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Miley Cyrus: Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman

Posted Wed Mar 4, 2009 5:24pm PST by Lyndsey Parker in As Heard On...
Most teen stars don't age so gracefully--anyone who's watched hasbeen-centric "Celebreality" shows like Confessions Of A Teen Idol, Breaking Bonaduce, or The Two Coreys knows this. For every success story like Jodie Foster or Drew Barrymore, there's...well, a whole bunch of Coreys, so to speak.

Miley Cyrus, at ripe old age of 16, is the latest t(w)een star hoping to smoothly transition from pimple-prone pubescent to respected adult entertainer (no, not THAT kind of adult entertainer!), with her relatively mature new song, "The Climb." The country-crossover power ballad (is that her daddy's influence?) may be the theme from the latest installment in her kiddie-friendly Hannah Montana movie series, but it's a much more subdued affair than her past bubblegummy efforts. "Pumpin' Up The Party" it ain't.

In the song's "serious" video, an older and presumably wiser Miley even straps on a guitar (surely she must know how to play it, right? right???); stands triumphantly on a CGI-rendered cliff beneath an aerial-sweeping camera (a scene lifted straight out of an '80s Bon Jovi video); and existentially sings the following grown-up words of woe:

I can almost see it, that dream I'm dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying, "You'll never reach it"
Every step I'm taking, every move I make
Feels lost with no direction
My faith is shaking but I got to keep trying
Got to keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

Whoa. That's deep. For Miley, at least.

Of course, the whole song/video is reminiscent of former teen sensation Britney Spears' attempt at mature balladry some years ago--also from a movie, Crossroads--"I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman." The video is even eerily similar, right down to the widescreen aerial cliff shots, road-tripping movie scenes, and inspirational Hallmark-card lyrics about how "this girl will always find her way" and "all I need is time":

Well, we all know Britney's post-movie evolution from girl to woman wasn't exactly an easy one. Will Miley, now at a crossroads herself, encounter a similarly bumpy road? It remains to be seen, but if the subdued sound and triumph-of-the-spirit sentiments of "The Climb" are any indication, there probably won't be any head-shaving or underwear-forgetting incidents in Miley's future.

318 Comments

121. lovelydayy. -
i'm a 16 yr old like she is, and guess what? she totally sucks ass, and i'm not hatin' on her "because i'm jealous"! can't people just accept the fact that she freakin' sucks? She needs to grow a backbone before mouthing off like that to radiohead, making facial expressions with racially offensive undertones, and exposing her undergarments all over the web. and she has a promise ring? please, i expect to see this girl knocked up any day now.

hate on me all you want. i stand my ground - miley sucks. the end.

122. Yahoo! Music User -
i wouldn't call her the best singer in the world, that is for sure, but i do hope that this little girl who is trying to fit in with an adult ruled market of entertainment keeps her life going down a straight path...but she's standing near a very thin line of being the "good girl" she plays on disney channel or the bad girl that willing poses for racy photos.

123. anna s -
Miley is a second generation music maker. It is in her blood. She is right where she needs to be. She will definetly make the cut in the ranks of music talent. She has her own sound. That is what makes her different. Just like her dad she wants to be herself doing it.

124. EstesPark Local -
hey emeraldbox..
if you really want people to take your misguided and obviously childish opinions about Spears and Cyrus seriously... then LEARN HOW TO SPELL. jelos and iz aren't words.
Miley Cyrus is ugly and untalented.

125. VKC -
Yawn! I'm so tired of her, the jonas brothers and britney's comeback...anyway a generic song, by a person with a mediocre voice.

126. EstesPark Local -
#126
LEARN HOW TO SPREAK, WRITE AND READ
E N G L I S H
before you try and tell people to get a life because they have opinions and are voicing them. you obviously don't even deserve to be here if you cant spell like or right correctly.
GET A LIFE YOU PIECE OF TRASH

127. Borna -
well my cousin loves it and hasn't said any thing wrong about her voice and she adores her.she really is a great person.

