On Friday, the New York Post reported that Billy Ray’s most successful scion would be hanging up her wig after “Hannah Montana” finishes the season.
Disney Senior Vice President of Programming Adam Bonnett told the Post a March episode of the show is a special that’s “a big one-hour event where we find out what Miley Stewart’s decision is going to be. It’s one of the things she’s been wrestling with for months – whether it’s time to make a decision to continue being Hannah Montana or just be a regular, ordinary girl.”
Although the move has been expected for some time, the world just became a little bit dimmer place for millions of pre-teens and tweens. But we can all agree that the singer and actress deserves a chance to grow beyond the show that made her a star and move on to a long, happy career right?
Actually, not all of us wish smiley Miley well.
Wow. You guys are a tough crowd. What’s up with that? Was Miley saying mean things about you in homeroom again? Comments on the story were filled with the kind of hatred usually reserved around here for a certain ticketing company or that concert promoter that’s rumored to be building a real world version of “The Matrix.”
You are all aware that the singer and Disney Channel star is only 17 aren't you? So even though she’s been in the spotlight for several years now and she’s known by billions of people across the globe, her life is really just getting started. Was your future set in stone at 17? I'm guessing not.
Yes, "Hannah Montana" is beyond stupid. On an entertainment level, it’s somewhere between “The Patty Duke Show” and “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour.” So what. It's a show written for tweens that airs ad nauseam on the Disney Channel. It's supposed to be stupid. I'll bet my next raise there's a show from your youth you revere that falls into the same category. (Mine's "Land of the Lost,” an absolutely ridiculous show with some of the worst acting ever seen on a television screen and even worse special effects. But it still holds a fond place in my memory.)
How about we all just take a deep breath and step back a little bit before we go on. There, I feel better already, how about you?
I don’t think it’s wise (and I’m certain it’s not fair) to be so quick to write Miley off. Plenty of people in the entertainment industry have pretty ignoble beginnings on their resumes.
Janet Jackson started out on the wildly uneven ’70s sitcom "Good Times," Fergie and Martika learned to do their thing on the earnest but ultimately lame "Kids Incorporated" and Alanis Morissette cut her teeth on the Canadian kids show and cult-favorite "You Can't Do That on Television." And that’s just the girls.
Critical golden boy George Clooney’s impressive acting credits include "The Facts of Life," "Golden Girls" and "Return of the Killer Tomatoes." And do I have to remind you that fan fave and multiple Academy Award nominee Johnny Depp sulked his way through "21 Jump Street” mostly on the strength of good hair and killer cheekbones?
The truth is, none of us - Miley included - can really know what she'll end up doing. Even though it's clear she has some skill as a singer/songwriter (“Party in the USA” wound up on an awful lot of surprising “Best Of” lists last month), music might not even be her final destiny.
Just think, she could end up an Academy Award winning actress. Stranger things have happened. After all, Helen Hunt started out shipwrecked with "The Swiss Family Robinson" and after playing a precocious teen on "Gidget," Sally Field had a "habit" of flying into trouble.
So whether your room is plastered with posters of Miley’s smiling face or you nearly crash your car every time one of her song’s comes on the radio, give her a break. You might just be pleasantly surprised by what you hear (or see) one of these days.