My Ex-Teen Icon | Teen Ink

My Ex-Teen Icon MAG

July 21, 2009
By Mmbusch BRONZE, Fox River Grove, Illinois
Mmbusch BRONZE, Fox River Grove, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do not pity the dead. Pity the living. And above all pity those who live without love."


The other day I was walking down the aisle of my neighborhood Super Walmart, desperately scanning the shelves for Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. To my dismay and shock, there were none. I turned to leave when suddenly I came face to face with my mortal enemy: Hannah Montana. There she was, staring into space as though a crisp hundred dollar bill was dangling from a fishing pole before her.

“Hannah Montana cereal,” I muttered, cursing Disney. But I suppose I should have known better. Did I honestly expect Disney not to cash in on every opportunity to plaster Miley Cyrus's face onto products? It was as if Disney had been shipping off Hannah Montana stickers to every manufacturer with the note, “Use these at your discretion; they'll make anything sell.” Because why wouldn't I want to buy a product if a chick in a wig is telling me to?

I was a sixth grader when the Hannah Montana phenomenon landed on our planet. My friends and I became obsessed with the show, to the point that we made our own music videos and memorized the title of every episode. When I was in seventh grade, this success grabbed the attention of those out of range of Disney Channel's hypnotron, and Miley Cyrus slowly but surely approached the teen audience, eager and cautious.

It was fine, it was all fine. No one expected her to stay young forever, she had a career to worry about and pressure to be cool among her own peers. But as the reports of tasteless photos appeared, I stopped staring with a blind eye. Who was this girl I looked up to? I was the same age this “role model” was when she started running off the track, and I had never done anything remotely like that.

So now, whenever I walk into a store, I feel betrayed by my ex-teen icon. Her very image screams “Look at me! I may act trashy and dim, but as long as I'm not caught pulling a Winona Ryder, Disney will continue paying me a gazillion bucks!” I wish I could say to her, “Be a role model or stop putting on that wig to reap all the benefits.”

I'm not as cynical as I seem though. I hope Miley takes the right path. I hope she doesn't become the next Britney. Or Lindsay. Or Jamie Lynn. But everyone grows up, and odds are that if they come from Disney, they end up in Vegas. And I don't appreciate Miley trying to persuade me to buy her bicycle.


The author's comments:
Hey, my name is Margaret. I'm 15 and considering becoming a journalist. When I mentioned this to my dad, he encouraged me to practice writing, as I have obviously done so. My work is nothing great, but I hope you like it. I know it has too much teenage attitude to be published as news, but your site sounds very open to all types of writing, so I hope you'll appreciate my work for its own personality. However, if not, I completely understand. I'll just keep practicing.
The work I have pasted here is simply my own thoughts after having come across a cereal box endorsed by Hannah Montana.
Enjoy!

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This article has 208 comments.


on Feb. 26 2010 at 2:32 pm
edwardcullen4always SILVER, Rock Hill, South Carolina
5 articles 6 photos 57 comments

Favorite Quote:
"If you feed a man a fish you feed him for a day, but if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime."

That was really good. I actually laughed out loud at the part about u cursing disney for puttng miley on cereal. Great Job!

PeacePerson said...
on Feb. 26 2010 at 12:16 pm
PeacePerson, Prescott, Arizona
0 articles 0 photos 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Be the change you want to see in the world." ~Mahatma Gandhi

Wow. You have a very clear voice, and a definite opinion. I've felt the same way about Miley for a long time, but you totally put it into words. Great article!!

live4vball96 said...
on Feb. 26 2010 at 12:12 pm
live4vball96, Mckinney, Texas
0 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'd rather be hated for someone am than be loved for somone I'm not.

I remember when the first episode of Hannah Montana came out. I loved that show at the time. But then just like you I saw who she really was, what her personality really was outside of disney channel. And now just like you, I can't stand her because everyone is praising her for her show and what a good role model she is, when in truth, she isn't one at all. She is just another girl gone wrong in Hollywood. But no matter how much I don't like her, I still want her to get back on the right track again. Maybe she can find her way back to God.

on Feb. 26 2010 at 12:00 pm
Blooper195 PLATINUM, McKinney, Texas
45 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
This life ain't that bad.

