Will Miss You Hannah… Beat it Miley
I’m sure some will see me as harsh, and even suggest things like “look at it from her perspective” or “she is just a kid” but in all honesty, right now I don’t care. Destiny Hope… excuse me… Miley Ray, I think forgot who put her where she is today, and gave her what she has. The young teen and tween fans (well really… us, the parents of those fans), the one’s she is now discarding because she “knows who she is” according to her latest write up in Parade Magazine.
’ My job first is to entertain and do what I love, and if you don’t like it, then change the channel. I’m not forcing you to watch me. I’m not forcing you to talk about me. I would do that pole dance a thousand times again, because it was right for the song and that performance. But, dude, if you think dancing on top of an ice-cream cart with a pole is bad, then go check what 90% of the high schoolers are really up to. It’s funny. I don’t know if a lot of parents remember what they were like as kids. But I’m like, ‘Dude, as if you were an angel!’”
She sighs. “I’ve learned I can’t live for what people are going to say. People are so judgmental—especially parents.
That is right Miley, we are judgemental. We are the ones that decide what concerts our children go to see, and what music they buy, and we decide what they watch because we are concerned parents. And, if you don’t like that… then fine, I am taking my child AND my wallet and going home.
Yes, it is true that you are just a kid (despite what you probably think right now, being a rich, snot nosed teen), and of course you are going to make mistakes. But, treat the people that spent the Billions of Dollars on you… and make no mistake about this… because Disney packaged you and sold you perfectly, those people are not going to be there after you keep up the “I don’t care about you attitude.”
Now, some of my anger is probably not Miley’s fault really. I remember sitting with my little girl, excited that a new episode of Hannah Montana was coming on. The songs didn’t make my ears melt (like Jonas does now), the acting wasn’t awful (unlike That’s so Raven) and I actually liked and felt I understood Billy Ray’s caring and worrying about his little girl. I was on some level able to connect with the show almost as much as my daughter. And having those times together is something I will always cherish.
But time does move on. My daughter outgrew the show… I guess. Either that or she (like I) realized that the show now stunk and was no longer entertaining. Of course, I had placed most of the blame on the writer’s strike thinking it took the show out of its rhythm. Little did I know, it was thanks to the fact that you had turned into a prima donna that “hated” being a popular actress in a hit television show, because you didn’t like the outfits you had to wear. It is called acting. Not all your roles (assuming you get any more), are not going to “allow you to be who you are.” I had a point.. oh yeah… time moves on, and it was time for the show to say good-bye. And I will fondly remember the 1st two seasons, and the time I spent with my daughter watching Hannah Montana. For that I say Thank You, and Hannah… you will be missed.
But Miley, you are now the pompous ass people have been saying you are turning into. Something I refused to believe originally, when people were comparing some of your indiscretions into the same sort of self-implosion that marred Britney Spears. I fought and defended you, certain that your parents would be able to help you navigate your way through and avoid the big headed pompous attitude that ruins so many people that get fame too fast and too early. But apparently, you know better since your parents “aren’t stoked” about your choices, but you don’t care.
I hope, for your sake I am wrong, but if you are paying attention, you are already starting to fade. Disney is going to get whatever last bit of juice they can squeeze out of you with this stint as a “mentor” on American Idol. I know you “don’t care” what people think, but you just might want to take a peek at the Entertainment magazines and just find out how much of a joke the general public and entertainment experts think of this idea. But Disney might get a quick boost of viewers for Idol like they did with Dancing with the Stars when they milked your fandom multiple times with you, your dad and Cody Linly.
In one of those conversation you have with you dad, you just might want to ask him how fleeting stardom is. Without Disney, you would just be the best singer at the Tennesee State Fair, and if you don’t mind you business and fans a bit better, that is where you might be again. Good Riddance Miley… not that you care.
MommyBloggers… Has it become the beast that can’t be fed?
I sat and pondered this for a day, deciding whether I dared to write it. I mean, first of all the few people that still may actually read this are not the people I am talking about. (Unless by some chance this gets spread to a few of the “wrong” people… then it may very well become an example of what I am talking about).
After all, I am certainly not an “authority” on blogging, I am not a “social media expert” or any of the other titles that float around so freely these days. I’m just a guy that blogs (and for the past year or so barely that). But then again… my *brand* is “extra large, extra strong … without being bitter.” I am an openly (and probably too loudly) opinionated blogger. So, if I am going to own my brand… I need to stay loyal to it.
