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> From: xxxxx@hotmail.com
> To: xxxxx@hotmail.com
> Subject:
> Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 11:19:39 -0500
>
> high school muscal diary. high school mucscal note book.
> hannah montana perfume. hillary duff make up. hannah montana book
> from xxxxx
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Of course. The Hanukkah Wish List. How could I forget?
The only problem was - I had no idea who the hell Hannah Montana was. Hannah MONTANA? Isn't there a tried and tested formula for creating your stripper name? Your middle name is your first name, followed by the town in which you grew up?
I Googled her on a lark and this is what popped up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannah_Montana
According to Wiki, "the series focuses on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cyrus), who lives a double life as an average teenage girl at school during the day and a famous pop singer, Hannah Montana, at night, concealing her real identity from the public other than her close friends and family."
What the?! Does this make sense to any of you? Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Jessica Simpson were all Mouseketeers by the time they reached junior high, and they sure as shit did not hide conceal" their true identity from the public." It's not as if Hannah Montana needs to maintain an air of mystery. She isn't fighting crime undercover, the way Spidey and Superman would. There is only one explanation. The girl be dippin' for dollas. And my little niece wants a be-glittered notebook with her strutting her stuff on the cover? I think not.
On the other hand. I do want to make her happy, so perhaps I'll get her the other item on her wish list. The High School Musical notebook. High School Musical was, of course, placed under intense media scrutiny when co-stars Vanessa Hudgens took a naughty picture of herself for then boyfriend, Zach Ephron. She has since apologized to Disney for the indiscretion.
It's disturbing, really, how little girls are so overtly sexualized at such a young age. The Mattel Machine has created demand for products aimed at 5, 6 year old girls by engineering a subculture of childlike sexual sophistication. The problem is, calculated, methodical sexuality is something for women, not girls who still in elementary school. There is a time and a place to be a 'hobag, and let's just say it's, oh, all four years of high school, college and throughout most of your adult life?
I really want to hand her a copy of "The Backlash", but I know that won't cut it. Maybe I need to get her into Dora the Explorer (too young, too cartoon-ey, shitty bowl haircut) or Erykah Bahdu (too esoteric, and who the fuck is Tyrone?). What's the answer? Maybe I'll get her a Hannah Montana notebook, but tell her that we should get creative. Fill up it's pages with our story. Create another female character that not only sings and looks pretty, but is smart and solves crimes and travels the world to camp out with the natives. In sequins and makeup if she has to. Maybe that's the answer.
Here's to hoping. Hoping that this holiday season, little girls all over the world find inspiration, not in the tinsel and glitter, or in crowded malls and stores, but within their own hearts. And if they can kick butt and look cute along the way, even better.
You've never heard of Hannah Montana? I guess you've never stayed home sick with nothing good to watch except the Disney channel (and even that's only arguably good). Hannah Montana's a pretty wholesome show. That's one of the problems I have with it -- it's like Saved by the Bell with less attractive and younger characters showing far less skin (which is fine, since they're too young for that). The acting's horrible, I'm pretty sure there's a laugh track, and the big special guest star during sweeps week is Dolly Parton, playing "Aunt Dolly".
Really? You've never watched it?
Yes, I won't like. Hannah and I became close when I came down with the flu last winter right during the Hannah Montana marathon. One terrible episode after another I watched, with strange pleasure only as guilty as watching Saved By The Bell. How cute is it that the charming (okay, maybe that's a stretch) Billy Ray Cyrus uses his country winnings to make an unrealistic show starring him and his daughter. Yes: Hannah is Billy Ray's daughter. It was a short and filthy affair we had. And that's really all I have to say about this subject.
You bring up an interesting point about Disney.
Every time I hear someone talk about the bad parenting of Brittney's parents, about Lindsay's parents, et al., all I can think is that all kids have the same "parent", and it is Disney.
What is it about the Disney organization that causes the wholesome children that it exploits to become the "hobags" and troubled young adults they become? Oh yeah, the exploitation.
IMHO, something is really wrong with the Disney organization...
BTW, last month I was on a Hannah Montana blitz with a 7-year old visiting from India, who only wanted to spend her three days here watching the concert film, buying the DVDs, and meeting Cinderella at Disneyland. At Disneyland we saw the High School Musical show, and she knew the songs. Yes, the Disney reach is greater than you can imagine.