Research Blog - Source #5

 "Miley Cyrus: Is She Lost in Translation from Child to Adult?" Psychology Today. Katie Roberts, 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Apr. 2015. .

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/savvy-parenting/201311/miley-cyrus-is-she-lost-in-translation-child-adult

This article that I found from "Psychology Today" focuses on what parents can do prevent their child from following in the steps of Miley Cyrus. This source compares greatly to my blog post source #3. Parents are worried that their children are seeing the changes of their role model and will take after her. This article says, "On the one hand, people understand her desire to distance herself from the squeaky-clean, Disney-controlled, typecast life she has led for a decade. On the other hand, Miley is going overboard, similar to the way rebellious teens, tweens and even pre-teens do when in a reckless attempts to escape parental control." (Miley Cyrus: Is she 1). It states both sides, but the continues to dwell on the negative throughout the rest of the article. In this sense, it is slightly bias.   

This article has had me start to think - maybe I am going in the wrong direction with my research paper? This is the second source I have found that has good information on what parents should do if their child looks up to Miley. The sources talk about how Miley is an influence but either a) might not realize that young kids are copying her ways or b) doesn't care and is doing what she feels is right (which is a reason in itself why she should be admired). 

Research Blog - Source #4

 Summers, Kimberly Dillon. "Hannah Montana." Miley Cyrus: A Biography. Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 2009. Print.

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=QkPzCfr2Ei0C&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=miley+cyrus+drugs&ots=Bhhs53RecI&sig=J3DQ1ibsU0qZPvJMnhDLx2QFW-0#v=onepage&q=miley%20cyrus%20drugs&f=false

I focused on a particular chapter from a biography of Miley Cyrus. Kimbery Dillon Summers is the author of this book that talks about Miley's life pre-2009. The book focuses on more of her early years. The chapter I looked at was title "Hannah Montana". It discusses the young girl obtaining and staring in the Disney show.  

I will not use many of the aspects of this chapter from the biography, but there is one quote in particular that I believe ties into my research. The author states:

"Miley was elated when she landed the role of Hannah Montana. However, it is a lot of work to change personas from Miley Stewart to Hannah Montana in nearly every episode. In an interview with the Biloxi Sun Herald, Miley said, 'It gets difficult sometimes because I'll be in the same place but being two people, so I'll have to run back and forth and take the wig off and be two different people at the same time. They both have different attitudes, so you've got to change quickly'" (Summers 17).

This quote can be seen as an underlying message. The star herself says it is difficult being two people at the same time. Could it be that Miley just got tired of being the innocent persona Disney created for her? I will use this quote in my research paper and question if the "change" we saw in Miley was really just her true self exposed after years of trying to hold back.

Research Blog - Source #3

Alphonse, Lylah. "Miley Cyrus’s Image Switch Gives Parents Pause — and Provides a Teachable Moment;." Boston.com. The New York Times, 24 June 2010. Web. 6 Apr. 2015.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2010/06/24/miley_cyruss_image_switch_gives_parents_pause__and_provides_a_teachable_moment/


This is an older article I found about the reaction of kids and parents after Miley released her 2010 album Can't Be Tamed. The title of the album alone suggests that Miley is taking a turn away from her innocent Hannah Montana persona and exploring her wild side.

A quote from the article states, "'I’m not trying to be ‘slutty,’ ’’ Cyrus told the Associated Press this week. “I feel more comfortable dressing with a little less, which is just how I’ve always been. Now I’m able to do that a little more freely and, also, I’ve just grown up to be this way, too. It’s not like this was me five years ago. It’s me now, presently'" (Alphonse 1). This is a perfect example of Miley doing what she wants for herself. This article, written in 2010, is before her breakup with Liam. It was her decision to change her image, not the influence of her melodramatic breakup. 

The article then goes on to advise parents on how they should explain the change to their children. It is about preventing children (who look up to Miley Cyrus) from turning into the crazy she turned into overnight.

This source may be useful to me as it discusses a change in Miley's identity/lifestyle due to something other than her breakup. I would say that since the article has direct quotes from Miley herself, it is not biased. It includes her words and thoughts. I most likely will not use the parts of the article that talk about how to keep your child from following Miley's path.

Research Blog - Source #2

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE|A221020982&v=2.1&u=sunybuff_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&authCount=1

Kincaid, James. "Hannah Montana's bare, unprotected back: Miley Cyrus's Vanity Fair outing." Velvet Light Trap 65 (2010): 5+. Academic OneFile. Web. 30 Mar. 2015.

