Between hacked cellphone photos and relentless paparazzi, Miley Cyrus has been stripped of every traditional vestige of privacy; she shocked fans Friday by taking back the only thing a camera can't take away from her
Disney singer rails against an insidious transparency
By Matthew B. Zeidman
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 10/12/09 – Yeah, the rumors are true. Miley Cyrus deleted her Twitter. And while the holiday-weekend blogosphere has been abuzz with questions, like why the young Disneyette would bother posting a YouTube justification if she’s truly done “living for people,” the 16-year-old star’s decision to leave the popular networking site was an impressively bold one.
Over the past several years, the public’s desire for celebrity news has increased exponentially along with the ability to disseminate such information. Now that the Internet has made candid photos of entertainers, like Cyrus, a daily and endemic phenomenon, fans are no longer content knowing what their idols are doing every moment of the day; they must know what they’re thinking at every moment of the day, as well.
In came Twitter to fill that void, bringing stream-of-consciousness poetry to the mainstream. In short bursts of varying frequencies, anyone, including the rich and famous, could share his most insignificant thoughts with the world.
While Twitter might be a fascinating social experiment on the whole, on an individual level, it is an astonishing waste of time, where “nobodies” can spend part or all of their days yelling into the ether and “somebodies” can have the masses hanging on their every brief and trivial word.
While some find beauty in this chronicling of the mundane, where the world goes to muse about changes in the weather, trips to the bank and favorite guilty pleasures, Cyrus has displayed an uncommon wisdom—not every thought is worth broadcasting to the world.
As Cyrus pointed out, who cares if she’s playing pattycake with her little sister or just discovered a pimple on the end of her nose? This in no way enhances her fans’ appreciation of her art and certainly can’t be interpreted as art, itself, or even genuine introspection.
It may please stalkers to be inside the head of their object of fixation and serve as proof to Cyrus’ younger admirers that their heroine lives a normal life, just as they do, but such a disturbing level of transparency should not be a prerequisite to fame.
No matter how small a celebrity’s gilded cage becomes, thoughts are still sacred. Nobody can take that away from Miley Cyrus or anyone else.
7 responses so far ↓
1 abreanna // Oct 12, 2009 at 7:09 pm
while i was reading this i was like whoa…whoa…. whats with all the big words?lol.good article.no miley bashing!finally!
2 abreanna // Oct 12, 2009 at 7:11 pm
while i was reading this i was like whoa…whoa…. whats with all the big words?lol.good article.no miley bashing!finally!
3 Justin // Oct 12, 2009 at 7:31 pm
If Miley did what you said she did, she must have just fell into it. I doubt her reasons were that deep that night. More a cry out for help to the only person who could her, since no real adult is present in her life to guide her; herself. Miley should not have been the 1 to shut down her twitter. It should have been her parents. They also should have made the statement justifying it, as doing it for her own protection and privacy. Twitter web sites, blogs, etc. were created over the years she was on simple to be mean, to be vile, to be vengful, to bully her. She is critisized for her acts not befitting the role model she is supposed to be to everyone’s children. I think a more powerful statement would be to have the Cyrus parents stop letting her constantly be critisized, stop exposing her to the public without supervision, and to step in and draw the line, even if it means shutting her access down to the public. That type of parental role model would make a more important statement to other parents to take control of their children & their access to the public. Instead, her father wasted no time taking the side of the public begging her to come back on the same venue she was bullied on without even finding out what actually happened from her or his wife. We don’t need or demand the knowledge of Miley’s private thoughts or even her actions; although she willingly gave it to us. What we needed was more of her parents to protect her from what she experienced so she would not have walked away with bitterness, sadness, and the general feeling of being publicly violated. Now she is building walls, and the light in her eyes is diming, so only a few to experience. I call the eyes I see in her today “shark eyes”; vacant, distant, detached. No one could have controlled this except the people who should have; Trish & Billy Ray Cyrus. Even today, she has to stand up and defend them, instead of them taking more control & stepping up to take responsibility that is theirs. Same can be said about her alleged “boyfriend”; ducking out of the public eye like a snake, letting her take the heat. Same can be said for her “sponsors” who sacrifice her for the almighty dollar. I am disliking Hollywood more every day I am exposed to their celebrities, wanna be celebrities, or has been celebrities. So I tweeted my last and deleted my account. But I’m still withdrawing. That is the power of “nothing”!
4 Sophie // Oct 12, 2009 at 7:33 pm
If Miley did what you said she did, she must have just fell into it. I doubt her reasons were that deep that night. More a cry out for help to the only person who could her, since no real adult is present in her life to guide her; herself. Miley should not have been the 1 to shut down her twitter. It should have been her parents. They also should have made the statement justifying it, as doing it for her own protection and privacy. Twitter web sites, blogs, etc. were created over the years she was on simple to be mean, to be vile, to be vengful, to bully her. She is critisized for her acts not befitting the role model she is supposed to be to everyone’s children. I think a more powerful statement would be to have the Cyrus parents stop letting her constantly be critisized, stop exposing her to the public without supervision, and to step in and draw the line, even if it means shutting her access down to the public. That type of parental role model would make a more important statement to other parents to take control of their children & their access to the public. Instead, her father wasted no time taking the side of the public begging her to come back on the same venue she was bullied on without even finding out what actually happened from her or his wife. We don’t need or demand the knowledge of Miley’s private thoughts or even her actions; although she willingly gave it to us. What we needed was more of her parents to protect her from what she experienced so she would not have walked away with bitterness, sadness, and the general feeling of being publicly violated. Now she is building walls, and the light in her eyes is diming, so only a few to experience. I call the eyes I see in her today “shark eyes”; vacant, distant, detached. No one could have controlled this except the people who should have; Trish & Billy Ray Cyrus. Even today, she has to stand up and defend them, instead of them taking more control & stepping up to take responsibility that is theirs. Same can be said about her alleged “boyfriend”; ducking out of the public eye like a snake, letting her take the heat. Same can be said for her “sponsors” who sacrifice her for the almighty dollar. I am disliking Hollywood more every day I am exposed to their celebrities, wanna be celebrities, or has been celebrities. So I tweeted my last and deleted my account. But I’m still withdrawing. That is the power of “nothing”!
5 DorkusLon // Oct 12, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I read this and thought “like wow – and and Whoa!” truly an earth-shattering event. I think I just peed myself.
6 admin // Oct 14, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Justin — Miley has a decent Dad, and one who knows a bit about fame and it’s down side. — Ed.
7 kiss // Oct 30, 2009 at 9:29 am
qiqi yor mes
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