Miley Cyrus' Growth as an artist, activist, and social media star
Miley Cyrus has grown up in front of the world’s eyes after becoming famous at a young age and she has gone through phases spanning many different mediums. After Cyrus got the starring role in the popular show Hannah Montana that originally aired on Disney Channel in 2004, her life was drastically changed forever as she was catapulted into a world of fame (biography.com). Growing up in front of an audience had its struggles as she changed her image multiple times as she matured and faced harsh judgement that was broadcasted to the world through television and social media. After a successful TV show, movie, and multiple hit albums, Cyrus has finally found who she wants to be and has released works to reflect her quirkiness and individuality such as her albums Bangerz and Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz as well as creating a foundation called the Happy Hippies Foundation that all utilize logos, pathos, and ethos in order to appeal to her very diverse audiences.
Although Miley Cyrus is considered a controversial figure by some, it cannot be disputed that she is an activist who has made many efforts in order to bring awareness to multiple relevant and important causes such as women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, mental health, and homeless youth to just a name a few. With her nonprofit organization called the Happy Hippies Foundation which is found on http://www.happyhippies.org, she works to raise money and bring young people together in order to fight the many injustices that are present in our society. The audience of this website would be people who may be a fan of Cyrus and who are also interested in expanding their knowledge of the common injustices that are seen throughout the country and who are seeking a way to feel more involved in the community. The method of delivering the composition, or media, is digital since it is a website. The mode is both text-based and visual because the website contains text in order to explain the missions of the foundation and also has photos and videos to show examples of what the foundation has achieved.
A website is the best method of delivering the information because Cyrus can include photos and videos of the organization’s work while still being able to include informative text and helpful links to the websites and other organizations she supports. With this website, Cyrus is making her passions known and reveals that she isn’t a child anymore and that she is an independent woman who will support what she feels strongly about despite her southern and semi-conservative upbringing. Her website is informative and has all the facts and information that is needed in order for the foundation to be taken seriously while still staying true to her creative personality with a fun logo and colorful backgrounds and visuals. Cyrus appeals to a younger audience with the bright visuals and relevant themes such as using Emojis as links but still can appeal to her older audience who are just interested in the cause and getting involved.
Cyrus appeals to ethos and strengthens her credibility by listing multiple credible websites as other ways to get involved or to seek help. The fact that she has worked with large organizations such as Planned Parenthood, the LGBTQ Center, and the Humane Society shows that she is backed by credible groups and ensures that the money she raises goes towards real organizations and actually helps people, animals, and the environment. Cyrus also appeals to pathos many times throughout the website for the Happy Hippies Foundation by writing her message and missions in an emotional and inspirational manner. On the page labeled “manifesto,” Cyrus includes words that are meant to evoke emotion such as “we will challenge each other and the world & will stop pointless judgement” and “it’s time for us to grow our passion, shine bright, and change the future” (Cyrus). She uses calls to action in order to inspire people to begin speaking up for themselves and others who are in need of support.
Cyrus also appeals to both pathos and ethos in a video introducing the foundation as she attributes her to decision to create it to the death of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender youth, in 2014. Pathos is demonstrated as Cyrus says she never thought that someone would “Lose their life over not being able to be free” and discusses how important it is to have someone to talk to when in need so tragedies like these can be avoided. She appeals to ethos by describing an actual event that inspired her to create the foundation and also goes on to say that parents have confided in her saying they feel they never understood their child until they heard and witnessed her being open about LGBTQ topics which further strengthens her credibility. Ethos is further demonstrated on a page titled “our work” by having links to photos and videos of the highlights of Cyrus’ work with the foundation and interviews regarding her missions for the foundation. The photos and videos serve as proof of the work she does and shows that she has more than just an online or virtual presence in the community.
Miley Cyrus is known for her wild antics and quirky personality which is well-represented through the use of her Instagram account, https://www.instagram.com/mileycyrus/. With a following of 59.3 million people, she has an audience that spans many different types of people. Some are fans who are interested in her efforts through her foundation, others are just fans of her music, and then there are people who follow her merely to see what kind of amusing content she will post on the given day. The type of media is digital as Instagram is a social media platform and can only be found through technology. The mode is mainly visual since Instagram’s main focus is on posting photos unlike Twitter which is centered around text. Instagram is the best platform for the photos she posts as she can reach so many people through the “sharing” and “explore” features in the application. Instagram also centers the focus on the photograph so she can post powerful images and just let them speak for themselves.
Although Cyrus’ Instagram is usually full of carefree and zany photos, the first weeks of January of 2017 have contained more serious topics due to the results of the 2016 presidential election although her personality still shines through. Cyrus appeals to ethos as she posted photos and videos of herself and her speech at the Women’s March on Washington on January 21, 2017 which shows that she doesn’t just speak about the problems in our society, she also takes real action which strengthens her credibility (Sopelsa). Her posts at the Women’s March also can appeal to pathos as her photos and videos reveal the passion that was felt by all the people who were in attendance. She posted many photos of the signs that the attendees were holding at the march which have graphics and sayings that are meant to invoke emotion and inspiration in the midst of a time when many are feeling scared due to the change of leadership in our country. Cyrus uses her Instagram account to further build her brand as a maturing artist by showcasing herself supporting serious topics and also by including some provocative and edgy themes such as drug use and nudity.
