When I was 11, Hannah Montana was my idol. I loved the TV show, had the albums, saw the movie and bought the book. I worshiped the ground that she walked on. What little girl didn’t?
These days, my view of Miley Cyrus is… different, to say the least. I won’t lie – when she traded her lovely brown locks for a blonde pixie-cut, I didn’t think it could get any worse. But it did. This was just the first step in Miley’s campaign to shed away the good-girl image Disney gave her – and, apparently, the rest of her clothes too! Due to the crazy music video for We Can’t Stop, and her saucy VMA duet with Robin Thicke, Miley has become the subject of serious controversy. She’s like a good olive – you either love her, or you loathe her.
Personally, I’m disappointed. Her raunchy VMA performance became the most tweeted about event in history – and it’s not hard to see why. Whilst performing with married Mr Thicke, Miley stripped down to a nude bikini, leaving very little to the imagination.
Miley’s performance taught teenage girls one thing, and one thing only: you’ll only get noticed by twerking. Definitely not the message that Hannah Montana promoted. My eleven-year old self would be heartbroken.
What Miley doesn’t realise is that her fans loved her the way she was. The first Hannah Montana Soundtrack didn’t sell over two million copies for no reason – Miley can really sing. Of course she can’t be Hannah forever. Of course she can’t sing cheesy-pop anthems for the rest of her life. But that doesn’t mean she had to change quite so drastically – and rely on her sexuality to get noticed when she’s actually talented.
But Miley knew exactly what she was getting herself into. From her provocative dancing at the VMAs, to stripping bare in her recent video for Wrecking Ball, she has proved her point: she’s not a little girl any more. Hannah Montana’s gone and she’s never coming back. (Excuse me while I reach for a tissue…)
After viewing her as America’s sweetheart for the last few years, it’s easy to see why it’s hard to accept the new Miley. We grew up with her, we idolised her, and we watched as the world fell in love with her too. And while I think Miley has the right to grow up, as we all do, she could do this perfectly well whilst wearing some clothes.
Nonetheless, she achieved her goal. She has allowed us to mourn Hannah Montana, and accept the new Miley – whether we wanted to or not. But how far is she willing to go until she completely proves her point? One thing’s for sure – there’s going to be a bit more twerking involved…
What’s your opinion of the new Miley? Source asked some teenagers what they think of the singer in light of recent events…
“I’m not exactly a fan of all the twerking, but I still love her. Vocally, she’s amazing.” Rebecca
“She has become way too extreme. She is trying too hard to get rid of Hannah Montana.” Sarah
“I think she’s really interesting and different. She doesn’t really care about people’s opinions of her – she’s going to do what she wants.” Scott
“I like her songs, but she is a bad role model.” Leigh
“She needs to put clothes back on as many young girls who may look up to her may begin to think it’s alright to wear very little when they go out.” Victoria
“Miley Cyrus is trying to get rid of her perception of being a ‘good girl’ from Hannah Montana but she is taking it too far and needs to cover up!” Sophie
“People’s obsession with her is just a distraction from her own faults.” Mark
“#MileyForPresident” Alasdair
