Friday 4 October 2013

In Defence Of Miley


Damn. I wrote this on the 18th September - and then didn't hit publish. I so should have because it now looks like I'm jumping on Sinead's coattails. For the record - I'm not. Although I do love Sinead. 
---------

I've had some time to think about Miley. And while I laughed when she and her tongue paraded around the stage, and also felt sick to my stomach that this was another Lohan moment, I've been thinking about that girl. I've flipped sides.

Why? Why in the defence of Miley?

Because when I was in my early 20s I did some dumb shit too. Except I had the advantage of not being televised globally, of not being photographed and meme'd like it was nobody's business. Because I got to make mistakes, dance on tables, be a total young fool - and no one captured it to be played over and over again. I didn't do it on a stage - and that's my advantage.

Then you can say - oh well, she chose to do that. And yep, you're right, she did. Except she's young. And we've all been young and foolish. We've all made mistakes. I can think of many including one night going to meet friends at a bar, and then said friends decided not to turn up. So I stood at the bar contemplating what to do. This bunch of girls deliberately pushed me out of the way - and gratefully a guy, the size of a jockey, (imagine me - 5'11, talking to a jockey at the bar - the comedy value - oh how we laugh. Now.) came up and chatted to me. Thankfully he pulled me out of that situation because those girls were aggro and up for some biffo.

So the VMAs was a horrible, horrible thing. And we all laughed. We all cried. We all shook our head and mocked. But you know - other people signed off on that. Other people nodded their heads and said, yes that's the ticket. To the detriment of a 20 year old girl. 

And what about sleazy Robin Thicke. This post made my stomach flip a little. Um. YUCK! No one made a big deal out of Beetlejuice up on stage - no no no. Because he's a man. A 36 year old married man. He's immune to the stuff. 

Double standards people? 

And Miley's film clip swinging on a wrecking ball? Big deal. It's nothing Madonna, or Gaga, or whoever is to come next hasn't done. I mean licking the metal tool thing (which name escapes me) was a bit gross - but mainly because all I could think of was my fillings hitting the richter scale. And I don't find tools terribly attractive.

But when I researched that film clip - I saw it was Terry Richardson. 

In my book Terry Richardson isn't terribly clever, and yet celebs clamour to be photographed by him. Obama. Beyonce. Rhi Rhi (train wreck alert). Tobey Maguire. Gaga. The list goes on. 

Richardson's "art" - and I'm using that term loosely, seems to be making people look terribly, terribly ordinary. Just google for more references - they're abundant.

So when an impressionable 20 year old is offered the opportunity to work with a "legendary" (using that incredibly loosely) photographer - well it seems like a good idea, huh?

And let's look at the Blurred Lines clip - and in particular the uncensored version (google it). So that's ok and Miley swinging on a wrecking ball is a catastrophe. 

I'm off the Miley dissing train. I feel for her. She's got people steering her this way and that, and when that happens you loose clarity, you think those people have your best interests at heart, and really she's been loaded onto the publicity train. All aboard.

I'm off at the next stop.

2 comments:

Cath @mybeardedpigeon said...

I agree completely, I did all my stupid shit before the Internet THANK FUCKING GOD!! I feel bad for her that she is getting so much hate, but what I find interesting is women hating her for portraying women in that way yet acting like a complete bitch to her Is somehow ok..? I just think she was badly advised and I also agree with a lot of Sinead said about her being used to make money, of course she is. It's wrong that women STILL have to act this way to sell music.
As for that picture of robin thicke! honestly! I could vomit! what a pig.

Tessa White said...

Totally agree.. money and fame at an early age with agents and directors directing you navigate the path into becoming an adult has just become a wrecking ball for her character.. I think she will come out the other side just fine though..