I remember when hannah montana first appeared. I was in 5th grade when she first started with her career, at first she seemed like a really nice girl to look up to, but all that news feed that was published i turned away from her.

on Feb. 26 2010 at 7:43 am
xAllegria BRONZE, Singapore, Other
1 article 2 photos 112 comments

Favorite Quote:
Ça fait tellement du bien d’aimer les gens qu’on aime, que ça finit par faire mal. Je sais pas comment on survit a ça. Non franchement, je sais pas. LOL (laughing out loud) ®, Lola.

Haha...... the last two sentences made me smile. I like your style. Of course, you shouldn't exactly blame her for being so commercialized like this although I do hate her stuff.

on Feb. 14 2010 at 9:05 pm
Kristy_loves_Keats PLATINUM, Arvada, Colorado
23 articles 0 photos 99 comments
good article i was a year younger than you when the young very pretty miley/hanna appered on disney. i also was ubsesed with her. the vanity fair was not her falt yes she and her father and mother had agreement but when your 14 and your parents are saying oh ya its cool its pretty are you really going to make the argument of no this is a bad pic.? althoue if you go to google 2 years after the vanity fair she is takeing bad pictures of her self and that was her falt! rummer is nick jonas put them out but jonas is too nice of a guy or friend to do that to miley. right now i have heard from 17 mag. they qouted miley on no more hanna. in her upcoming movie the last song she is not hanna nor miley so im getting into miley the actor! not miley the minor who is a horabul role modle i think miley has straitend up but not yeet perfict but no one is perfict

on Feb. 11 2010 at 8:49 pm
chick-a-dee-wasaga-3 BRONZE, California, Florida
4 articles 0 photos 10 comments
I totally disagree with this article. You see all these articles in magazines and scandals, how do you know some articles about Miley aren't true. You can't judge someone if you don't know them. And she can't do little girl shows forever. She is growing up, and everyone has to deal with it. If you compare her to teenagers today, she isn't even close to doing drugs, getting pregnant and other things. And it shouldn't particularly matter who she's dating. Because that doesn't make who she is.
But your article is really good. *thumbs up*

SkarsGirl1 said...
on Feb. 4 2010 at 4:49 pm
You are a wonderful writer for being 15 years old. Though I was a tad bit older when the Hannah Montana craze hit I knew at once that Disney had found their new cash cow.

writerL said...
on Feb. 4 2010 at 11:22 am
writerL, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
0 articles 0 photos 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Behold the turtle...he makes great progress only when he sticks his neck out."

I think you did a great job writing this :-) I want to be a journalist/book writer as well and I think you did a really good job keeping your opinion apparent and yet I really don't think you were too harsh, you simply gave your opinion and again you weren't too mean and didn't exactly criticize Miley Cyrus, as much as you did Disney which I completely agree with. I am almost 15 too and I was in 5th grade when Hannah Montana hit and at first I also LOVED the show but got out of it fairly quickly. I get a little tired of people using the excuse of “everyone makes mistakes” and “she had to grow up sometime.” Not all stars or normal people that have to grow up, choose to take the route she’s taken. Yes, everyone makes mistakes but most of the time they apologize for them, and I haven’t as much heard of an apology from her as an accusation that people are bashing her. With all that said, I do think that sometimes people can be a little too over the top in criticizing her (really harshly) so I was very happy to see that you kept your article nice yet to the point lol :-) anyway sorry to write so much but I really liked the piece :-)

on Feb. 4 2010 at 8:24 am
VioletsandVoice, Spiritwood, North Dakota
0 articles 0 photos 170 comments
I agree that miley has become more of a marketing symbol than a singer to a lot of people, and I think that's really sad becasue she could have had a great career, but now everyone is so annoyed by her that I don't see that happening

on Jan. 14 2010 at 6:06 pm
Yea- i guess ur right. the last paragraph kind of made amends to what stopped me from finishing your article in the first place. I cant say i agree with ur opinion any more than i used to- but i guess everyone can have one as long as it's no too judgmental

ps- thanks for the comp. on my screen name

*\|/*

that waa supposed do be a bunny but i think it kinda looks like a fail-whale

EmelyJ GOLD said...
on Jan. 13 2010 at 7:35 pm
EmelyJ GOLD, Bronx, New York
10 articles 0 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A mistake is not a mistake if you learn from it. If you learn from it, it's not a mistake, it's a lesson."

