When Miley Cyrus first came to the media's attention, she was only a teenager acting in a Disney show. Over the years, I came to think that she was a great addition to the entertainment industry. One thing I particularly liked about her was how close to her family she was. The entertainment industry was full of people who don't like their parents and are all too ready to show it - I still remember cringing every time a certain song containing the line 'daddy I hate you' came on the radio. I remember, for somebody like me who is close to her family, back then American Idol was probably a better source than the commercial entertainment industry to find someone you could identify with. I took a liking to contestants like Diana DeGarmo and Carrie Underwood partly because they were close to family, like I was.
From what I could see, Miley was closest to her dad. I was (and still am) closest to my mom, perhaps in a similar way. Miley was proud to display this fact, and it was refreshing to see. It would serve as an inspiration against the 'advice' some of my 'friends' would give me about being 'too close' to my mom, 'advice' telling me to go party out in the city behind her back, 'advice' that I wouldn't ever consider taking anyway. Miley was telling the world that people like us were cool.
But then, everything changed. In 2010, Miley's father Billy Ray did not attend her 18th birthday. "You know why I didn't go? Because they were having it in a bar. It was wrong. It was for 21-years-old and up," Billy Ray explained in an interview with GQ in 2011. If it were me, I would do ANYTHING so that my mom could attend my birthday. Yet Miley chose the bar anyway. How she had changed!
I did defend Miley, saying that she was still a role model for some things. Like how she supported marriage equality and was so passionate she got a tattoo for it (not that I think tattoos are a great idea but if one had to have a tattoo for anything it would be this, I believe). But I still miss the old Miley, and I still want her to be like she once was again.
By TaraElla (News, Website)
TaraElla Website
