Wednesday, September 25, 2013


Right from the get go, viewer’s attention swarmed Miley Cyrus’s new video, Wrecking Ball. There were “eyes rolled” and "jaws dropped" due to her exposed bare body as she swung on a "wrecking ball"and portrayed sexual acts in her music video. I know was taken back after watching the video for the first time. However, did I ever stop to think, why? What would the meaning and reasoning be behind such an act? I did not. I was quick to judge I mean the thought of her previous video “we can’t stop” was still trapped inside my mind. Then I thought, now this? What is this girl thinking?
We all know of Miley Cyrus as “Hannah Montana” from Disney Channel. Since Disney is broadcasted for kids and teens, the audience being reached is that of our adolescence. Should they be watching this inappropriate display of entertainment?  She used to be this sweet and innocent girl, and people might wonder, “who is this woman now?” It definitely raised multiple questions in the public’s eye. Hann, a blogger, notes, “what's startling about Cyrus's journey is the extent of the embrace: the Wrecking Ball video doesn't demonstrate a woman exploring her sexuality, it depicts a woman exploring the iconography of porn”(Hann, 2013). Of course, people will consume these thoughts because we create meanings from our own beliefs and views that we hold true to ourselves. Some meanings are broad and some are narrow. I believe this video, for example, does not particularly follow the broad traditional roles of society’s norms. Thus, Cyrus creates a narrow meaning in this video that others may not follow at first, which is causing this diverse controversy.
After I saw what I thought was a catastrophe, I began to do some research to find some meaning behind this scandalizing actions. I know Miley Cyrus would not wreck her empire for a little extra attention from the tabloids. According to Miley Cyrus via twitter, “I’m naked to show how Liam destroyed me, I emotionally became “naked and stripped” meaning I’m hurt on the inside” (Cyrus, 2013). As viewers, we are quick to assume that these meanings do not exist. Now that I am aware of such significance behind the scenes, it is obvious she was simply trying to express her emotions in a meaningful way.  Yet, there are always alternative routes to go about expressing feelings and emotions and Cyrus did it in an extravagant way.



Youtube video link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8



Cyrus, M. (2013) Miley Cyrus Twitter, Retreived from https://twitter.com/MileyCyrus

Hann, M. (2013). Miley Cyrus's new wrecking ball video says young women should be sexually available. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/10/miley-cyrus-wrecking-ball