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

EmelyJ GOLD said...
on Jan. 13 2010 at 7:33 pm
EmelyJ GOLD, Bronx, New York
10 articles 0 photos 23 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A mistake is not a mistake if you learn from it. If you learn from it, it's not a mistake, it's a lesson."

FINALLY, someone agrees!!!!!!!!!! God Bless You! Don't worry about anything, you are an AMAZING writer. When you become a famous journalist, don't forget us little people! LOL!!!!!!

zobean GOLD said...
on Jan. 13 2010 at 3:12 pm
zobean GOLD, Northfield, Massachusetts
16 articles 1 photo 33 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A Good player inspires themselves. A GREAT player inspires others."

all, im gonna say is that i agree and disagree.

irawr BRONZE said...
on Jan. 8 2010 at 9:17 am
irawr BRONZE, Solon, Maine
1 article 1 photo 48 comments

Favorite Quote:
STUD MUFFIN xD

I agree my mother works at wall-mart so often spend allot of time there and hanna Montana is pretty much every wear to clothing to singing dolls.

Mmbusch BRONZE said...
on Jan. 7 2010 at 6:02 pm
Mmbusch BRONZE, Fox River Grove, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do not pity the dead. Pity the living. And above all pity those who live without love."

No, you aren't rude. Everyone has different opinions and I appreciate you sharing yours. Nothing's necessarily wrong with a tattoo but in my opinion a 17-year old teen star getting one right under her boob gives off a bad image.
In my article I never specifically talked about the Annie Leibowitz photo shoot but if she didn't want to do it I'm sure she wouldn't have...
Yes, she is a girl that went for her dream and is one of the very lucky few to have achieved it. But as the girl playing 'Hannah Montana' on a child-targeted Disney Channel show, Miley is under the position of role model and should not misuse her fame in the eyes of her viewers, which I believe she has.
And I'm not critiquing someone who goes out for/achieves her dream.
My article was a personal reflection on how the girl I looked up to turned out not to be who I thought she was, and how stores are constantly capitalizing on her image.
I think you would understand where I come from better if you finished the article and then decide to comment.
And by the way, I love your screen name ;)

on Jan. 5 2010 at 8:11 pm
i'm sorry- icoukd finidh this article- i couldn't stand to. she was a normal girl , (yes with a famous daddy- big deal) when she audtioned for the role of hannah montanna on a disney tv show- she auditioned for her dream with the sull support of her dad.

(hey- in your comment on you article, didn;t you say you father encouraged you to try journalism?)

and then yes- she grew up and became a big star. how do you even know she wanted to do that exposing photo shoot? and what's wrong with a tattoo?

i doubt if you would want as much critiquing as you are handing to Miley Cyrus when and if you take a shot at your dream.

i'm sorry if i sound as rube as i think i do- you've never been Miley Cyrus- you don't know what she knows about herself, and i think that eliminates your right to judge her from what you simpley here from the media

Rosenquartz said...
on Jan. 1 2010 at 9:44 pm
Rosenquartz, Bertram, Texas
0 articles 0 photos 1 comment
I SAW THAT! It was on Justsoyouknow .com !

Totty123 said...
on Jan. 1 2010 at 7:32 pm
Yeah, that goes a little too far

Mmbusch BRONZE said...
on Jan. 1 2010 at 6:03 pm
Mmbusch BRONZE, Fox River Grove, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 31 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do not pity the dead. Pity the living. And above all pity those who live without love."

Aw, thank you! I loved this comment--it made me laugh. The part about being "just as tasteless as she is" was really funny.