Has there ever been a more perfect trip through the infinity mirrors of pop alter-ego than the love letter to Hannah Montana penned by Miley Cyrus this week?
For those who don’t know (how could you not?) Miley made her name on a TV show called Hannah Montana. Hannah was a pop singer, sort of like herself but in a blonde wig. She also played Hannah’s alter ego Miley Stewart, who was sort of like her in other ways. A ‘down to earth’ Texan girl with brown hair who happened to secretly be a pop star.
Miley (Cyrus) spent her formative years playing a version of herself who was also secretly another version of herself whilst also being an actual star herself. At one point she went on a tour billed as starring ‘Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus’. Confused? You should be. This clip from the show, complete with cameo from Jay Leno, where Hannah finally exposes herself as Miley (Stewart) after a monologue about the importance of being true to yourself is particularly mind-melting.
One can only wonder how living with such inception levels of identity construction would mess with a person’s head, particularly as a teenager. A bit of tongue poking and wrecking ball humping seems like a pretty sane level of rebellion, all things considered. It was obviously somewhat painful extractating herself from the Big Machine (as the lyrics to 2010 track Robot illustrate) but it’s nice to see that Miley has now made peace with her alter-alter-ego and feels as fondly of her as millions of ex-little girls across the world do.
Now, excuse me while I look out my blonde wig and diamante encrusted double denim..
All words by Susan Sloan.