Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus fiction vs reality: has your opinion changed?
In a recent bombshell interview with GQ magazine, Billy Ray Cyrus, the father of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus, says that he regrets doing the show and blames it for his problems with both his daughter and his ex-wife Tish today, stating:
Billy Ray Cyrus Blames 'Hannah Montana' for Family Problems | PopEater.com"I'll tell you right now - the damn show destroyed my family... I'd erase it all in a second if I could..."
Mr. Hannah Montana's Achy Broken Heart: Celebrities: GQ
He tells GQ that he blames the making of the show for wrecking his 17-year marriage to Tish Cyrus, as well as Miley's antics, which I have to agree are rather sleazy. From the Vanity Fair half-nude photo to the raunchy dance numbers to the bong smoking shortly after her 18th birthday, he states that the show has caused Miley to let fame to go to her head. Of course, Billy Ray has also admitted to smoking pot in the past, and hopes that Miley won't make the same mistakes that he did.
Miley has stated a number of times that she is not the next Britney Spears, but her antics suggest otherwise. In my opinion, to say that she will end up like Britney Spears is one thing; to end up like Lindsay Lohan is a completely different story. The difference between Britney and Lindsay is that Britney has since gotten her act together and her life back on track, while Lindsay still gets into legal troubles today. With that said, in terms of the antics that Britney did during her darkest days, including getting wasted at bars and clubs, shaving her head bald, vandalizing a car with an umbrella, and driving with her baby on her lap, in that aspect, she is not a good role model. However, in terms of realizing that she has made those mistakes, learned from those mistakes, taken responsibility for those mistakes, and sought redemption for those mistakes, she is a good role model, and I hope that if Miley does fall into the same trap, she'll be able to escape from it and rebound from there to where Britney is today. She has recently released her newest single, "Hold it Against Me," from her forthcoming new album named Femme Fatale, which will be released later this year. The bottom line is, as the title of one of Hannah Montana's singles states, nobody's perfect; some stars will fall into a trap, but what's more important is if you can escape from that trap. It's always better if you don't fall into that trap at all to begin with, but if you do, I hope that at least you can escape from it and rebound from it to a much better place later on.
Now, when it comes to doing the show, I don't think that Billy Ray regrets doing the show in itself, but rather that the Disney executives pushed the popularity as far as they did. It is the most popular Disney Channel show of all time, releasing not only CDs, but also a whole bunch of other merchandise as well, a feat that no other show has accomplished (yet). Various other Disney Channel shows before her have achieved some popularity, but their franchises were never pushed as far as the level that Hannah Montana was pushed to. In turn, various other Disney Channel actors and singers have also achieved popularity, but were not pushed to the same level that Miley Cyrus was. For example, look at the previous Disney queen, Hilary Duff, the star of Lizzie McGuire. She and her show achieved great popularity, but wasn't pushed to the same level that Miley and Hannah were. Where is she now? She's married, and is living a nice, happy life while being a successful entrepreneur with her fashion line and perfumes, and is also a philanthropist. So it's not that Billy Ray would regret making the show at all, but rather pushing the popularity to the level that it has.
As for the show itself, let's treat Miley Cyrus, and her fictional counterpart, Miley Stewart, as two seperate entities. Normally, I would wrap this in spoiler tags, but since the majority of you are probably not interested in the show, I won't filter it. Within the fictional story of the show, in the series finale, entitled "Wherever I Go," Miley was torn between joining a movie to shoot in Europe or going to college with her best friend, Lilly; in the end, she decided to go to college with Lilly. I would imagine that with the popularity of the show, that some of the show's younger fans would like to see a special movie in about five years time, in 2016 (the tenth anniversary of the launch of Hannah Montana), presumably titled Hannah Montana Returns, to catch up with Miley Stewart and the rest of the characters to see where they would be then. Like I have previously stated from time to time, I have never watched the show, and I only like the music from the show, because my little cousin got me into it, and I believe that the music from this and other Disney Channel TV shows are better than some of the stuff on the radio at present. Please do not ridicule me for liking this kind of music.
Now, for those of you who have stated that you hate Hannah Montana, what exactly did you hate about it? If it's because you found it annoying, then what exactly was it about the show that annoyed you? The reason why I'm asking this is because a lot of you apparently seem to hate it when younger children like this kind of entertainment. Or perhaps some of you used to like the show in the beginning, but hate it now. However, no matter what, keep this in mind: did Miley ever do anything in her show to actually offend you? Did she ever do anything personal against you? Most likely not, so there's no need to hate her as a person. I've seen people who hate her go so far as to wish DEATH on her, and I don't get why. Now, while there is nothing offensive about the content of the show, some of Miley's non-Hannah material and antics are a bit offensive, but in my opinion, it's far less offensive than some of the other artists out there that I hate, whose lyrics are either extremely explicit and vulgar, or talk about getting wasted in bars and clubs, and whose on-stage antics are far more shocking, and their outfits far more atrocious.
With all of that said, please answer the following questions:
1: Do you agree with Billy Ray Cyrus stating that the making of the Hannah Montana franchise destroyed his family?
2: A: Even if you hate Miley Cyrus' regular, non-Hannah material and antics, do you still like the show? B: If you used to like the show, do you hate it now? If so, why exactly? C: If you hated the show from the beginning, what exactly about it made you hate it? Please specify your reasons. Thank you.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Ouch!
