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Why the 'Hannah Montana' star is a role model, even if she
didn't sign on for the job
By Frank Paiva
Special to MSN
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Most teenagers think the world revolves around
them. For Miley Cyrus it's actually true.
The 16-year-old Disney star has already written an autobiography, released four multiplatinum albums, and posed for Annie Leibovitz. This past weekend, she headlined the No. 1 film in the country, "Hannah Montana: The Movie," to the tune of $34 million.
Miley was born Destiny Hope Cyrus in 1992. Think about the first time you saw "Reservoir Dogs" or "The Bodyguard." Yeah, that recently. Although she left public school behind years ago for a private tutor, she has the equivalent of a 10th-grade education. She began to legally drive a car less than five months ago. She's as rich as any of the trust-fund brats you went to school with. But instead of getting her money from Daddy, she got it from a sold-out, 69-date concert tour.
Very little about Miley's life is ordinary. So why are we expecting role model or even normal behavior from her?
Unlike the girl next door/pop superstar dual personality she plays on television, Miley Cyrus does not get the best of both worlds. She's famous all the time, and under the constant scrutiny of an almost exponentially invasive celebrity media machine. America supports this level of celebrity minutia with its wallets, its Web hits, and the precious time it loses watching "The Hills."
This relentless press coverage impacts pop culture in two ways. The first is the proliferation of people like Paris Hilton, who are famous just for being famous. The second is the self-importance attributed to people who are already legitimately famous. How else to explain the political heft of George Clooney or Angelina Jolie?
Miley Cyrus is a combination of these two maladies. She's a role model simply because she's famous, and that fame magnifies her every action to emblematic and problematic status.
The disturbing practice of this poster-child-by-default mentality is more prevalent than ever. Surely, 21-year-old Rihanna is not a good example for victims of domestic abuse. Surely, no parents would want Levi Johnston to be the father of their 18-year-old daughter's baby.
Yet both Rihanna and Bristol Palin became figureheads for their respective issues simply because one of them is a pop star and the other had a mom nominated as vice president. The same logic would give Mark Hamill a job at NASA just because he must know something about space.
If Miley Cyrus has little in common with the teens she's supposedly representing, it's at least hopeful for her future that she makes a lot of their same mistakes. She just makes them on a level appropriate to her fame. Some of her recent missteps are trademarks of bad teen decision-making:
- She has a crush on the hottest guy in school, no matter how questionable he otherwise may be. In real life he would be in college, or have no life aspirations outside of skateboarding all day and partying all night. In Miley's life, he's a fame seeking yet religious 20-year-old underwear model.
- She gets mad at the prom band for not doing what she wants on the biggest night of her life. Or in Miley's case, she has an altercation with Radiohead at the Grammy Awards.
- She makes fun of a friend behind her back, only to have that friend find out. Miley had the added burden of the evidence being posted on the Internet for millions to see and the fact that the media loves a feud.
- She plays sexy with her friends, making faces and taking pictures wearing bikinis in the backyard. This is a reality of the Facebook/MySpace generation. The lesson here being (again) that anyone in the world can see anything posted on the Internet.
- About the only thing Miley has truly done wrong is parking in a handicap spot to buy milkshakes. Can't the LAPD impose some type of retroactive ticketing procedure on this one? Do kids not spend the night in jail as a scared-straight method anymore?
Then there's the show "Hannah Montana" itself. Since Miley's life mirrors the life of her character, the show's Disney-approved moral values are no doubt a positive influence on young viewers, to the point that they become an extension of the actress portraying them.
Hannah/Miley repeatedly steps on the feet of her father, brother, and friends, and spends most episodes doing whatever she can to make things right. No such morality is on display in "America's Next Top Model," "Gossip Girl," or the aforementioned "Hills," all shows popular with young girls.
Miley Cyrus is also one of many Disney Channel stars (others are supposed rival Selena Gomez and those adorable Jonas Brothers) who've publicly stated that they won't have sex until marriage. Regardless of your personal feelings on teen abstinence, it's nice to at least hear that Miley won't be shacking up with, say, Wilmer Valderrama anytime soon.
And that's why she's still a role model, even if she was inadvertently hired for the job. There's no partying, no drinking, no drug abuse. Even the legal adult boyfriend is benign. Miley Cyrus may be a bit of a diva, but what 16-year-old girl isn't? As long as she continues to acknowledge her mistakes and avoids any actually illegal behavior, she's setting a positive example for young girls.
But a charity single for the handicapped might be a good idea.
Counterpoint: Why Miley Cyrus isn't a good role model
The discussion continues. Is Miley Cyrus a role model? Weigh in at heymsn@microsoft.com.
Frank Paiva is a playwright and actor in New York City. In addition to making regular contributions to MSN Movies, his work has appeared in The New York Times, the Seattle Weekly, the Not for Tourists guide, and on EdgeNewYork.com.