But it also puts me in a bit of a quandary. I signed up to attend BlogHer this year, for a couple of reasons. One… for the entertainment factor (I can’t wait to see what this years drama and controversy will be). Two, to finally get a chance to meet and socialize with some people that are so spectacular in personality in their blogs, I just had to sieze the opportunity to finally get to put a live face to the words (I would love to do that with everybody that I read… maybe someday when I am rich and powerful, but in the mean time this is at least an opportunity to meet several at one time). And third, is to learn a bit more about what I am missing is the blogging world. The “brand building” that I have heard so many people talk, blog, tweet, about in past events. I want to learn a bit more… at least I think I do.
I say “think” because, I don’t know if it was the pithy title that set the mob over the edge, but the New York Times article “Honey Don’t Bother Mommy. I’m too busy building my brand.” certainly got a section of the MommyBloggers circling their wagons. The funny part is, for the most part, the article describes quite well, how MommyBloggers HAVE in fact built their brand… how as a collective they have become a force to be reckoned with (more on that shortly).
But instead, some clearly skimmed the article, others picked it apart selecting passages, others put words in that didn’t exist, and made a story about MommyBlogging to mean no woman can be taken seriously as a writer, and one or two I don’t think read it at all, rather took their cue from others and just wrote based on what they heard was a “wronging” and went from there.
Now, sure I am certain somebody would say, “but you are a guy, you have no idea about being a woman and the struggles it entails.” And physically yes that is true, but I also know I pay a lot more attention to those details and am more aware of them than I suspect most would think, because I do worry what barriers of entry my daughter will face in the years ahead of her. I also read a lot more mommyblogs that about anything else (well… except for tech blogs… but you get the idea).
My question becomes to these people is… are you trying to build a brand? Have you attended panels on how to do this… or have you spoken at them? Then why are you so offended by somebody pointing out that this is what you are doing? Yes, I will admit the headline was corny… but really, building a brand is what you are doing… own it.
Now maybe I am starting to get a little annoyed because over the past 4 or 5 years, I have watched a certain amount of devolving going on, and it is disappointing. Two items in the recent past still stick like a thorn in my pad… The first was the Bullshit “TSA kidnapped my baby” debacle. If you dared question this Mommyblogger because her story did not sound right… you were ridiculed for it, how dare somebody question a Mommy Blogger. How date the TSA do this!! Except none of it was true. No apologies to the beast just moved on looking for its next meal.
The other was the absolutely insane #nikonhatesbabies hashtag party that took place because “how dare Nikon not allow a mother to take an infant to a party… at night… at a bar?” These are the same people that try to claim that Bloggy Boot Camp, and BlogHer are “no different” than any other technology conference. Really? On one side of the coin, I read demands of “if you are going to throw a BlogHer party as a vendor, you should know your crowd, and provide for children at the events.” And then, out of the very same mouths comes “this is no different than SXSW or any other tech conference, and shouldn’t be viewed any differently just because it is a conference for women.” Make up your minds ladies… Which one is it?
And… once again, one or two twitter messages went out from a couple of people about how sorry they were about the #nikonhatesbabies thing… but for the most part, the beast moved on to its next feeding ground.
Perhaps the arguement several years back at BlogHer was correct, and there needs to be a better definition of what is a “MommyBlogger.” Just because you write, and you happen to be a mom, doesn’t necessarily make you a “MommyBlogger.” At the same time, just because you are a mom and happen to have a blog, doesn’t make you a MommyBlogger either, nor does it give you an automatic right to ask for things. I have now started unfollowing people that have put up tweets such as “I can’t afford to go to BlogHer, what airline wants to sponsor me and send me?” and I would think anybody that wants “MommyBloggers” to be taken seriously to spend as much time beating down a person like that as they do when they feel slighted by some corporation, because it reflects poorly on all MommyBloggers. Maybe if this can be broken up, then the pieces can each get the recognition they deserve, and each can have their own battle lines drawn, because right now, it looks like MommyBlogging has become the beast with an appetite for destruction that is just insatiable.
(Quick Reminder… Comment Approval is turned on because of spammers… but all non spam comments will be approved)
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