August 28, 2013 - Latest comic ever? I keep saying I'll get myself caught up over the weekend and not doing so... need to fix that.
So I've kinda wanted to do a blog post about Miley Cyrus considering people still seem to be talking about what she did at MTV's Video Music Awards, but the ultimate conclusion any discussion of the matter comes down to is who cares? I didn't watch the VMAs and haven't seen her actual performance just pictures (and honestly the lyrics and music video to her song were already very much in a direction completely different than her Hannah Montana days). I actually like the song from a musical stand-point, lyrically much of the song is both awkwardly phrased (do people say "we who 'bout that life" in every day conversation?) and of such questionable taste that it seems to have been a poor decision for radio stations to play it when it not so subtlely encourages pretty reckless drug use (at least Lennon could claim Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was about a child's drawing). I think a bit more time on the lyrics to the song could have benefitted everyone, but clearly Cyrus doesn't care, so therefore why should we? I'm all for expressing one's self, but if your message is "I don't care what you think," in general I think the best response is not to think much about you. Clearly that's not what people are doing, though, and this begs me to ask as childishly as possible, "because why?"
The thing is Miley Cyrus is in an awkward situation where she's less of a person and more of a brand, and as Cyrus the person has become frustrated with Cyrus the brand, she's trying to do something that destroys said brand to be a person even if trashing the brand seemingly goes to such an extreme that she becomes a new charicature entirely. I think hints of this about to happen were apparant for quite some time from the hairstyle change to appearing on Two and a Half Men (don't watch the show, just know she was on it, and know the show is incapable of making a "clean" joke, so I can only imagine what her character was like (seriously, I'd love to see a drinking game wherein you put on a random episode of Two and a Half Men and one team drinks every time there's a sex joke, and one team drinks every time humor is derived from something that isn't sexual. If the first team isn't forced to call poison control and the second team isn't completely sober, I'd be shocked)), but she still retained a "good girl" image that she didn't feel defined her. The problem now becomes did she distance herself enough from her brand to have the image she wants or has she just alienated everyone as her former fans are just abandonning her and no new fan knows if this is just another phase as well and would be somewhat hesistant to follow her actively considering how carelessly she seemed to disrespect former fans.
But really what's interesting about all this is that we're talking more about Miley Cyrus the brand than Miley Cyrus the person. And obviously I can make this into a commentary about how we objectify women and similar arguments. But I think there are several male celebrities I can point to who faced similar dilemmas from Elvis to the Beatles to the everything that happened with LeBron James when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers. The problem here I think has less to do with how we see celebrities but in how much emphasis we put on them as role models instead of people we actually know to just be people instead of people trying to sell something. Why must a singer, an athlete, or whatever the hell Kim Kardashian is have to be a role model? Have we lost the ability to have role models in friends, family, and members of our community?
Okay, that said, here are some links to disturbing examples of the courts mishandling rape cases. The first is a situation in Massachusetts with a mother fighting for custody of a child fathered through rape without having to include the rapist in her and her child's life. This case was mentioned in the comments a couple days ago, and it is really troubling how this woman is unable to escape her attacker due to problematic laws that legislators are bizarrely reluctant to change. I don't think anyone in power in Massachusetts actually cares that much about this issue (even though Elizabeth Warren ran an ad campaign claimed she was "for women"), but hopefully this can get more people involved in changing that viewpoint. Even more distressing is the handling of a case in Montana where a girl committed suicide after her rape with extremely insensitive remarks coming from the judge ruling the case that have sparked a petition asking for his resignation. I'm hesistant to link to this as CNN discloses a lot of information about the victim that I'm not sure it should have done, but I think it serves as an important example of the problems with the prosecution of rapes. The judge flat out calls the victim disturbed based on only seeing video testimony that was taken after the rape occurred as if he was completely oblivious to the idea that the rape could have had a significant psychological effect on her. The saddest part of all this is how it potentially disuades victims of rape from coming forward as there are valid concerns that their case will be poorly prosecuted and I believe studies have shown victims who come forward are more likely to experience additional psychological trauma than those that don't say anything, though unfortunately I can't seem to find the specific link to this that I wanted.
Comic's late enough as it is. Tomorrow will have a shorter blog.
