Unreasonable, Unmet Expectations

               A couple of old friends of mine posted an article about Miley Cyrus and Robin Thicke’s MTV performance, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.  The article was speaking against people who were offended at Miley’s crotch grabbing, but fine with Robin’s contribution to the world’s rape culture.  What kept going through my mind was this question, “Who was the article written to?”

                I mean, seriously.  What kind of sick, demented freak would be fine with Robin’s Blurred Lines, and have issues with Miley?  All of the people I know take just as much issue with the hump-er, as the hump-ee.

                I do my personal best to understand people, and looking at what I see in the media, it does seem that Miley has taken more heat than Alan Thicke for rubbing their unmentionables.  Part of it is simply the injustice itself, the injustice that women tend to be easier targets.  Our world gives more leeway for men to indulge themselves.  But is that the target of the article?  Who are the people that are offended at Miley, but fine with Robin?  I wanted to know. 

Let’s Call Them, Them

                I can’t call them we, because I’m not among them, and neither do I know anyone who would be fine with what Robin Thicke represents.  I have a sneaking suspicion however, that They might be a certain kind of Christian.  It’s just a guess, but suppose that They are.

                Christians really don’t belong to this world, but there is something in most of Them that kind of wants to participate in the general goings on of this planet.  They don’t really want to boycott absolutely everything.  They would like very much to have cable/satellite or internet TV, collect DVD’s and download music on iTunes.  Really.  There is so much filth in this world, they are almost searching for something acceptable.

                So when a young Hanna Montana comes on the scene, in a strange way, many of them are more than happy to embrace her.  Perhaps that was their great folly.  Although quite superficial, glittery and seeking fame, she seemed clean enough, which made her tolerable.  She was even said to be a Christian (whatever that means), so it must be acceptable for your kids to listen to.  Right?

                That doesn’t answer it.  Does it?  Why?  Why would someone be upset at Miley, but tolerate Robin?  Why, why, why?   Allow me to answer with a phrase:

Unreasonable, Unmet Expectations

                They had hoped for more from Myley Cyrus.  Apparently she was a Christian.  It’s not like there are a lot of Christian laws on this sort of thing, but dry humping really isn’t something that is done in most churches on a Sunday morning.  Not the ones I have been to anyway.

                They had wanted Miley Cyrus to be someone they could embrace.  Never have they held similar hopes for Robin Thicke.  It was pretty much assumed from the beginning that he was a dog.  The public isn’t really outraged when a drug dealing thug shoots a police officer, or when a Muslim kills a cartoonist.  It’s kind of what you expect.  The public outrage comes when police kill a citizen, a Christian burns a Koran, or a priest molests a child, because those things are out of place.

I’m not an American, but I kind of wonder if what They see in Miley, in a way highlights the greater disappointment They have with Their own nation.  America isn’t Heaven, but isn’t there a desire in many Americans, which hoped their country would be better than the rest of the world?  They had wanted a place that’s clean, but it has ended up just as filthy, if not more so, than any other place on earth.  (I would say that it is filthier)  So what They see in Miley, brings to mind not only the immorality of celebrity culture, but the very failure of Their nation, and perhaps even that of Their own families.

                It was unreasonable for anyone to have hoped for Miley to be anything but what she is.  She is the very embodiment of what MTV hopes to produce.  Robin embodies it for the male gender, but he is what we all expected him to be.  Their expectations for Miley however were different.

              

As For Me...

                I’ve talked a lot about Them.  How about me?  Do you wonder where I stand?

                Mostly I just have a lot of questions.  I wonder why feminists are not more disdainful about how one of their own would play her part in blurring the lines between consent and rape.  I wonder how wretched we have to become, before we realize that something is dreadfully wrong.  It used to be offensive when Elvis shook his hips.  I wonder what the next step down will be.  I wonder when men will become men.  I wonder how much lower we can sink before we fall apart.  More importantly,

                How much more can we degrade ourselves?  (Yes.  BOTH men AND women)



PS - And if you are the one who wrote the original article....How about it?  Are They your Them?  Who were you writing to?