WASHINGTON – A few weeks ago, a friend of mine shared the elevator with a young girl and her dad, both on the way to claim their prize at a local radio station for being caller No. 10.
The reward? A pair of tickets to see Miley Cyrus in concert.
When my friend asked the young girl if she was excited to go to the concert, her father quickly chimed in.
“She’s not going. No way.”
Cyrus’ 38-city Bangerz tour has been met with mixed reviews, parental complaints and empty seats, as reported by Forbes. Although, her concert promoter Live Nation says ticket sales are fine.
Family and relationship expert Jane Greer says the hesitation seen among parents of young children is that Cyrus’ image just isn’t what it used to be.
“I think the risk for parents is that their children are no longer able to identify in the way they could when [Cyrus] was Hannah Montana,” Greer says. “Then, she was a role model because her behaviors and her values really flowed in a positive way.”
The “new” Cyrus is an adult whose show reflects her age, her musicality and her fondness for shock and awe. A parental advisory is issued in the show to warn of explicit content — and Cyrus does not go back on her word.
Cyrus’ show has been labeled inappropriate by many. Some parents have gone so far as to call it “porn,” as reported on Music Fix.
“If parents are going to let their kids go to see her, it has to be on a very short leash with very clear boundaries in place,” Greer says.
Greer suggests explaining to your kids that this is a role Miley is playing. Her public performance is a character she has taken on. It is not a role with which to identify or copy.
These days, teen pop idols are getting more play for their mug shots, their twerking and their bad behavior than for their talent.
In previous generations, Elvis’ hips were X-rated and rock ‘n’ roll ushered in bad language, poor behavior and drugs.
Madonna was the role model for pushing the envelope when it came to image.
Maybe Miley is just the new generation of “bad girl.”
If you feel uncomfortable about taking your child to see anyone who “pushes the envelope,” Greer says to stick to your instincts and just say ‘no.’
“They don’t have to like it, they just have to respect it and go along with it,” she says.
Would you take your kids to a Miley Cyrus show?
Let us know in the comments section of this story, on Twitter or on the WTOP Facebook page. Until then, some local parents offer their advice — in a very comical way.
By Crystal Walker and Phoebe Thompson
Dearest Phoebe,
In the event you were considering allowing the twins to see Miley Cyrus in concert in D.C. on April 10, you may want to reconsider.
I know our darling Hannah Montana is gone forever, but who knew the 21-year-old Miley would want to transition from schoolgirl to harlot so quickly? Feigning sexual acts on stage with a replica of a former president seems to move beyond the ambitious young woman’s need to cultivate a new image.
Although I’m no prude, I don’t see a reason to parade in front of our tweens with pot leaves as a design feature on a costume (not to mention the $40 souvenir rolling papers available at the show). In addition, her weird fetish with oversized stuffed animals seems likely only to confuse our cherubs into thinking she is still a girl and not a young woman making very adult choices. It’s a confusing and altogether inappropriate message for her target market. Unless, of course, she doesn’t want their attention at all.
She’s made my decision not to buy overpriced tickets for the show brilliantly simple.
–Crystal
Dear Crystal,
Thank you so much for your stern words of warning. While I am all in favor of young women feeling sexually empowered and expressing themselves accordingly, it does seem to me that La Cyrus is not so much asserting what she wants as pandering to what she thinks her fans like.
But given that, I doubt many ageing former presidents (!) have her on their playlist and the average twenty-something male would probably die rather than admit he did. I fear Miley has misjudged her audience.
Surely most of them are pubescent and impressionable young girls who would probably be happier if she went back to being Hannah Montana half the time, even if Miley is rolling gold leaf joints backstage?
Someone needs to inform Miley that being a true rock star involves actually rebelling against cultural stereotypes, not letting yourself be exploited by them. And whatever you do, especially if it involves updating your image, don’t make it look like you are trying too hard. After all, you only have to look as far as Justin Bieber to realize that going off the rails, and destroying your own tiresomely wholesome image, comes all too easily to most former child stars.
Fortunately, the question of whether or not to take my teenage daughters to her show is moot, since neither of them would be caught dead singing along to one of her songs — unless it’s “Best of Both Worlds,” which they are still known to reprise in the shower upon occasion, when they think no one is listening.
— Phoebe
Crystal Walker is a D.C.-based lawyer, wife and mother of four, who arrived from the glorious Midwest. When she’s not busy juggling her work and children, she enjoys blogging about her family’s adventures in the Nation’s Capital, shopping for bargains and searching for nirvana via yoga and the *occasional* (really!) cocktail. Of course her favorite pastime is gleefully skewering the privileged and powerful D.C. elites with her BFF, Phoebe Thompson.
Phoebe Thompson hails from Mother England, but has happily embraced not just the USA, but D.C., in particular, especially the politics, prestige and pisco sours. She is mother to two girls, wife to darling husband, Brad (otherwise known as the oldballandchain), and best friend to Crystal.
In her previous life (before marriage and children), she was an accomplished journalist, and now she is an extremely busy PAHM (part-time at home mother) working in journalism, a sacrifice she made in order to ensure her girls have the best possible support system as they grow (as long as it doesn’t get in the way of her tennis lessons at the Club). Aside from tennis, Phoebe’s other passions include fashion, yoga and plotting her revenge against the snobby Villagers who have snubbed her over the years.
Read Crystal and Phoebe’s work on their website, Desperate in D.C.