-D
So I've kinda wanted to do a blog post about Miley Cyrus considering people still seem to be talking about what she did at MTV's Video Music Awards, but the ultimate conclusion any discussion of the matter comes down to is who cares? I didn't watch the VMAs and haven't seen her actual performance just pictures (and honestly the lyrics and music video to her song were already very much in a direction completely different than her Hannah Montana days). I actually like the song from a musical stand-point, lyrically much of the song is both awkwardly phrased (do people say "we who 'bout that life" in every day conversation?) and of such questionable taste that it seems to have been a poor decision for radio stations to play it when it not so subtlely encourages pretty reckless drug use (at least Lennon could claim Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was about a child's drawing). I think a bit more time on the lyrics to the song could have benefitted everyone, but clearly Cyrus doesn't care, so therefore why should we? I'm all for expressing one's self, but if your message is "I don't care what you think," in general I think the best response is not to think much about you. Clearly that's not what people are doing, though, and this begs me to ask as childishly as possible, "because why?"
The thing is Miley Cyrus is in an awkward situation where she's less of a person and more of a brand, and as Cyrus the person has become frustrated with Cyrus the brand, she's trying to do something that destroys said brand to be a person even if trashing the brand seemingly goes to such an extreme that she becomes a new charicature entirely. I think hints of this about to happen were apparant for quite some time from the hairstyle change to appearing on Two and a Half Men (don't watch the show, just know she was on it, and know the show is incapable of making a "clean" joke, so I can only imagine what her character was like (seriously, I'd love to see a drinking game wherein you put on a random episode of Two and a Half Men and one team drinks every time there's a sex joke, and one team drinks every time humor is derived from something that isn't sexual. If the first team isn't forced to call poison control and the second team isn't completely sober, I'd be shocked)), but she still retained a "good girl" image that she didn't feel defined her. The problem now becomes did she distance herself enough from her brand to have the image she wants or has she just alienated everyone as her former fans are just abandonning her and no new fan knows if this is just another phase as well and would be somewhat hesistant to follow her actively considering how carelessly she seemed to disrespect former fans.
But really what's interesting about all this is that we're talking more about Miley Cyrus the brand than Miley Cyrus the person. And obviously I can make this into a commentary about how we objectify women and similar arguments. But I think there are several male celebrities I can point to who faced similar dilemmas from Elvis to the Beatles to the everything that happened with LeBron James when he left the Cleveland Cavaliers. The problem here I think has less to do with how we see celebrities but in how much emphasis we put on them as role models instead of people we actually know to just be people instead of people trying to sell something. Why must a singer, an athlete, or whatever the hell Kim Kardashian is have to be a role model? Have we lost the ability to have role models in friends, family, and members of our community?
Okay, that said, here are some links to disturbing examples of the courts mishandling rape cases. The first is a situation in Massachusetts with a mother fighting for custody of a child fathered through rape without having to include the rapist in her and her child's life. This case was mentioned in the comments a couple days ago, and it is really troubling how this woman is unable to escape her attacker due to problematic laws that legislators are bizarrely reluctant to change. I don't think anyone in power in Massachusetts actually cares that much about this issue (even though Elizabeth Warren ran an ad campaign claimed she was "for women"), but hopefully this can get more people involved in changing that viewpoint. Even more distressing is the handling of a case in Montana where a girl committed suicide after her rape with extremely insensitive remarks coming from the judge ruling the case that have sparked a petition asking for his resignation. I'm hesistant to link to this as CNN discloses a lot of information about the victim that I'm not sure it should have done, but I think it serves as an important example of the problems with the prosecution of rapes. The judge flat out calls the victim disturbed based on only seeing video testimony that was taken after the rape occurred as if he was completely oblivious to the idea that the rape could have had a significant psychological effect on her. The saddest part of all this is how it potentially disuades victims of rape from coming forward as there are valid concerns that their case will be poorly prosecuted and I believe studies have shown victims who come forward are more likely to experience additional psychological trauma than those that don't say anything, though unfortunately I can't seem to find the specific link to this that I wanted.
Comic's late enough as it is. Tomorrow will have a shorter blog.
-D
comments powered by Disqus
