I can spend quite a while trolling the billions of clips there are to see on this fabulous videoplex. However, due to my tendency to focus on some of my favorite YouTubers (Vlogbrothers, WheezyWaiter, charlieissocoollike, Nerimon, etc.) and video styles (fan videos, music videos, funny clips), I can easily skip over the most viral content that everyone's been talking about (yet another confession- I've never seen Charlie bit my Finger).
A few minutes ago, I decided to combat that by taking a look at one video that's got plenty of attention: the music video for Miley Cyrus's new single, "We Can't Stop".
I'd heard it was crazy. It was.
But, more importantly, it was appalling. And, it made me extremely angry and upset.
I'm not really going to attempt to explain the unexplainable and tell you what the video was about. If you'd like, you can take a look at it here:
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If you didn't watch it, I guess, in the loosest terms, one could say it was about a party, and a very wild one at that.
It was chock full of campy, new-age assets, including bubble gum blood, a taxidermized lamb, a bizarre hologram of a white face, rather large teddy bears being held by dancing girls, an old-fashioned exercise bike, and a lot more weird schlock.
I'll admit it. If this were the craziest the video had to offer, I probably wouldn't have cared much. Artists these days are always trying to be cool and show off their inner teen. I think Madonna led that pack years ago.
But, needless to say, it wasn't the craziest.
See, Miley's producers felt the need to add some...hmmm...."extra features" to the video so as to compliment the crazy stuff going on.
Those extra features? Let's see- we see several girls shaking their butts /directly in front of the camera/; girls smacking a each other's butts with playful grins on their faces...notice a recurring theme here?
But, why stop there? After all, every video needs something sweet, something to pack an extra punch, maybe even something to enjoy the video while watching (definitely possible with this clip). You know what it is- drugs!!!
And this video had them- a beer bottle shaped pinata, to be exact, filled with cigarettes!
But, perhaps the most used facet to this video was Miley herself. There were plenty of shots of the diva in her video, most featuring her, clad in a crop top bearing the phrase "West Coast" and tight white pants, shaking- you guessed it -her butt in a provocative manner, flashing the rock star hand sign, or showing a close-up of her baring her teeth.
Yeah.
A lot has changed since several years ago, when Miley was on my TV pretty much every night on her popular television show, "Hannah Montana". I'm not going to lie- that show, along with "Wizards of Waverly Place", "Sonny with a Chance", "High School Musical", and "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" basically made up my media consumption during childhood (I was a Disney kid, save for Spongebob, which I still watch).
I always loved watching Miley's double life as a mega pop star and high school sophomore unfold upon the small screen, along with her interactions with her friends, brother, dad, and boyfriends (She and Jake Ryan and Sonny and Chad were my first ships ever, people!).
To this day, I still cite quotes from "Hannah Montana" and other series from my youth. I apply situations from the episodes to my daily life. I can sing almost all of the songs from the show by heart. Sometimes, I laugh at how high school is so similar yet so radically different from its portrayal on the show.
However, sometimes, I wonder if I and the other one time fans of the show are the only ones who remember these great moments; the ones who don't being the celebs that starred in them.
I mean, come on: Selena Gomez ("Wizards of Waverly Place") is a musician with her own clothing line, Zac Efron ("High School Musical"), has been in movies, and Jake T. Austin ("Wizards of Waverly Place") is in an ABC Family TV show. Not to mention the fact that almost all the stars of these television shows have had penny roles in shows like "CSI:" and "Criminal Minds". I'm sure it's pretty easy for these now-adults to forget their humble beginnings on network children's television.
Clearly, it was for Miley- after all, I certainly never expected her to practically become a stripper in front of my eyes.
I mean, everyone needs to grow up- I respect that. It seems to me that Miley is going through her stereotypical "rebel" phase where she changes her look and practically becomes a new person who she expresses through her clothes and doings.
However, keeping their former fans in mind, is this really the right way to do it? I certainly didn't think so.
Miley, congratulations on the popularity of your new song. However, I can't honestly say that I'll be snapping at the bit for more.
Pictures courtesy of hannahmontana.wikia.com
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