The album Bangerz, released in 2013, was the first album Cyrus released following her drastic transformation from the young girl who everyone knew as an innocent Disney star to a mature and more provocative artist (Lipshutz). Cyrus wrote the songs on this album as she was going through a breakup so the majority of the songs are focused on love, relationships, and heartbreak. One of the most memorable and iconic songs not only for its catchy chorus but also for the edgy music video that accompanies it is “Wrecking Ball.” This pop ballad is full of passion and evokes emotion with its personal lyrics and contrast between the hooks and the chorus. The song begins slowly with simple piano as she sings, “we kissed, I fell under your spell / A love no one could deny” and “Don’t you ever say I just walked away / I will always want you” which describes how she fell in love and it wasn’t her idea for the relationship to end (Cyrus). In the music video, she also shows intense emotion as in the beginning it just shows her face with a tear running down her cheek in front of a simple white background. Then, in order to add emphasis to how much she was hurt by the experience, the chorus comes in with a powerful instrumental as she sings, “I came in like a wrecking ball / I never hit so hard in love / All I wanted was to break your walls / All you ever did was wreck me” (Cyrus). In the music video, Cyrus is seen swinging on a wrecking ball to represent how her ex-boyfriend knocked down all her walls and made her vulnerable. The controversial aspect part of this video was the fact that while she was shown swinging on the wrecking ball she was naked. According to Cyrus, she was
naked in order to get across how vulnerable and raw she felt during the experience. She says, “if people can take their minds out of the obvious and go into their imagination a little bit and see kind of what the video really means and the way it’s so vulnerable and actually if you look in my eyes I look sadder then my voice sounds on the record” (Cyrus). The emotional lyrics and intense video both appeal to pathos as the work as a whole is meant to evoke emotion and make people feel the pain that Cyrus felt.
Using a song as the type of media to get her thoughts out is the most effective method of distribution for the topics she is singing about because they are things that can affect listeners and evoke emotion affectively. Her feelings are something that most people have or will go through sometime in their life so this song can be relevant to many different audiences. Listening to music to mask emotions with happy songs or further bring them out with ballads about love or heartbreak is an activity that almost everyone does after a breakup because music has the power to completely change the atmosphere and emotions.
Over her career thus far, Miley Cyrus has proven herself to have many more dimensions and characteristics than many people gave and continue to give her credit for. She is using her platform as a popular artist to be outspoken about many important topics in society and is solidifying the fact that she is a mature adult that isn’t constrained by her past. Her social media and music also continue to build her brand as a mature woman rather than a young girl as she continues to post edgy content as she pleases and makes music about her real-life interests and encounters.
Works Cited
Cyrus, Miley. (@MileyCyrus). https://www.instagram.com/mileycyrus/.
Garibaldi, Christina. “Miley Cyrus Defends ‘Wrecking Ball’: It’s ‘Much More’ Than Getting Naked.” MTV News, 11 August 2013, http://www.mtv.com/news/1713881/miley-cyrus-defends-wrecking-ball/. Accessed 2 February 2017.
Lipshutz, Jason. “Miley Cyrus, Bangerz: Track-By-Track Review.” Billboard, 1 Oct. 2013, http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/5740707/miley-cyrus-bangerz-track-by-track-review. Accessed 28 January 2017.
“Miley Cyrus Biography.” Bio, http://www.biography.com/people/miley-cyrus299134#synopsis. Accessed 24 January 2017.
“Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball.” Youtube, uploaded by MileyCyrusVevo, 9 September 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My2FRPA3Gf8.
Sopelsa, Brooke. “If Women’s March was ‘Beginning of a Resistance,’ What’s Next?” NBC News, 24 Jan. 2017, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/if-women-s-march-was-beginning-resistance-what-s-next-n711031. Accessed 25 January 2017.
The Happy Hippie Foundation. 2014, http://www.happyhippies.org. Accessed 24 January 2017.
Reflection
While brainstorming topics for project one, I tried to focus on artists or works that have had a large impact on my life. I initially thought of using a television show that I have been invested in over the span of many years such as Grey's Anatomy or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia but then I decided that doing a musician and celebrity would be much easier when it comes to finding different types of artifacts to analyze. Miley Cyrus came to my mind quickly when I began to think of artists that have been relevant throughout most of my life and continue to release content that I can enjoy at each age as we both mature. I used to love Miley Cyrus' character on the show Hannah Montana and from there she began to release music that I thoroughly enjoyed starting with her Hannah Montana albums all the way to her most recent albums. I knew Miley Cyrus would be the best topic for me to write about in project one because I already had a good amount of background knowledge on the singer before I even began to analyze the artifacts. I also found it to be very easy to find a wide range of artifacts to analyze because she has so many works that she has contributed to such as movies, books, fashion lines, concerts, and music. Cyrus shares a lot of interests that I do that are reflected through her Happy Hippies foundation so that is another reason I was drawn to using her as my topic for this project. It is much more interesting to be able to research something that you relate to and have an interest in so learning more about Cyrus’ foundation and actions was not hard to do. I could tell that this was the correct topic for me to be doing when the project didn't seem as tedious and hard as the usual essay with a set prompt.
