by B. R. GOWANI
Miley Cyrus performing at the MTV Video Music Awards PHOTO/Rex/PictureGroup/The Gaurdian
During the MTV Video Music Awards, Miley Cyrus did succeed, along with Robin Thicke, in their mission:
“Me and Robin the whole time said, ‘You know we’re about to make history right now.'”
She started her performance in a teddy-bear themed outfit. When Thicke joined her on stage, she stripped down to a nude colored latex bikini and with body movements and a foam finger created an impression of various sexual acts.
aesthetic value zero
artistic value nil
economic gain millions
fans’ applause zillions
contribution towards women’s rights none
contribution towards self-publicity many
Miley defended the act:
“What’s amazing is, I think, now, we’re three days later and people are still talking about it. They’re overthinking it. You’re thinking about it more than I thought about it when I did it. Like, I didn’t even think about it, ’cause that’s just me.”
No, that’s not the whole truth. Most of the truth consists of:
the desperation to create “history”
to be always in the news
to be numero uno
But that’s not possible. Now every day, to be more accurate, every moment, history is made. To check Cyrus’ refutation of ugly remarks on Beyonce, which, according to Cyrus, were wrongly attributed to her, I checked Huffington Post. On the right side of the article, there are several photos with captions. In two of the photos, one can see the sheer desperation of Kim Kardashian, Blac Chyna, and Kylie Jenner to attract attention and to be in the news:
“Kim Kardashian compares butts with Blac Chyna in sexy selfie“
“Kylie Jenner shares racy photo with cryptic message on Instagram“
There are dozens of such small and big celebrities who are vying for space in print and electronic media. The competition is so tough that the more weird and bizarre the antics are, the more attention they draw. It is this simple logic which is forcing Cyrus to indulge in such obscene acts.
Cyrus was aware of the adverse publicity her performance garnered and so made her views known:
“I don’t pay attention to the negative because I’ve seen this play out so many times.” “Madonna’s done it. Britney’s done it. Every VMA performance, that’s what you’re looking for; you’re wanting to make history.”
But Cyrus must be well aware of the fact that it is the negative publicity which media always wants to play on and which also is good, many a times, for a group of people in the news. And Cyrus is part of that group.
But where is this rubbish going to stop? The logical conclusion of these kinds of performances is that someone younger and bolder than Cyrus will perform a coitus on stage. When that happens, the shock element will have lost its value and people will indulge in some other means to draw people’s attraction. One of the possibility would be to become a part of the Islamic websites.
Cyrus’ act would have made difference if it was done in an an artistic fashion and was performed in a Muslim country where there are extreme prohibitions on women, such as Aliaa elMahdy‘s in Egypt or Pakistani Veena Malik‘s in India.
B.R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com