We Can “Twerk” It Out

Perhaps some might think I’m weighing in a little late in the game on the Miley Cyrus VMA issue, but I did so on purpose.

I didn’t want to get caught up in the heat of the moment, knee-jerk “disgusting, disgraceful, pathetic” etc. rant that so many embarked upon. I wanted to take a moment and really think about how I felt about her performance.

First, I feel sorry for her mother. When the MTV director sent the camera zooming in on her during Miley’s performance, her head may have been nodding to the music and she may have been smiling at her daughter to show support, but I think inside she was cringing and thinking: “My poor girl. This is what she has to do to get the players in the industry to see she’s no longer Hannah Montana.”

I think the problem is less about Miley Cyrus’ character and more about that of those who are the gatekeepers of that industry. Miley’s not the first child star who’s tried to leave the kiddie card table for the adult banquet. And it seems that making that transition is harder for girls. Young men like Justin Timberlake seemed to move seamlessly from Disney star to boy band singer to solo act to acting, whereas his female counterparts have to make that pit stop on the cover of Maxim.

Jessica Biel had to do it when she no longer wanted to be seen as Mary, the eldest daughter on Seventh Heaven, as did Lacey Chabert from Party of Five. I can’t count how many indecent exposure layouts Alyssa Milano did to distance herself from Who’s The Boss, so she could eventually show up as the vixen witch on Charmed.

And now it’s Miley’s turn.

For the life of me I don’t understand why she didn’t take all her Hannah Montana money, find a script with a meaty part for a 20-something, and make an indie flick to show the industry that, after carrying a TV show, she could transfer her skills to the adult world. Who knows, maybe she tried to go that route and it failed. Regardless, she and her handlers figured they needed to go the tried-and-true route, except instead of being half naked on Maxim, she chose to bare –and bear– it at the VMAs.

But even after all the talk, the trending on Twitter, and op-eds, her performance still won’t get her a seat at the adult table. It will get her a crumb from the table of some entertainment executive who will not give her an adult part in a movie, merely a chance to audition for one of those parts. It’s the equivalence “twerking” in her face.

Lorraine Duffy Merkl is a freelance writer in NYC and author of the new opting-in novel, BACK TO WORK SHE GOES. Learn more about her writing at lorraineduffymerkl.com.