A Real Life Hannah Montana
By Madelyn McCarthy
Miley Cyrus has done a complete 180 in terms of her social media, looks,
and actions within the past five years. Some may even think of Miley
as almost two different people; old Miley Cyrus verses the new Miley. There is
a long list of differences between her actions as a tween pop star and
her unique, creative self today. Miley had her start through the
Disney channel and tried very hard, succeeding tremendously, by getting away
from the Disney channel stardom. She remarketed herself and came at life with a
completely new perspective, or maybe just finally getting to become her real
self... taking her (figurative) wig off in this case.
The crazy new wild child took the attention of all media outlets. "Miley Cyrus cuts hair and goes crazy!" "Miley Cyrus VMA headlines, nip slip, high and inappropriate." "15 Photos Miley Cyrus will regret" The media cannot get enough of Miley. You might be thinking, okay she's a celebrity what else would the media focus on? That right there is the problem.
Miley Cyrus may be crazy, obnoxious, inappropriate,
overwhelming, and so on and so on but what the media does not focus on is her
unique, caring, generous, and supportive actions she is trying to make known. The media choses to follow stories that make celebrities seem much different than the everyday person. Much of celebrities' lives are not major headlines because the media has been structured to find so called "interesting" gossip on people in the spot light. The media has been skewed to make every day people think that this "interesting gossip" is only related to someone's crazy drunk episode or epic fall during a performance. Generosity and support go unnoticed. Miley Cyrus and how her reputation is shown is simply one example of this problem in the media today.
Miley Cyrus’ dramatic actions led her to perform at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. She performed her hit single “We Can’t Stop”. Little to almost none of the headlines relating to the performance had anything to do with her music. The focus was on her clothing, provocative dancing, and collaboration with singer songwriter Robin Thicke. In the media’s defense the elaborate presentation called for many articles, but after numerous campaigns, equal rights movements, and charity work in the aftermath of her episode the media was not interested anymore. At the next years Video Music Award show Miley's past came back into the media’s eye. “What will Miley do next?!” “Can anyone top Miley and Robin’s shocking performance?” Miley Cyrus once again shocked many, but in a completely different way. If the media was not going to focus on her good doings, she might as well put it right in front of their faces. When accepting her award for video of the year, Miley stayed away from the stage. She let a young homeless man accept her award and give a speech about the overwhelming number of young homeless people in the United States. At the end of the speech Jesse Holt, the homeless speaker, told people they could help donate to a charity that could be found on Miley Cyrus’ social media. It is a bit upsetting to me because during my research, which part of it was simply googling the 2014 VMAs, not much of the charity talk is presented in the articles. What does that say about the focus media really has on celebrities?
Fast forward another year and Ms. Cyrus is the host of the 2015 Video Music Awards. Time flies when you live vicariously through music awards drama. Without focusing on all of the madness that went on (Justin Bieber’s tears, the fashion, the feuds, and #Kayne2020) Miley Cyrus performed a new song off her FREE album, again she released 23 free songs, with many drag queens as her back up dancers. Miley is very clear about her stance on equal rights for all considering her foundation “The Happy Hippie” which helps LGBTQ, homeless, and other groups. Again, the media did not focus on her free album which she announced or the support she has for minority groups, but her wild outfits, hosting performance, and fights with other artists. The media, starting with us as the audience, needs to reevaluate what should be important in our society. It is up to us to make a change.
Miley Cyrus’ dramatic actions led her to perform at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. She performed her hit single “We Can’t Stop”. Little to almost none of the headlines relating to the performance had anything to do with her music. The focus was on her clothing, provocative dancing, and collaboration with singer songwriter Robin Thicke. In the media’s defense the elaborate presentation called for many articles, but after numerous campaigns, equal rights movements, and charity work in the aftermath of her episode the media was not interested anymore. At the next years Video Music Award show Miley's past came back into the media’s eye. “What will Miley do next?!” “Can anyone top Miley and Robin’s shocking performance?” Miley Cyrus once again shocked many, but in a completely different way. If the media was not going to focus on her good doings, she might as well put it right in front of their faces. When accepting her award for video of the year, Miley stayed away from the stage. She let a young homeless man accept her award and give a speech about the overwhelming number of young homeless people in the United States. At the end of the speech Jesse Holt, the homeless speaker, told people they could help donate to a charity that could be found on Miley Cyrus’ social media. It is a bit upsetting to me because during my research, which part of it was simply googling the 2014 VMAs, not much of the charity talk is presented in the articles. What does that say about the focus media really has on celebrities?
Fast forward another year and Ms. Cyrus is the host of the 2015 Video Music Awards. Time flies when you live vicariously through music awards drama. Without focusing on all of the madness that went on (Justin Bieber’s tears, the fashion, the feuds, and #Kayne2020) Miley Cyrus performed a new song off her FREE album, again she released 23 free songs, with many drag queens as her back up dancers. Miley is very clear about her stance on equal rights for all considering her foundation “The Happy Hippie” which helps LGBTQ, homeless, and other groups. Again, the media did not focus on her free album which she announced or the support she has for minority groups, but her wild outfits, hosting performance, and fights with other artists. The media, starting with us as the audience, needs to reevaluate what should be important in our society. It is up to us to make a change.
@ the media industry 
Work Cited
Lasimone, Ashley. "FCC Complaints About Miley Cyrus' Nipple on the VMAs: She's 'Very Troubled' & 'Should Be Punished'" Billboard. 21 Sept. 2015. Web.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6700829/miley-cyrus-nipple-2015-mtv-vmas-fcc-complaints
I think you're right, the media should have shown more of the good things Miley was doing. However I would say it is somewhat Miley's fault too. In my opinion, if Miley wanted to help all the causes to her fullest potential then she have made more of an effort to make the cause the center of attention and not her new behavior.
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