Hannah Montana moves on

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If there's one thing the moms of America can agree on, it's that Miley Cyrus is trouble. The actress owes her outsized stardom to her role as Hannah Montana, the loveable, squeaky-clean teen beloved of little girls across the land who loyally tune into her show on the Disney Channel. Problem is, Cyrus is 17 and has her sights on taking her stardom to a new plateau, one that seems to include risque photo shoots and dancing like a stripper.

How could she? That's what fuming mommy-bloggers, media critics and other concerned citizens want to know. Isn't she worried about what message this sends the children? In a word, no. She's following a well-trod path where the transition from kiddie TV personality to hot-to-trot It Girl can happen overnight, and done right it can make you a superstar. No fool, Cyrus is ready to make the jump.

Her Hannah Montana fans? Not so much. Many of them are in the difficult "tween" period between childhood and teen-age years. They are confronting the "girl-poisoning culture" psychologist Mary Pipher explored in her 1994 book, "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls." Girls in their teenage years, Pipher wrote, struggle to navigate a world that is increasingly "sexualized and media-saturated." The pressures on young girls to conform, and society's lack of response, saps the self-esteem of many as they hit adolescence. They don't always know how to respond.



Not surprisingly, Pipher's book became a best-seller. It put into words and validated the experiences that many a mother, father and teacher saw playing out with far too many young girls. We give young girls few role models for these critical years, but Hannah Montana was one of them, at least for younger girls.

The Hannah Montana character always appealed to girls much younger than the real Miley Cyrus. She began the show at age 13. Yet her fan base was far younger, 7- to 9-year-olds who liked the goofy Hannah, an ordinary schoolgirl who turned into a pop star in the evenings. Now Miley is trying to tap into the record market dominated by Lady Gaga and Beyonce, women years older. Her erstwhile fan base can't relate.

But they get it. They can and do make a distinction between Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus. "Hanna Montana," with one final season to finish, is still the No. 1 cable show for 9- to 14-year-olds. But the new Miley they're not so crazy about.

Marketing stats confirm this. Only 24 percent of teens aged 13 to 17 said they liked Miley now, as compared to 45 percent two years ago, according to E-Poll Market Research, which specializes in such celebrity followings.

A quick check with my two most trusted sources confirmed the data. I'll spare Miley the label one niece chose to describe the new persona. But what she texted as an afterthought was more to the point: "She looks like she is 21, but she's my age." Source No. 2, her older sister, was more charitable: "I don't blame her from trying to get away from Disney." This niece, a recent high school graduate, is far closer in her own life to Miley, ready to define herself as an adult.

"Hannah Montana" is destined for reruns on cable. It remains to be seen whether the show will suffer if Cyrus' lifestyle veers a little too far in the direction of a Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan. Girls are surprisingly attuned to, albeit often quite anxious about, the good and bad choices that will be urged upon them on their journey to adulthood. The concerned moms of the world can take comfort in the fact that they are capable of being very critical of the icons they're widely supposed to worship.

Nonetheless, a void remains. What seems to be missing are new characters worthy of their emulation. Someone age appropriate to help the 13- to 17-year-olds traverse that vast land between being a little girl and young woman. And though we may understand better the cultural pressures on girls that Mary Pipher identified almost two decades ago, we haven't done a great deal to address them.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Mary Sanchez is an opinion-page columnist for The Kansas City Star. Readers may write to her at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas City, Mo. 64108-1413, or via e-mail at msanchez@kcstar.com.