Celebrities as Role Models
Everyone has heard of Miley Cyrus, former star of the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana. She has a new song called, “Party in the USA”. I personally like the song. So one day, I went on Youtube. I watched the music video and was astonished (youtube link below). Here is a role model for many teens and pre-teens and under dancing and wearing what she probably shouldn’t wear because of that fact. So I started to look at the comments and I saw one from an aunt who had concerns about the video. She had said that her niece looked up to Miley and was starting to act like she did in the video.
How many celebrities (other then Miley) are role models to kids and are having an impact on the way they act? Should celebrities be expected to be role models for kids? Are the actions of Miley in the video acceptable, assuming that she is a role model?
September 30th, 2009 at 4:24 PM
I think this is really good. I have not seen the video, but I can probably tell that she was doing something that she wasn’t suppose to do. I know one celebrity that young children look up and probably don’t look up to now. His name is Alex Rodriguez and he plays for the New York Yankees. Before he was in court due to the fact that he did take steroids, littel kids and a lot of baseball players and also fans looked up to him. They saw him as a clean man. Once he had announced the world that he did take steroids, these little kids, fans, and a lot of fans lost there idol because of a bad decision he had made. Everybody is not perfect, but when someone loses their idol and that one person that tehy look up to, they see something totally different from what they saw before their trust was ruined
September 30th, 2009 at 4:51 PM
What do you mean by “I think this is really good”? Your point about A-Rod is true. So what do you mean? Also, take a look at the video and think about the people who are watching. Will they be influenced by what they see? Should they be influenced by what they see?
October 1st, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Personally, I think its a really bad idea to hold anyone on a pedestal. There’s a song by a christian girl band, Barlow Girl, called Pedastal and it talks about how when you hold someone that you think is perfect up on a pedestal, they are just going to fall. At one point, it says “The fault was mine, held you to fall. Your only way was down” which is so true. Your just waiting for them to fall. Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, the Spears sisters.. All of them started as good role models, but the fame got to their head, and something went wrong. Now, there are the few stars that come along, such as Taylor Swift and a couple other current stars that could be justified as good role models. But I think that the youth of America should be looking up to people they actually know.
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Don’t you think that the youth are looking up to people they know? I mean my little sister looks up to Miley Cyrus and every night she is always talking about how she wants to become a pop star like Miley Cyrus. There should be a certain way that these youths should look up to these famous people don’t yout think?
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:16 AM
I agree with Jacquelyn. I have heard that song she was talking about. It is true. We as America do not need to hold famous people up on a pedestal. They are just trying to look good and to be a good role model just so they can make a profit. When we all worry if their going to do something to mess up their lives when we know they are. It is better to stick with someone close or someone you know that you can trust to be you role modle. Just remember that people are watching you even if you dont know it. Ask yourself ” What am I really like? ” Do you do stuff at home or say stuff at home that you wouldnt at school or anywhere else? Or is it the other way around. Try to be a good role modle for all the ytounger students. They look up to us.
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Christian of course people should have the freedom to look up to famous people but they just need to be carfull how much trust they put in them.
October 2nd, 2009 at 10:19 AM
This is a hard subject in my opinion. We say that kids shouldn’t look up to celebraties, yet we did when we were younger and still do. I used to dance around to Brittany Spears songs and think she was the greatest! Without noticing, we hold celebraties on a higher pedestal then ourselves or others around us. It could be because they made it, they had the guts and talent to work hard for their dreams. However, those dreams change and soon it becomes an obsession.
October 5th, 2009 at 4:51 PM
But how are little kids going to have trust in these famous people when they do not know what they doing, Drew? I mean for kids our age it is a different story, w do resarch on certain things that we think is innapropiate but at the same time we are thinking its not us that’s messing up, it’s the person that was doing whatever it was that they were doing. But then again, like I said with my little sister, all she sees in Hannah Montana (Miely Cyrus) is that she can sing. No one ever sees past the problems that these famous people have, all they see is that they are on television and that they are famous.
October 5th, 2009 at 6:30 PM
Christian is right, a little kid might not really know any difference. But then again, She might. In the video, Miley is dancing on an ice cream pole and it looks very similar to pole dancing. What happens when a little girl is flipping channels and sees this? “Oh look! Its Miley Cyrus! I love her! I’ve never seen that dance move before… I should totally try it!” These little girls want to be like her!!! I’ve seen it! At my previous church, all the little girls would prance around on Wednesday night in Hannah Montana shirts, singing best of both worlds. Miley Cyrus has influenced them in some way, even if they aren’t trying her last performance at the TCAs.
October 6th, 2009 at 3:57 PM
I admit it.. I do have some celebrities that I look up to (Mikey Way for example haha) but only for musical talent. I will live my life as I please, not how a celebrity is going to tell me how. I look up to people like Flea, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, LynZ, from MSI, Mike Mills, from R.E.M, and yes, Mikey Way from MCR. If you have not noticed… all these people play bass. I want to be as good as these people so it gives me a goal. Not acting like them. I dont understand people that look up to Miley Cyrus.. its fine to think shes a good singer (I dont think so, but many do). But idolizing her is dumb, live how you please, not how some famous person says
October 14th, 2009 at 4:37 PM
Jacquelyn, you ae right, but you have to also put it like this, if these little kids are flipping through these channels and they see Hannah Montana dancing on this Ice Cream Pole, they not going to remember the fance in 5 minutes. they going to research it and all this other things before they sit down at a computer an actually pay attention at the dance.
October 21st, 2009 at 6:02 AM
This is addressed to Anna. Little kids don’t think it’s dumb to idolize someone because they see them as older, smarter, better looking, talented, and they want to be like that. They want to be successful when they grow up. You can’t tell them to stop idolizing and to live their life, because they won’t understand. For people our age and older it’s easier to know right from wrong. I used to have a problem when I was younger that if a star did one thing bad, messed up somehow, I completely turned my back on them and said how horrible they were. This was when I was about 8, and I thought Vanessa Anne Hudgsons, Miley Cyrus, the Spears sisters, and Lindsey Lohan were all messed up and hitting rock-bottom. Now I know that they ended up like that because the stardom and because of us. We put them on that pedestal and challenge them to be better. When they didn’t succeed, they resorted to other forms of attention.
November 20th, 2009 at 4:14 AM
I’m not saying she will have the dance down perfect, but she might try it. If anyone (I’m sure most of you have) has seen the movie Mean Girls, you might remember the seen where the ‘Plastics’ go to George home and you see in the background a young girl trying to reenact a very mature video. Young girls are likely to do that.