Just Monday night, many of you tuned in to MTV to watch this year's VMA's, video music awards, to see performences and see which of your favorite artists would be congratulated on their work and success. That's why I was watching too. Though that is not what I got out of this program. All I got was a decreased respect for some of today's most popular celebrities, and mere frustration. You can ask any of my friends or family, and they will tell you that I certainly had some strong opinions on what went down on the air the other night, and to be honest, most of them are negative.
First, let's start with Miley Cyrus. I was an avid fan of Hannah Montana, and to be quite honest, I still am. That show was one of the better disney shows that had good music, a talented actress/singer and good values. Though I have to say, Hannah Montana would be dissapointed right now. In the beginning of Miley's rebellious stage I was understanding. Most celebrities go through this "wild child" stage, where they change up their hair, their sound, and their style. So when it was first revealed that she cut off the iconic brown locks, I was a bit shocked, but also admired her boldness. Even with such an edgy haircut, she was able to retain sophistication in the same ballgowns and polite manners as old Miley had. But what we saw the other night on stage was more than just a minor rebellious stage. She proceeded to make everyone in the audience feel uncomfortable by wearing overly revealing outfits that weren't sophisticated or classy in any aspect. She also swore too frequently to be taken seriously, and continually talked about drugs and alcohol. By talking about drugs and alcohol in the way she was, she was promoting them in a cool light. That they made everything more fun, and everything was more fun with them included. The whole vibe of the show was what could be described as "trippy" which only continues to enhance the use of drugs to the young impressionable audience that is watching this to see their favorite artists perform. Then, she did a suprise performence to end the show, which overall had a good message of equality, but was accompanied by not only more lyrics about loving drugs, but a disturbing dance number that built off of what she had started two years ago with Robin Thicke. Then closed the show by dropping her newest album, "Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz," for free online, in a very unproffesional yet certainly attention attracting way. Overall, she repeatedly made audience members and viewers (like myself) uncomfortable with different outfit changes that only got crazier as the night went on, and continued unnecessary behavior.
Next, there was the whole thing between Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus. At first I was completely oblivious to what was going on. I thought it was staged just to get attention. But then I looked up their history together of bashing each other, and realized this was real, and this was really happening on MTV. As unproffesional as it was, I found it one of the more entertaining aspects of the night and admired Nicki's boldness on calling out Miley for what had happened to her. I'm not a Nicki Minaj fan at any expense, but I admire anyone willing to speak up for themselves.
Third, I want to address Kanye West. Kanye West continues to make his way into the spot light but continually is rude to other talented musicians, and continually exhibits behaviors such as wearing t-shirts to the VMA's, that make people lose respect for him. This decreasing respect didn't help when he began to speak after accepting an award, that Taylor had awarded him, despite their past conflict about Kanye interrupting Taylor during her acceptance speech. As soon as he began to talk, I knew it wasn't going to be worth my time. Honestly, the only reason I continued to pay attention was so that I can continue live tweeting and following other's live tweets. The only stuff I caught out of the speech were, "Bro," "Listen to the kids!" "Thats the problem with music awards shows" and most importantly, "I'm running for president in 2020!" At that my head was jerked up and my jaw dropped. I am all about respecting all celebrities, and respecting everyone in general. But a man like Kanye, who feels like he has the right to interrupt another talented artist like Taylor Swift during her speech saying she doesn't deserve the award, and pretend he's asleep while she's accepting her award? A man who never smiles, and never has anything positive to say? If he is honest about running for president, I hope our country can scoop together the last bit of its common sense to not allow someone like him to run this country, because it won't be running under him, it will be burying into the ground. The fact that America can be led by any person with some money and a large fan base to vote for them solely based on their name scares me.
Overall, the only reason I continued to watch this program after seeing Miley Cyrus up there hosting, was so I could live tweet on twitter. And looking back on it now I don't think it was worth it. All it did was make me question why these people are looked up to, and why they are popular in the first place. The VMA's already don't cover music that I enjoy listening to, so watching this only furthered my obsession with non-pop music, and made me lose respect for the people our society treats as modern day gods and goddesses. These people try so hard to be what they are not, when most of them have talent in just being themselves that they just refuse to acknowledge. For example, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato are incredibly talented performers but put on a sexy pop star act in order to stand out, when really they are just making jokes out of the talent that they have. I was overall glad to see people reacting the same way I did to the events on the VMA's, hopefully this will be a wake up call for everyone like it was for me.
