also having fun with her popularity - raising questions over whether she has gone too far in becoming a pop culture icon.
Her surprise appearance at the Academy Awards - where she was beamed in from the White House dressed in a sparkling evening gown to announce the Best Picture award - provided ammunition for her critics.
The first lady has enjoyed a steady positive approval rating over the past four years, even at times when her husband sank in the polls.
But the Oscar appearance - coming on the heels of the "mom dance" that she did with late night comedian Jimmy Fallon, which quickly went viral on the Internet - sparked a debate on the proper role of a first lady.
Washington Post columnist Courtland Milloy, who often writes about minority issues, described Obama's Oscar appearance as "unbecoming frivolity" and urged the first lady to "raise her game" and take up a more expanded role in the second term championing more serious causes.
"Enough with the broccoli and Brussels sprouts," Milloy wrote this week in the Washington Post. "Where is that intellectually gifted Princeton graduate, the Harvard-educated lawyer and mentor to the man who would become the first African American president of the United States?"
His column sparked hundreds of comments, ranging from people who thought Obama was doing a great job raising awareness about the childhood obesity problem to others who thought she was trying too hard to be like a Hollywood star.
The first lady said she was not surprised by the controversy over her Oscars appearance, but said she would use all forms of media to get out her message and would reach out to all demographics - including filmmakers who could help with her efforts to introduce children to arts and culture.
"Anyone in this position has a huge spotlight," Obama told a small group of reporters traveling with her on a three-city tour to promote her Let's Move program to fight childhood obesity.
"We've always thought about that spotlight. And taking it, while it's looking at you, to stand in front of something good so it shines on that too," Obama said, before jumping and dancing with more than 6,500 kids gathered in Chicago to highlight the importance of daily exercise.
美国第一夫人米歇尔•奥巴马知道自己拥有明星影响力，在过去四年中她一直利用自己的这一影响力来支持她抗击儿童肥胖和帮助军人家庭的慈善事业。
如今她已经成功地帮助丈夫奥巴马总统赢得了最后一次竞选，这个第一夫人也开始享受自己的高人气带来的乐趣——这让人们质疑她是否在流行文化偶像这条路上走得太远了。
她在奥斯卡颁奖礼上“意外现身”的视频——身穿耀眼的晚礼服在白宫宣布最佳影片奖的得主——给批评人士们提供了话柄。
这位第一夫人在过去四年里好评率稳步上升，即使在她丈夫的民调支持率陷入低谷时也不例外。
然而，她在奥斯卡的亮相——此前她刚和晚间脱口秀节目的喜剧演员吉米•法伦一起跳过“老妈热舞”，该视频在网上迅速走红——引发了人们对第一夫人恰当角色的讨论。
《华盛顿邮报》经常撰写有关少数种族问题文章的专栏作家考特兰•米洛伊将奥巴马夫人亮相奥斯卡评价为“不得体的轻浮”，他敦促第一夫人“提升自己的层次”，在奥巴马第二任期所倡导的重要事业中发挥更大的作用。
米洛伊本周在《华盛顿邮报》中写道：“关于吃花椰菜和球芽甘蓝的宣传，我们已经听够了。那个智力超群的普林斯顿大学毕业生、毕业于哈佛的律师、美国首任非洲裔美国总统的良师益友到哪去了呢？”
他的专栏文章引发了数百条评论，有人认为奥巴马夫人在提高儿童肥胖问题意识方面做得很棒，也有人认为她太努力地想使自己看起来像好莱坞明星。
第一夫人表示，她对现身奥斯卡引发的争议并不惊讶，不过她说她会用各种形式的媒体来传达她的信息，并会向各界人士请求援助——包括能通过艺术和文化作品帮助她影响孩子的电影制片人。
在她前往三个城市宣传抗击儿童肥胖的“动起来”活动期间，奥巴马夫人告诉随行的一小拨记者说：“任何处在这个位置的人都会受到极大关注。”
奥巴马夫人说：“我们总是想着那个注视着自己的聚光灯。把这个聚光灯吸引过来，自己和美好的事物站在一起，让它们也能被照到。”说完她又和聚集在芝加哥的6500多名小孩一起蹦蹦跳跳，突出日常锻炼的重要性。
unbecoming: 不得体的；不适当的