“Where are you?”
“On my way to the Miley Cyrus concert.”
“I just lost all respect for you.”
Surprisingly, a majority of the Shalhevet student population has this contempt for Miley Cyrus. Although they may hate most teen-pop artists, they especially hate Miley Cyrus.
Could it be because of her alter ego, Hannah Montana? Could it be that she has a show on Disney channel, and Shalhevet students think they’re too mature?
Whatever it may be, my “Who hates Miley Cyrus?” Facebook status resulted in 4 likes and 6 comments — in the first 20 minutes.
It’s shocking to me that so many Shalhevet students hate Miley Cyrus when she could so easily be one of them.
When I entered high school, I started changing from a kid to an adult, a caterpillar to a butterfly. Many adults will tell you the years of high school are the most awkward years of your life; this is caused by the transformation we go through, when we shed our cocoon.
Shedding that cocoon means challenging everything, deciding which values resonate with us, and which we have to throw away. It is a challenge for us all to re-think the properties that used to define our personalities. Sometimes this may lead to arguments with our parents; we want to know why they believe so vehemently in something we no longer believe.
Although some may see this as rebellion, we are just pushing the boundary to find our boxes.
Miley Cyrus is doing the same thing with her “Can’t Be Tamed,” music video. The lyrics, “I can’t be tamed, I can’t be blamed,” convey that she refuses to blindly obey and be criticized by others for choosing for herself. She fights for individuality, against conformity. Does that sound familiar, Shalhevet students, who have forever battled the dress-code rules?
The “Can’t Be Tamed” music video may seem wild and rebellious, but I think that this is the wrong interpretation. If questioning the status quo, trying new things, and being creative are rebellious actions, then Shalhevet students are the most rebellious kids around.
In her new song, “Can’t Be Tamed,” Miley shows how far she’s come since the beginnings of her “Hannah Montana” days. She’s co-written songs such as “Liberty Walk” and “Forgiveness and Love.” She uses these songs to inspire others who feel hopeless or trapped. Shalhevet students join Koreh L.A, or Jewish Big Brother Big Sister, for the same reason. The idea behind the freshman-senior buddies program is to bestow our life experiences upon others, who can use them to overcome struggles in their own lives.
Don’t we tell ourselves and our friends, every day, that the sky is the limit? We can achieve it all? If not, we should start! Over the years, all of us have endured moments at which we felt hopeless, tied-down, or unmotivated. So has Miley Cyrus. She benefits from these experiences in her life, writing songs in an attempt to help people who undergo similar struggles. We do similar things as we paint something beautiful in AP Art, write a poem and hang it on the wall or take pictures for LitMag. We are using art to express real, raw emotion.
That’s what Miley Cyrus does. You can lose all respect for me if you want, but I’ve gained a lot of respect for Miley Cyrus.
