September 28, 2013

I watched Wrecking Ball. I watched it after having an intelligent discussion with some smart friends who think about this sort of news objectively. There’s lots of discussion and bollocks going on around Miley at the moment – some intelligent and some extremely harsh. But when stuff like this hits the headlines and sends everyone into a rampage, it only leaves me wondering – what is the real issue we’re looking at here? I mean, let’s put aside the important issues of our time – you know Syria, Iran, women’s health in Africa, starving kids, etc… Then again, perhaps this IS an important issue of our time – how woman are valued and how women value themselves? My take-away is the absolute ferocity of the global bitch-fest against Miley – a 21 year old girl trying to define who she is as a woman. Don’t get me wrong, I squirm along with everyone else as I watch her rubbing plastic hands against her snatch and want to ask her “what’s with all the tongue action girl?” But, equally, I don’t enjoy watching all of the cock grabbing moves of young male rock stars either. Sexuality is a beautiful thing, dignity is a beautiful thing, but being powerful and being sleazy are two very different things. The truth is, I have no idea what it’s like to be Miley. I mean, imagine putting up with this shit? But is this about her, or is this about us? Is this about us demanding that she transforms into the sort of woman we’re comfortable with – one who doesn’t stray too far from her good girl Hannah Montana persona? I mean, she’s no Madonna taking over the world as an adult – an emergence that shocked us, then thrilled us and finally we accepted her. Miley has been in the spot light since before she got pubes, so becoming the challenging, raw, sexy rock woman of our day perhaps isn’t too comfortable a transition for us to make? She, on the other hand, seems fine with it. I found Wrecking Ball a bit squirmy (though more erotica than soft porn) but I certainly don’t think it deserved the hullabaloo it’s attracted. The song is scarily catchy and I definitely think the girl can sing. In fact, if you close your eyes and listen to the words it’s actually quite a powerful song. So not a big deal for me. However I did find her previous performance a little more off-putting. I felt embarrassed for her watching it – it just didn’t feelright.  But who cares right? If Miley was a new performer we’d say cool, she can sing and she’s got a great body. However, she’s not that to most of the world, as such, it feels like the world is demanding she remains what we know or damn her – not the first time it’s happening to a young starlet emerging into womanhood. I keep asking myself the question – is this who she is today? A gyrating vixen with an attitude? And if that’s who she has grown into, well then fine! Authenticity is OK by me. But if she’s getting incredibly bad advice from the professional clique taking care of her career, then our angst should be headed that way – because why do they think this is what the world wants of our young women? With that said, I have a sneaking suspicion this is what Miley wants. The problem for Miley is she’s moved a long way from where she started out, and she’s definitely got some work to do on her personal brand. But all personal brands are a work in progress. Where she is today isn’t pleasant, but she’s a young woman in transition, so let’s hope the world can give her the space she needs to discover who she really is – mistakes and all. Shit, when I was 21, I was angry with the world, but my community gave me the space I needed to grow and soften. I didn’t have to do it before the world however, so perhaps we all need to be a little more nurturing towards Miley as we expect towards ourselves? I don’t know, I just feel like she’s got some pain inside and that’s what we’re seeing expressed right now… But how would I know? There is no escaping the truth Miley is making people uncomfortable and people don’t like being uncomfortable, but I beseech you to hang-ten a little on the vitriol against her. Instead perhaps take a deeper look at what this means to our society as a whole and how women are valued, as well as how women value themselves. Surely that is the more important question we should be asking ourselves in this day and age? No? Anyways, if you haven’t seen it, here’s a bit of a giggle out of New Zealand… Yours, without the bollocks Andrea