Unless you have been on a deserted island for the past 3
months, then you have heard about the recent controversy with the former Disney
star Miley Cyrus. Her image went from once childhood icon as Hannah Montana to
now scandalous Miley Cyrus. After ending her Disney Channel show “Hannah
Montana” Miley Cyrus wanted to continue to pursue her acting career. Trying to
no longer identify with “Hannah Montana” Cyrus decided to play a more mature
character in the movie, LOL. Disappointed by the outcome of the movie, Cyrus
wanted to only pursue her music. Her desire was to shock America in releasing
her new image as an artist.
On August 25, 2013 Cyrus strut the stage debuting her hit
song, “We Can’t Stop” wearing a nude colored two piece and dancing very
provocatively and “twerking” with Robin Thicke. A lot of criticism came from
viewers that night commenting on her new image. Some even going to the extent
to say that Cyrus’ performance was cruel and racist.
“The 20-year-old's VMAs performance marks another chapter not
only in Miley's reckless use of black culture as proof that she's subversive
and no longer a Disney star, but of the entertainment industry's casual
co-signing of her team's idiocy. How did no one, for example, think that having
voluptuous, black backup dancers figure as meat for Cyrus' slapping was
offensive?” (huffingtonpost.com).
Even
with all this backlash, Cyrus’ intent was to identify with a prominent and
historical female artist within her co-culture of musicians. In the Music
Television (MTV) documentary, “The Movement”, Cyrus states, “Right now, I’m at
a point in my career where I can be exactly what I wanna be, who I wanna be” (www.mtv.com). This quote
explains her transformation from her childhood pop star to the shocking new
artist she has now become within her co-culture.
It
is important to be aware of Cyrus’ social position in terms of language and
intercultural communication. For instance, Cyrus’ performance at VMA’s caused a
Frisco mom to be outraged following a blog post that went viral on the
internet. In the blog post entitled “Dear daughter, let MIley Cyrus be a lesson
to you,” the furious mother writes, “Miley Cyrus is not edgy or cool or sexy. She’s a desperate girl
screaming for attention: Notice me. Tell me I’m pretty. See how hot I am. I
know all the guys want me. All the girls want to be me.” (www.roadkillgoldfish.com). Because of this social position Cyrus put
herself in, the mother no longer wants her daughter to be associated with
“Hannah Montana” nor “Miley Cyrus.” Thousands of mothers have expressed similar
thoughts to this blog above and are banning their children from being
associated with Cyrus. After writing
this blog I realized how big of an influence Miley Cyrus’ or similar artist
actions could be on their audience; sending harmful messages to children and
also displaying sexual and demeaning connotations.
“You’re always
gonna make people talk… you might as well make them talk for like 2 weeks…
rather than two seconds”-Miley Cyrus (www.mtv.com).
Stay Classy
REFERENCES
"Dear daughter, let Miley
Cyrus be a lesson to you | Roadkill Goldfish." Roadkill Goldfish | God
has a sense of humor. My life is proof of it.. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct.
2013.
<http://roadkillgoldfish.com/2013/08/26/dear-daughter-let-miley-cyrus-be-a-lesson-to-you/#comments>.
"Miley Cyrus Brings Her Race
Problem To The VMAs | Kia Makarechi." Breaking News and Opinion on The
Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kia-makarechi/miley-cyrus-race-vmas_b_3817286.html?>.
Flitsch, ron. " 'Miley: The
Movement': Our Favorite Quotes & Moments Of Miley Realness From Her MTV
Documentary (GIFs) ." MTV Buzzworthy Blog . N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct.
2013.
<http://buzzworthy.mtv.com/2013/10/03/miley-the-movement-our-favorite-quotes-moments-of-miley-realness-from-her-mtv-documentary-gifs/>.
You chose a really good event to focus on. The Miley Cyrus topic has seemed so polarizing in the past couple of months. I see people saying she's empowering herself, and others saying she's just demeaning women in general. I think part of the reason for this is there may be a shift in the dominant culture. The previous dominant cultural mindset is waning as the new, younger mindset is gaining prominence.
ReplyDeleteThis is very timely! I actually have been looking into Miley's latest antics for another class. When first viewing her music videos and Blurred Lines performance, people are uncomfortable and many began calling her names and negatively reacting to her work. However, Cyrus did point out during her interview with Matt Lauer a few days ago that all this might just be for her new record and its sales, and people are clearly still talking about her latest stunts, so it was working. I'm glad people are sharing their opinions about her performances, but I also feel like they shouldn't be so quick to judge and call her names. She is an artist and performer, after all. This might be for the sales.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is such a great topic for this CAPS blog! Do you think Miley is doing this for record sales or is this an image that she wants to continue on with? I think Miley Cyrus is a more "outrageous" version of Madonna from the 80's. If Miley continues to try and change her image every time she slips out of the mainstream media who knows what her next stunt will be. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with next!
ReplyDeleteThis is the perfect blog. Miley's position in a young teenage girl world is very prominent, which is why she is so controversial right now. She stood for so much back in her days of Hannah Montanta (living a positive life) and now she has rebelled against that. The language she is expressing is sending a message to young girls that they should rebel too... because Hannah Montana is doing it.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this blog! I actually just watched the documentary today. It was one of those things that i really didn't want to watch, but couldn't change the channel at the same time. I just had to watch the trail wreck unfold. Her behavior seems very in tune with other young actors who have a great career as child stars, then feel the need to break that image. As she stated in her documentary, she is loving all the attention even if it is negative.
ReplyDeleteZach,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic since Miley is always out there making the news for some outrageous action. Do you think she is really trying to further her career with her actions or does she just want attention from the media? Also I believe that kids did look up to her before all of these recent events. Do you think that after ll this happened that more people are following Miley or that more people have decided to steer clear of her? Good job linking Miley's actions to the non-dominant culture in our country!