128. Yahoo! Music User -
that was actually really good mileys song i mean

129. Tiffany -
y does thr even need to be popstars and celebritys anyway god didnt create us to be popular or famous we should all be equaly treated ex a celebrity hits someone and almost beats them to death and wat nobody does nothing wow a big court hearing and nothing no jail time nothing another ex paris hilton drinking and driving wat a carpet in jail tv wat else did she have my piont exacly if i did something like tht i wouldnt get no speacial treatment ok im 13 i shouldnt be worring about this stuff but u know wat i do because no body else does worry wat obama thinks he does thinks he is doing stuff to help us he lied just to be president is anything he said in his speach happened yet no i dont think so watch u ust watch nothing is gonna happen whooooooo im president tht all he cares about no im not racist im just paying attention to wat is going on and us poor ppl and regular ppl get treated poorly but those popular and famous ppl get treated speacial yeah they have speacial acting thing they can do and have speacial singing qualities but we should all be treated fairly and wat happen to freedom and ppl living the way we wanted to live if u think about it we should be able to live how ever we wanna live and thr shouldnt be ppl takin thr kids away from them yeah if the kids r gettin beatin buy thr parents they should be takin away but if thr r familys tht want to live like in the old days then they should be able to with out ppl taking them away from thr parents and im am talking bout my self wen i say tht but i think if u guys who look at this think about it we r not being treated fairly and we should get to say wat we wanna say and i know all this has anything to do with the conflict on miley cirus but i figured tht a lot of ppl look at this and maybe it will be on the news and it should im not saying tht i should be treated speacial all i want is to spread the word to the ppl about fair unfaid and freedom and anything else this says to anyone and if u guys want to email me u can over this matter or any other matter but just remember this is 13 year old tht said these words i hope tht u how look at this dont disreguard this just because of my age i may be young but i understand wat is going on in this world and i kno wat wat and i kno wat fair and unfair is oh and btw dennis miller if u look at this or someone tht knows him can u pls show his this i kno a lot of ppl say this but dennis if u look in r family tree u r my uncle and im not talking bout in gods way u r my real uncle and i would just like u to notice me and kno tht im here and tht u can maybe spend some quality time with me because nobody in my family cares tht im here and i would just like to no if u do my mom left me my dad is about to die and my brother kicks and beats me and my grama hates me because my dad divorved her or some stupid thing but im just so hurting inside alright i have said wat i wanna say i just hope it gets seen i wanna kno if anyone fel the same by tiffany miller

130. Jess -
i hate it when people plagiarize music videos.

131. __A_YAHOO_USER__ -
Miley and Britney each contribute to the courageous idea of the future and exploration...and still innocent. The main ingredient for influence is not to forget or listen to your family....they will always be there....and they do know what not to do...even if you have to find out climbing your own mountain...remember time is on your side...for how long....Both are great...stay straight.

132. Cali's Rebirth -
love this song!!!!!!!!!!! Miley Rocks!

133. Libbi -
I agree and yet I dissagre because she is miliking it for all its work like Britney is. I think that if people actally gave Miley a change she could prove to them that she is could make it.

134. Yahoo! Music User -
i hat miley when she first cam out. she shouled stop.she should not even be with that guy in the movie.ok if u think she should
go BYE BYE or stay.VOTE

135. Yahoo! Music User -
PLEASE......................................................................................VOTE!

136. Yahoo! Music User -
please ...............................................VOTE!

137. Yahoo! Music User -
PLEASE...........................................................................................................................................................................................................................VOTE!

138. Yahoo! Music User -
You guys are jerks.

I'm not a Miley fan either, but I'm not going to post that she's ugly or a completely horrible singer. It doesn't matter who she is, it's just completely inhuman to post that stuff on the net. It's cruel.

you guys can think what you want about her being a non-great singer or a great singer or whatever, but do you really have to go on and keep dissing her? She's still a human!

You say she needs to grow up, well grow up yourselves and leave the middle school name calling and picking on how people look behind you.

So stop picking on Miley. Post your opinion, but don't be complete morons about it.

139. MariaO -
I agree with most of you guys that Miley has to work on stuff but, she has potential.

140. Yahoo! Music User -
Why do some of you like to diss people? It's not right and it should stop. Miley can be gossiped about but not on the web. It's cruelty to her and it's not fair. And if you don't like her leave her alone,and she will probably get better with support
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