Harmony Korine’s latest film, “Spring Breakers,” is set to be released in theaters on March 22, but has already caused quite a stir for its presentation of youthful debauchery.

With former Disney starlets Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez, getting down and dirty in skimpy bikinis, Korine’s newest film has people captivated and horrified, often at the same time.

The film opened in Austin last week at the Paramount Theater as part of the film portion of South by Southwest.

The movie follows four small-town college girls as they rob a local restaurant and then flee down the beaches of Florida for an unforgettable Spring Break adventure. Once there, the girls, played by Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine, live it up on the sunny Florida beaches, downing booze and doing tons of drugs. Before long, they hit a little snag in their fun and get arrested for drug possession, landing them in a jail cell, hungover and clad only in bikinis.

Then enters James Franco’s character, Alien, a drug dealing, rapping, gangster who bails the girls out and leads them further into the dark world of crime, drugs and violence.

A few points of concern have been that the girls are in teeny bikinis for most of the movie, they do pretty much every drug they can find, they drink alcohol, they have sex and they repeatedly hit a bong.

Gasp!

Since the movie stars Vanessa Hudgens and Selena Gomez, who both hail from the royal line of classy disney channel starlets, there has been a lot of concern about the effects their onscreen behavior will have on their younger fans.

“Spring Breakers” is definitely not light-hearted or kid friendly, but then again, this is a film by Harmony Korine, a director known for making sordid films like 2009’s “Trash Humpers.”

This is not a Disney Channel special. This is rated R for a reason.

If parents are worried about the impression that “Spring Breakers” could make on their kids, then they should not allow their children to watch it. Or, better yet, lets give young people a little bit of credit here.

Just because a movie shows attractive girls in bikinis doing drugs, it does not mean that we will all be rushing out to buy a new swim suit and some marijuana.

At least the girls are only doing these things on-screen. They could have taken their cues from other former Disney starlets like Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes, or Britney Spears, and taken to drinking, stealing and doing hard drugs in real life, then burning out before the ripe age of 30.

Or they could have gone the Hilary Duff path and just faded into obscurity.

It is refreshing to see Gomez and Hudgens shed their good girl personas and take on a more serious and adult role than “Wizards of Waverly Place” or “High School Musical.”

In reality Gomez and Hudgens are no longer little girls, but growing into women. Thus, it seems only natural that they would leave behind their candy coated Disney personas for bigger, better and more adult careers.