Kelli Kroepel | Opinion Co-Editor
It’s very rare when a day goes by and I don’t hear the name Miley Cyrus. After her controversial performance at MTV’s Video Music Awards and her new sexually explicit music videos for her upcoming album “Bangerz”, she’s entering the media big leagues. I’m not necessarily on “Team Miley”, but I think she’s doing a great job playing up her well-anticipated album.
Dancing inappropriately, making out with inanimate objects, and sitting naked upon a wrecking ball is probably the best way to stir up as much publicity as possible before her album is released. But has Miley’s recent change from Hannah Montana to the most recent sex icon represent the changes that most youths in America go through?
I recently read an interesting article written by Dr. Keith Ablow about how Miley Cyrus has become the perfect depiction of young America. The Fox News writer stated, “She knows or is responding to something that I have been writing about for years now: As technology sterilizes the range of human experience and drains our autonomy into the Web, leaving us spiritually empty, human beings will seek to remind themselves that they are alive in very raw ways.”
He also discussed how many teens go through similar changes like Miley Cyrus. As the Internet has taken control of our modern world, youths find themselves ingesting drugs, piercing their bodies, and consuming large sums of alcohol just to feel alive.
My question though is this: Is the Internet becoming a huge role in the world today a negative thing? I find it absolutely fascinating how much more prominent media and the Internet have become within the twenty years of my life. In my opinion, the Internet has improved my life, especially my academics and I’m sure many people would agree. Dr. Ablow, however, feels the opposite.
He stated, “When we have a camera-ready president all too ready to go on late night TV talk shows again and again and chat glibly about world events, who is also willing to model on the cover of GQ magazine, and U.S. senators willing to appear in movies playing themselves, a first lady who is willing to appear in a hip-hop video and Senator John McCain tweeting his opposition to Secretary of State John Kerry’s comments about Syria, we have lost our way so completely, have gotten so utterly sucked into the Web of technology, we are so far on the road toward disempowering ourselves by essentially ‘playing’ ourselves in mini-reality TV versions of what could have been our real lives that Miley Cyrus to young people like a road back to reality.”
I find so many things wrong with the things that Dr. Keith Ablow stated in his article. I don’t see an issue with politicians reaching out to their supporters through the use of Twitter or late night TV shows, because in reality, how else would you gain the attention of the younger generation? There are very few people I know that are my age that do not have a Twitter account. To me, it makes perfect sense that celebrities and politicians are creating accounts on various types of social media.
Also, I do not agree that the Internet leaves us “spiritually empty” or “takes away from actual human experiences”. The Internet does not make people take drugs or consume alcohol. People have been engaging in those activities since before the Internet even came about. I, however, do agree that Miley Cyrus is a suitable depiction of the changes that youth in America go through. She’s in her mid-twenties and I can understand why she wants to get away from her Hannah Montana persona. Miley Cyrus is breaking out of her shell and becoming the person she wants to be and THAT’s why I think she is the perfect representation of young America.
Graphic by Aaron Burns
