We all love our teenage Disney princesses. I grew up listening to Britney Spears’ “Sometimes” and dancing to Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in the Bottle.” That is not to mention the gazillions of pictures I had to cut just to make my personalized notebooks and posters at home. Like fairy tales coming to their ends, however, not one of the princesses remains as such. Eventually, they would let go of their squeaky clean images, be emancipated and take entirely different paths in their careers. Our most recent Disney princess, Miley Cyrus, is no exception this trend.
Miley Cyrus was born, “Destiiny Hope Cyrus.” Her first name was derived from her supposed nickname, “Smiley” which was shortened,hence, her screen name. Her father is country singer, Billy Ray Cyrus who popularized the 90s hit, Achy Breaky Heart.
Miley got fascinated with singing, acting and the idea of entering show business at a very early age. This could be credited to her immediate environment as she grew up with her country superstar dad while he was working. Younger, she would be sent to have singing and acting lessons. Her parents were said to have been very supportive of her desire to enter the business.
Miley auditioned and got the lead role in the hit Disney television series, “Hannah Montana” which aired sometime in 2006.In this series, Miley played the role of a regular teenager who lived a double life as a teen pop superstar. Here, Miley had to portray a typical adolescent who had to struggle over common teenage concerns in friendship, attraction to the opposite sex and adolescence in general, while keeping her “big” secret from the rest of her immediate community. Miley was joined by her dad in this series.
The reception of Hannah Montana was tremendous. The show became a household name and Miley Cyrus was instantly catapulted into a teenage icon and sensation. The show’s theme song, “The Best of Both Worlds”, as well as the other tracks in the album that came along with the series, became worldwide hits. The teenage market was obsessed with everything Miley and everything Hannah Montana. Miley and Hannah Montana became phenomena. This further led to the transition of the series as films, first in the 3D Concert film, “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” in 2008 and “Hannah Montana: The Movie” in 2009. The latter’s soundtrack, “The Climb” which Miley herself sang, earned commercial success. Ultimately, these projects showcased Miley’s acting skills, charming personality and singing prowess.
Miley then lent her voice to give life to a character in the big screen in the animated film, “Bolt” in 2008. She dubbed Penny, the owner of the lead character, Bolt, who, like Hannah Montana, played a dual role of being a loyal dog and a superhero. The film did well in the box office and Miley got positive feedbacks for her performance.
Miley put an end to her character as Hannah Montana when she portrayed the role of “Ronnie” in the film adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ “The Last Song” in 2010. Here, Miley played a disobedient seventeen-year-old who was forced to spend her summer with her alienated father. While the movie did receive critical feedbacks, it was at least a breather for Miley whose career almost seemed inseparable from Hannah Montana. From this point on, Miley became her own independent brand. She also released her studio album, “Can’t be Tamed” which according to reviews, is worlds-apart from her squeaky clean character in her not so long ago past.
With Miley’s stardom came the invasion of her private life and ruining of family values. Her love affair with fellow Disney teen superstar, the Jonas Brothers’ vocalist and guitarist, Nick Jonas, became a public love event most of the time. Her eventual romantic involvement with Liam Hemsworth who was her love interest in one of her films was also placed under the public eye. When Miley posed for a certain mature magazine, parents cringed and gave immense negative feedbacks against her. And finally, immediately after Miley turned 18 years old, her video showing her “smoking” leaked. Billy, in an interview, blames “Hannah Montana” for ruining his family ties and for exposing Miley to bad influences.
It’s always good to see princesses be transformed into modern-day women. As for Miley, we could only wish for better films and innovative music from her. We also could also hope that she take educated and neat decisions in the future.
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