A smile that stretched ear to ear and an attitude that told girls they could be whoever they wanted to be was the image portrayed by Disney’s Hannah Montana. Miley Cyrus, the girl behind the blonde wig, was idolized as a teen-pop icon for her positive messages, admired for her close-knit connection with her family, and commended for being ‘good’ in Hollywood when former Disney stars like Britney Spears were making tabloid headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Long gone is the image of America’s sweetheart and in its wake is Miley 2.0, the scandalous edition.
What started off with a seemingly harmless haircut has spiraled into a full fledged change in character. The once sweet and innocent Miley is now more focused on partying and making a scene. Her new single “We Can’t Stop” dropped this summer, debuting along with her new look and featuring a new musical direction. Miley’s gone from singing about love and true friends to “doing whatever she wants” as she says in her song. That’s not the only thing she sings about, “We Can’t Stop” is more or less a message to everyone that she doesn’t care for opinions, as her song features lyrics about strip clubs and doing drugs in the bathroom.
Most recently Miley has received attention for her shocking performance at MTV’s video music awards. The performance kicked off with over-sized teddy bears flocking the stage as the opening music to “We Can’t Stop” began. If you weren’t already confused at this point, Miley steps out of a teddy bear wearing a skin tight, flesh colored, ‘shorts’ (if you can even call them that) and bra. Barely covered, she then proceeded to stick her tongue out at the camera and crowd while the entire audience gawked at her.
At this point I was stunned. This was the girl that played Hanna Montana only two years ago, this was the teen-pop sensation? For most of the performance Miley’s mouth remained open, singing a few lyrics here and there, but for the most part she couldn’t even keep her tongue in her mouth, let alone give a good performance. As the show proceeded, so did Miley, straight to twerking into the audience and rubbing her face in the butt of fellow dancers.
For a moment I thought I was being too judgmental, after all she wasn’t 16 anymore, but my initial opinion was quickly confirmed as the VMA cameras cut to an image of Will Smith and his family looking appalled at the sight before them. My Twitter feed mirrored the shock of the Smith family and audience alike and was flooded with talk of Miley. Everyone was stunned at the new Miley. For days this was the hot topic, but while critics ripped apart her performance, Miley seemed to be pleased with her fame. I can’t help but ask myself, is it all a show? Is this what happens to idols who are looking to break out of their wholesome image and go too far? We’ve seen stars like Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan and Amanda Bynes go way off the deep end, and by the looks of it Miley’s on her way there. Pushing the envelope and making a few fashion changes is one thing, but Miley is pushing the edge of decency, and there is such a thing as going too far.
