Dear Miley,
By now, you’ve likely slept off the adrenaline rush from last night’s performance at the VMAs. You have undoubtedly noted the less-than-stellar reviews of your presentation. Many people are wondering now (and were wondering last night), “What was Miley thinking?”
Will Smith and family were fairly shocked, I’d say.
I bet I know what you were thinking.
I bet it was, “I don’t want to be known as Hannah Montana anymore.”
I get it. Many child stars go through the same thing. Look at Britney and Lindsay. Heck, even look at Judy Garland!
Reinvention is the name of the fame game. When Christina Aguilera wanted to show us she was all grown up, she gave us the “Dirrty” video (which made us feel like we could get herpes from contact with our TVs).
When Julie Andrews wanted to shed her wholesome Mary Poppins image, she took off her top in “S.O.B.”
Notice a theme emerging here. I don’t want to scream “gender issues,” but there is a problem. Why do women feel like they have to get naked, or nearly naked, to shed an image? In running away from Rachel Green, even Jennifer Aniston has headed down that path with “Horrible Bosses” and “We’re the Millers.”
And usually, the response is shock and dismay (OK, maybe not in Aniston’s case, but still). And the level of outrage seems greater than when male stars try to break out of their mold.
For example, there is no massive backlash against Bieber. Chris Brown seems to be doing just fine. Even Danny Bonaduce has a regular gig now.
Maybe this is on my mind because today is Women’s Equality Day.
Yes, it would have been nice if you had taken the Ron Howard route to respect. You didn’t. OK. All the haters need to just quiet down now and let you work this out. (Robin Thicke and his wife are the only ones who get to complain if they want.)
I hope you will consider carefully your next move. And I hope it doesn’t involve bending over and wiggling.
You stay classy, Miley.
Best wishes,
Beth
Observe and report 