The left in this country has a problem. Well, they have a lot of problems, many of which involve personal hygiene and anger management issues. That is a column for another day though. The left is losing the pop culture media war in this country, and it bothers them. In 2008 Reuters reported that the top four radio formats in United States were news talk, country, contemporary Christian, and Christian teaching.
Stripper Pole!
Liberals failed miserably when they tried to take over the talk radio industry with Air America. It reminded me a lot of the time that Pearl Jam took on Ticketmaster, which in turn reminded me a lot of a bowl of jell-o taking on a herd of wildebeests. The left can’t compete in the Christian market. Let’s face it, the folks who declare Robert Mapplethorpe “art” simply have no credibility in that particular market. With that said, Country is a family friendly format they still think they have a chance of corrupting, and Miley Cyrus may be their perky little Trojan horse into that industry.
Music and American politics have become linked, with most of the genres in the “Hope and Change” category. During the 2008 presidential campaign, a country artist I am acquainted with talked about the stress of that election and how her vote was putting her at odds with her family, friends, fans, and industry (three guesses who she voted for). To change the very culture of that industry, you need to pave the way for the shrill Natalie Maines types with the seemingly harmless Miley types. Ms. Cyrus is presented to us a fully Disneyfied young lady with a Christian background and the values to boot. This is the sort of person that the Middle America country fans should love, right? As with many things in the entertainment world, her image is a well manufactured myth and the truth is that this young lady brings an entire suitcase of San Francisco values with her as baggage when she eventually breaks into the country music scene.
A good example of her more questionable behavior is that she was involved in a scandal that included some pictures she took of herself with her camera phone. Her actions bordered on sexting, and she was involved with this before she was old enough to bug her dad for the keys to the pickup. The photos were pictures of her in her underwear, wetting herself down in a shower wearing only a white t-shirt, and lounging in the arms of boy in what appeared to be a sort of early teen afterglow. Of course she apologized, but apparently didn’t learn anything from the incidents. Soon after she, and her parents, allowed her to be photographed for Vanity Fair magazine in a manner that would suggest her core audience was a rampaging pack of pedophiles. Once again, she apologized.
Despite the contrived contrition, her actions (and the fact they keep happening) demonstrate an attitude that she thinks this sort of thing is appropriate. While she is often portrayed as a Christian, and her relationship with God is between her and the Almighty, the objective evidence suggests that her brand of Christianity is the sort that got King David and Bathsheba in such hot water. As we all know, the media dislikes all things that involve Christianity, and the only Christians they truly like ones with an asterisk. While Miley is portrayed as type who can be found in Church on any given Sunday morning, she is even moving away from the official religion of the entire industry, and experimenting with Buddhism. When talking about her religious beliefs, Miley put herself out of step with the core country audience when she made this statement:
“The one thing I’m really strong about regarding my religious beliefs is that you should know a little bit about everything before you define your own beliefs. I think all religions have a good practice in them. Liam and I have been reading about Buddhism lately and it’s all about hope and love. To me, faith is about having a clean slate and a clean start.”
We could go on with this young lady about how her favorite television performer is RuPaul and that she is a devotee of Michelle Obama, but the truth is that from a values standpoint she is much closer to the Black Eyed Peas than she is Alan Jackson.
On the surface it would seem the country music industry is safe from her influence (and that her legions of teenaged fans) widening the already existing schism between “old country” and the more generic sounding “new country.” In a recent Parade magazine article, Ms. Cyrus said she is avoiding the country music genre because,
“It scares me, that’s why. It feels contrived on so many levels. Unless you’re wearing a cowboy hat and cowboy boots and singing and whining about your girlfriend or boyfriend leaving you it’s not going to sell. I think that’s why my dad finally got out of it. You have to wear those cowboy boots and be sweet as pie. It makes me nervous, the politics of it all.”
While I would love to explain to her all the things that are wrong with that statement, the fact is that the odds are stacked against her as a pop star. She is not a uniquely gifted artist and chances are Hannah Montana will join Lizzie McGuire on the C-List of obscurity in the pop genre. What Miley has that others don’t though, is a father who can get her through the Nashville gauntlet and into the club without paying any real dues. While it is nearly inevitable that she will one day take advantage of a country music plan B, the problem is that she could be a corrupting, left-leaning, influence on an industry that so many liberal elites want to see taken out of the “red state” column.
There is probably no conspiracy to use her in this way, and there is no Star Chamber that will teach her a secret handshake and give her marching orders. If she tries her hand at being a country star, an Alinski friendly media culture will simply reward her efforts, because she is one of them. Very much like the Dixie Chicks winning Grammy Awards for anti-Bush ditties. In the case of the aforementioned “Chicks,” the effort was a failure. The country fans reacted to them in much the same way that a vegan would to a steaming plate of haggis. It is possible that Cyrus will make a better wedge into this industry then the shrill and occasional vulgar Natalie Maines.
When summing up country music, nobody did it better then Jeff Foxworthy during the 2007 CMT awards.
“Country music is about new love and it’s about old love. It’s about gettin’ drunk and gettin’ sober. It’s about leavin’ and it’s about comin’ home. It’s real music sung by real people for real people, the people that make up the backbone of this country. You can call us rednecks if you want. We’re not offended, ’cause we know what we’re all about. We get up and go to work, we get up and go to church, and we get up and go to war when necessary.”
These are values completely inconsistent with the life, values, and image that Miley is putting on display. Hopefully she will stay a long way from this industry.
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