This source discusses Miley Cyrus and her appearance in a June 2008 issue of the magazine Vanity Fair. In this issue of the magazine she is shown as a centerfold, the center of a magazine where the two pages meet, typically (and in Miley’s case) nude or semi-nude photographs. The author, James Kincaid talks about how Miley is yet another child star that had been turned into a centerfold. At the time of the magazine, Miley Cyrus is 15 years old. The photos of her, as told by this particular article, are much too mature for someone of her age. Her hair is a mess, as well as her make-up, and her overall appearance is a sexy, sultry look (Kincaid 1).

The author of this article makes a statement when he writes, “Children are commonly imaged as empty slates on which we can draw our desires, figure our longings: empty faces, open hearts, eager glances” (Kincaid, 1). He metaphorically compares children to a blank slate - one that is then shaped and constructed by society and the influences around them. The author then goes on to say Miley’s bare back IS the empty slate in the pictures for vanity fair. It is a metaphor that helps us imagine the contorsion she as a child star has had to deal with.

The bottom line of this source is the argument between two sides discussing how the (still young) star Miley Cyrus is portrayed in her newly released photos, and how it is impacting her image. There are two sides to the story: one side says leave her alone, she is just fine the way she is. This  half of the public insists she should be left alone to live her life as she pleases. The other half of the public, the other side of the argument, is appalled by the photos because of the possibilities they hold. The author states, “The possibility exists--you care, right?--that she is topless, maybe bottomless, maybe even shoeless--who can know for sure?” (Kincaid, 1).

This source is definitely one I will use in my research paper. It is useful and will tie into another source I have found that talks about Miley and how her image was controlled a bit by Disney when she was still involved in Hannah Montana as a young star. It is a slightly biased article, only because the author makes a point of the side that he is on: “I side with the second group, I guess, though I can't but wonder why so much attention is being paid” (Kincaid 1). Although he does state his opinion, it is not too overpowering where it may sway the opinion of the reader. It has not changed my opinion/view on the topic, but it has helped me to see both sides, how they differ, and the perspectives of both sides.

Research Blog - Source #1

http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?sid=f64e0be3-238f-4fda-9eaa-0b6df4d74dec%40sessionmgr4001&vid=0&hid=4108&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=rch&AN=87000118

“Miley Cyrus UNLEASHED.” Cosmopolitan 254.3 (2013): 72-74. Canadian Reference Centre. Web. 2 Apr. 2015

My first source is from a March 2013 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine. It is an online print version of a dialogue between 20-year-old Miley Cyrus and an interviewer of the magazine. The interview takes place in her Toluca Lake, Los Angeles mansion. The time of this interview was March 2013, which was just before Miley’s tragic breakup from her recent fiance, Liam Hemsworth. One of the very first questions the star is asked includes details about her love for Liam and the priority he holds in her life. Cyrus states that her relationship with him is the number one priority in her life. As the questions continue and the interviewer begins to encourage more detailed answers from Miley, we start to see the love she has for this man, and how their relationship is the one thing that matters to her over all the things her busy life entails. When she is asked by the interviewer if she is proud of her new record that at the time was to be released shortly, Cyrus responds with, “Definitely, it’s the second thing that I’m most content with” (Miley Cyrus UNLEASHED 72), which hints to us that her relationship with Liam is the first thing that she is most content with.

In a question that comes much later in the interview, Cosmo says to Miley, “Let’s talk about Liam. Do you ever have these moments when you’re still stuck by how hot he is?” (Miley Cyrus UNLEASHED 74). The stars response reads with excitement, and we can tell yet again how he is the center of her world. She tells us a short story of her friend who saw a picture of Liam as her phone background asking, “‘Who is that? He is so hot!’” where then Miley’s response is, “That’s my hubby!” (Miley Cyrus UNLEASHED 74).

Miley was clearly in love with Liam in the way she talks about their upcoming (at the time being) wedding. In the Cosmo interview article, Miley shared a few details about what the wedding was to entail. She tells the reader it is to be a small wedding “with the people we’d [Miley and Liam] take bullets for” (Miley Cyrus UNLEASHED 74). She does not want too many people there due to the fact that the two are famous and they do not want unnecessary people there to ruin their special day.

