Once upon a time there was a young girl named 'Hannah Montana' who graced the Disney Channel with her sweet, young and innocent persona. With a following of young American kids, she was seen as nothing but a pleasant and endearing actress. You know what they say, kids grow up far too quickly these days - however, in Miley's case all hell has literally broken loose.
Like every other young, pop-culture obsessed twenty-three year old, I was also stunned upon watching the monstrous train-wreck known as Miley's 'music performance' at the VMA's. Still today, I cannot comprehend what that was to be honest. All I know is that it was far from a credible performance, but one that managed to become an ongoing news story around the world throughout social media. Shockingly, artists like Lady Gaga (who consistently shock viewers at every music event) were overshadowed on this occasion, as the tongue-out twerking machine Miley Cyrus effortlessly took centre stage this time around. Acknowledging that her fourth studio album is nearing its worldwide release, it was obvious to any viewer that this deliberate attempt to cause controversy was a simple mechanism to promote her current single "We Can't Stop"; which musicians feel the need to excessively do when 1) their vocals suck 2) their songs are shit, however, there might have been a 'tiny' part of me that thought this promotional activity was a slight overkill. As expected, Miley Cyrus has managed to become the most talked about musician throughout the last few weeks, taking attention away from hit stars like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga who have also been in the spotlight lately, but just when I thought it couldn't get worse, it did!
Not that I would usually indulge in music by Miley Cyrus, but upon my first view of the music video for "Wrecking Ball" I was slightly blasé about every semiotic within it, without paying attention to any of the content. Suddenly, after my Twitter and Facebook feed's became invaded with screen grabs and still's from her music video, my laptop forced itself back onto YouTube to watch the video for a second time. Following another three minutes, this time of actively analysing every single connotation and semiotic within the music video, I came to the conclusion that it was possibly the most shocking video I had ever seen. Despite it being somewhat simple and 'obvious', there was too much within it that was truly outrageous.
For all those fans who believe that Miley is attractive, I beg to differ; I find her physically repulsive, and after seeing this atrocity my mind certainly has not changed. One thing that caught my eye so quickly was how spitty her mouth was; something that I couldn't quite seem to suss the connotations of. Nevertheless, witnessing her pulsate against a wrecking ball (in the nude, let's not forget) and perform physical actions with her body and tongue against a range of hardware tools was sickening. Yes, we all understand the symbolic representations of being emotionally stripped, however the overly sexual and phallic imagery was just unnecessary. As a result of this, I do believe that this video has the potential to be somewhat iconic, in addition to the simple usage of close up shots that is so reminiscent of Sinead O'Connor's "Nothing Compares" video, and of course controversial images of her physically assaulting herself whilst singing through her tears.
It's fascinating how such a simple pop song can become a worldwide phenomenon due to a controversial music video. She now holds the world record for the most views gained within its first 24 hours. If she succeeds with this one I can only give her credit as her label have clearly attempted to gain recognition through a radically sexualised image. I genuinely believe that Miley Cyrus is now destined for worldwide success after all of this, however the repercussions of her actions might turn out sour in the end. I cannot help but think about whether Miley genuinely approves of all her actions or not. Either she is so desperate for fame and success that she will pull out all the stops on her route, or she is purely forced into this behaviour by a dominating three-hundred strong A&R team who do not allow her any say or opinion over her actions. Either way, she could possibly be the next "big thing" or will subsequently do a Britney five years down the line as a result of it... or of course everyone will get over this malarkey of hers once some other female musician tries to top her. One thing's for sure, she is far from 'talented' and is yet another female musician to provide shock over substance. Vent over, for the meantime!