When even the liberal press and fellow performers* despise your performance as out of bounds--in some cases labeling it as an indication of psychological dysfunction--you would seem to be in a bad spot.
I thought what Miley Cyrus did was self-assertive and demonstrated potentially life-saving psychological strength.
It's tough to devise a post-Disney career, or to emerge from a child star identity. And nobody has ever done it better than Miley. She has segued from Disney Channel teen star to singer to movie actress, linking one connection across to the other, while trying to guarantee that when no one would possibly believe she was a teen any longer, she still has a career and, literally, a life. (Remember Dana Plato, who never had a post-"Different Strokes" career and committed suicide at 36?)
Cyrus has provided a textbook case of how to accomplish this mission. A Disney teen idol at 13, she released her fist album on the strength of her Hannah Montana character at 14, and sold three million copies! I wouldn't dream that a teenager figured all of this out. The title of her first album, "Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus" sounds like a corporate-planning group's answer to the question: "How do we make sure that Miley doesn't become absorbed by Montana?" Cyrus then continued moving between filming and recording, but seemingly always with an eye towards where she was going--a more mature recording and screen identity, which was evident in her 2009 "Party in the USA." And she has never looked back, reaching a stratospheric #13 ranking, age 17, on the 2010 Forbes Celebrity 100.
So when some celebrities question (as I viewed one doing over and over again in a clip) who is running Cyrus's career, it has to be done with a firm appreciation that this has been very successful management. But many have gone down with even the cleverest managers, and so it is necessary to give credit to Cyrus's selection of management, following their suggestions, and performing consistent with their direction. I also believe that at age 20, she is very capable of influencing this equation, and is doing so. But that's a good, not a bad, sign. Stars who are led by the nose are often not contented, fulfilled people (think Elvis).
It takes guts for anyone to offer such an outre performance as Cyrus did at the MTV Video Music Awards before a multi-million-person audience and the leading commercial musical figures in the country. It takes tremendous attitude and confidence in yourself and your body to put yourself on the line like that. And she's 20! Of course, she might think differently--you can bet she will--about such a performance at ages 30, 40, and 50.
I'm personally totally uninterested in Cyrus's music and acting and VMA performance. It's just not the type of entertainment that interests me. As a psychologist, I'm stunned by Cyrus's audacity--I can think of almost no one who would chance what she did. She stole the thunder from Lady Gaga. Someone told me they were on a photo shoot with a young (but older than Miley) screen performer who burst into tears. "But she's on film and video all the time!" I exclaimed. "Yes, but she lacks confidence, and she needed a tremendous amount of encouragement to proceed."
Many of those attacking Cyrus do so on psychological grounds--most notably Mika Brzezinski who surmised, among other things, that Cyrus had an eating disorder. "She's a mess. Someone needs to take care of her." Brzezinski has recently published a book describing her lifelong eating disorder, one that she claims to be remedying currently before the cameras on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" as she has put on weight. On "Today,"Brzezinski doubled down: we are witnessing "a 20 year old young woman literally in the process of her undoing."
Some of those criticizing Cyrus's performance ARE psychologists. I look at things from a different angle, however. I'm not quick to label people as addicts or people with disorders needing treatment and who may still never recover from what the clinician labels a lifetime condition. (Think Dr. Drew.) I don't believe our treatments are very much help, for one thing, and they may do harm. For another, most people recover from most addictions and most mental conditions on their own.
Remember when Drew Barrymore was on People Magazine's cover as America's youngest addict at age 13? And now 25 years later she's a major Hollywood performer-producer with a seemingly good home life (she was recently married)--one where, by the way, she enjoys wine?
That's actually the typical outcome, although our world is set up not to recognize this is so. In any case, my approach is to launch people on a positive trajectory, like Drew achieved, through satisfying work and good relationships, self-respect, positive life feedback. That's a fine line in the case of Miley's recent experience. But she's giving it a shot.
* I understand the Smith family's pictured reaction was to Lady Gaga's performance, and not Cyrus's. In any case, that the Smith kids were so aghast at what they were seeing is a sign that their parents are bringing them up right! (Although perhaps they shouldn't have been at the show at all? At the best of times, it's R rated.)
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