This source will be helpful for my research paper because it discusses one of my main arguments, the relationship of Miley and Liam. It talks about their relationship just before the breakup, and can be used as good comparison to how happy she was versus how her personality has changed after the breakup happened. The information in this source is reliable because it is coming from Miley Cyrus herself. The words have not been twisted by tabloids or the magazine, as it is an interview and quotes her. There is no bias in this source because again, it is coming from the star herself.

This source fits into my research because again, it is answering one of my main research questions: how did the breakup impact the star. The above paragraphs are how I will use the article in my paper. This has not necessarily changed my view, as I always believed they were in love prior to the breakup, and it is leading me to believe the breakup was in fact a cause of her major personality change.

Possible Research Topics

• Analyze TV shows/ movies... see them as a melodrama

• Celebrity culture and Hollywood
• Drugs, relationships, moral issues etc.
• Interviews
• TV specials
• Who and how their images formed
• Why do we have to pick a side
• Miley Cyrus
• Heath Ledger 
• Whitney Houston
• Lindsey Lohan
• Robin Williams

• Analyze music as a melodrama
• Country music
• Music to pull on your heart strings
• Song lyrics... always telling a story
• Hidden messages within the lyrics

• Commercials (super bowl)

• Reality TV
• Conflict
• Cause and effect
• Action/response

The Moral Occult

The melodrama is one of the most confusing yet interesting genres I have encountered in my time of studying. There is often a lot going on, and it is sometimes difficult for the audience to catch up. That being said, when you know what to look for or the ideas and methods that writers use, it may become more clear as to what is going on. In his text The Melodramatic Imagination, author Peter Brooks defines the idea of "moral occult". This is the idea of right and wrong or good vs. evil. "Moral" meaning what you think is right or wrong, and "occult" meaning your beliefs and/or how you practice them.

Brooks decides the moral occult is the center of all melodramas when he states, "The melodramatic mode in large measures exists to locate and articulate the moral occult" (Brooks, 5). The author is reminding us that the moral occult, the battle between good and evil, is the center problem and the reason for the work to exist. The moral occult appears in melodramas and is often up to the character to decide between one or the other. It is the problem that the characters must resolve throughout the story, and along the way they are forced to question their beliefs and what they value. We see an example of this in the film All That Heaven Allows. One of the main characters, Cary, has decided to marry Ron but her children are appalled when they realize he is not of the same social class. Cary has to decide between Ron and her children, and the decision is not easy. There are two sides to the argument but what makes it even more difficult is that there is truth in each side.  

All That Heaven Allows

Cary and Ron in "All That Heaven Allows"

Cary is a widowed woman living alone in the home that used to house her husband and two children. After her husband passed away, her children grew old and moved out only to return on the weekends. Ron has been the family's gardener since before the children's father had passed away. It is only now that Cary is beginning to show some interest in him. They start out not sure of what it will become, but later in the movie find they have fallen in love with each other. They are to get married, but the children do not approve. The two come from two different lives. Cary is a wealthy home owner with a small circle of closed minded, judgmental friends. Ron is a simple man living in a cabin in the woods farming trees.

In the textbook, the author discusses the idea of a coincidence. Coincidences occur in melodramas often to stir up the normality and sometimes cause conflict between characters. A huge coincidence occurs in “All That Heaven Allows” when towards the end of the movie, Cary finds out that her daughter is getting married. This is a coincidence because when Cary told her children she was getting married, they threw a fit and wouldn’t accept it because they were afraid of the change. We also find out that her son Ned is going away and her children tell her to sell the house. After Cary gave up what she thought could be her new life with Ron, her children bail on her…despite the fact that she gave up everything specifically because of and for them. Her children are acting selfish when they do not realize what she has done for them. 

The Melodrama...

Definition from Google: "A sensational dramatic piece with exaggerated characters and exciting events intended to appeal to the emotions"

Examples:

• Play
• TV show/ soap opera
• Telanova
• Legal drama
• Writing/ poetry
• Movie/ film
• Books
• Music

Characteristics:

• Faint when they hear bad news
• Exaggerated emotions - hurt over the simplest things
• Dramatic behavior
• Cheap overacting
• Dramatic difference in social class
• Hero and villain
• Overemotional 
• Acting like it's the end of the world/ the best thing to ever happen
• Coincidences
• Curious for characters reactions

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/cliffsnotes/literature/what-is-melodrama

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melodrama