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MILEY CYRUS AT THE 2013 MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS // PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES
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HARRY BODELL // ARTS COLUMNIST
Keep calm and let Miley, be Miley
very year, I make a point of ignoring whatever hype accumulates around the Video Music Awards. While I may not look like a cynical, seventy year old man harboring a desire to return to the good ‘ol days of Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin, I certainly tend to feel like one when the VMAs roll around. I’m not a fan of N’Sync. I could do without hearing Robin Thicke’s voice. I have never watched the VMAs. I’ve never been interested in watching the VMAs. Had everything gone my way, I would be writing this article about something other than the VMAs. Unfortunately, Miley Cyrus had other plans for me. If you live on this Earth and have been exposed to the light of day sometime over the past week, you undoubtably have heard about Cyrus’ “performance.” One professor of mine may have described it best when he equated the act to a “train wreck that you couldn’t bring yourself to look away from”. After resisting for as long as I could, I finally gave into temptation and pulled the performance up on YouTube. I wish I could un-see what I saw. Miley’s body moved with no sensible rhyme or reason. Her tongue took on a life of its own. I’m still debat-
ing as to whether Miley’s moves should be classified as a form of dancing or not. The stuffed bear costumes surrounding her only added to an atmosphere that I can only describe as something out of a bad dream; a very, very bad dream. By the time I was thirty seconds into the video, I just wanted to wake up. Shell shocked, confused, and unable to wrap my head around anything enough to form an opinion, I decided to investigate what other people were saying about Miley’s time on stage. The stunt has been universally mocked. The world appeared to be as mystified as I was. Even the Fresh Prince and his Royal Family were caught gawking at Miley’s antics in a photo that has since made its mark all over the web. Comments declared Miley’s behavior to be everything from shameful and embarrassing to hateful and even racist. Many consider the segment to be the worst in VMA history. Somewhere between “racist” and “worst moment in VMA history”, my head began to clear. I flashed back to similarly hyped VMA moments. Lady Gaga’s meat suit flashed before my eyes. Lady Gaga’s barely-there outfits from years past popped up in my head, and not for the reasons you may think. I had to ask, why
do Miley’s antics rank as so much worse than any of Lady Gaga’s stunts? For that matter, what about Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift’s victory in protest? Surely he would join me in declaring that, while we’d let Miley finish, Kanye had actually provided the worst VMA moment of all time. Miley Cyrus’ behavior was by no means deserving of praise, but the truth of the matter is that it wasn’t all that bad either. Yes, it was kind of gross. Yes, it was really awkward to watch. Yes, I really wanted to claw my eyes out after finishing the video on YouTube. Nonetheless, this is not the first time such an event has transpired, especially at the VMAs. Lady Gaga’s stage time alone should provide enough proof to back up that statement. Society has been throwing a fit about Miley Cyrus’ twerk-tastic performance for the better part of the last few weeks, but such protests are simply misguided. In a year, nobody will be talking about this event. Another VMA moment will inevitably steal its spotlight (my money is on a Lady Gaga-Miley Cyrus showdown). In the meantime, the world needs to keep calm and let Miley be Miley. I’ll guarantee that, in due time, some section of society will love her for it.