What did you think about the VMA's? -Lily
First, let's start with Miley Cyrus. I was an avid fan of Hannah Montana, and to be quite honest, I still am. That show was one of the better disney shows that had good music, a talented actress/singer and good values. Though I have to say, Hannah Montana would be dissapointed right now. In the beginning of Miley's rebellious stage I was understanding. Most celebrities go through this "wild child" stage, where they change up their hair, their sound, and their style. So when it was first revealed that she cut off the iconic brown locks, I was a bit shocked, but also admired her boldness. Even with such an edgy haircut, she was able to retain sophistication in the same ballgowns and polite manners as old Miley had. But what we saw the other night on stage was more than just a minor rebellious stage. She proceeded to make everyone in the audience feel uncomfortable by wearing overly revealing outfits that weren't sophisticated or classy in any aspect. She also swore too frequently to be taken seriously, and continually talked about drugs and alcohol. By talking about drugs and alcohol in the way she was, she was promoting them in a cool light. That they made everything more fun, and everything was more fun with them included. The whole vibe of the show was what could be described as "trippy" which only continues to enhance the use of drugs to the young impressionable audience that is watching this to see their favorite artists perform. Then, she did a suprise performence to end the show, which overall had a good message of equality, but was accompanied by not only more lyrics about loving drugs, but a disturbing dance number that built off of what she had started two years ago with Robin Thicke. Then closed the show by dropping her newest album, "Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz," for free online, in a very unproffesional yet certainly attention attracting way. Overall, she repeatedly made audience members and viewers (like myself) uncomfortable with different outfit changes that only got crazier as the night went on, and continued unnecessary behavior.
Next, there was the whole thing between Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus. At first I was completely oblivious to what was going on. I thought it was staged just to get attention. But then I looked up their history together of bashing each other, and realized this was real, and this was really happening on MTV. As unproffesional as it was, I found it one of the more entertaining aspects of the night and admired Nicki's boldness on calling out Miley for what had happened to her. I'm not a Nicki Minaj fan at any expense, but I admire anyone willing to speak up for themselves.
Third, I want to address Kanye West. Kanye West continues to make his way into the spot light but continually is rude to other talented musicians, and continually exhibits behaviors such as wearing t-shirts to the VMA's, that make people lose respect for him. This decreasing respect didn't help when he began to speak after accepting an award, that Taylor had awarded him, despite their past conflict about Kanye interrupting Taylor during her acceptance speech. As soon as he began to talk, I knew it wasn't going to be worth my time. Honestly, the only reason I continued to pay attention was so that I can continue live tweeting and following other's live tweets. The only stuff I caught out of the speech were, "Bro," "Listen to the kids!" "Thats the problem with music awards shows" and most importantly, "I'm running for president in 2020!" At that my head was jerked up and my jaw dropped. I am all about respecting all celebrities, and respecting everyone in general. But a man like Kanye, who feels like he has the right to interrupt another talented artist like Taylor Swift during her speech saying she doesn't deserve the award, and pretend he's asleep while she's accepting her award? A man who never smiles, and never has anything positive to say? If he is honest about running for president, I hope our country can scoop together the last bit of its common sense to not allow someone like him to run this country, because it won't be running under him, it will be burying into the ground. The fact that America can be led by any person with some money and a large fan base to vote for them solely based on their name scares me.
Overall, the only reason I continued to watch this program after seeing Miley Cyrus up there hosting, was so I could live tweet on twitter. And looking back on it now I don't think it was worth it. All it did was make me question why these people are looked up to, and why they are popular in the first place. The VMA's already don't cover music that I enjoy listening to, so watching this only furthered my obsession with non-pop music, and made me lose respect for the people our society treats as modern day gods and goddesses. These people try so hard to be what they are not, when most of them have talent in just being themselves that they just refuse to acknowledge. For example, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato are incredibly talented performers but put on a sexy pop star act in order to stand out, when really they are just making jokes out of the talent that they have. I was overall glad to see people reacting the same way I did to the events on the VMA's, hopefully this will be a wake up call for everyone like it was for me.
What did you think about the VMA's? -Lily