We live in an environment where flaws nourish our judgment and criticism of one another. This occurs most often when celebrities have slipups. The paparazzi takes the form of lions following around zebras until they are vulnerable to attack, and that’s when they go in for the kill. The media describes these moments of vulnerability as if the celebrity committed a crime. Due to this many stars fail to rationally deal with this unwarranted attention, specifically, Miley Cyrus. Saying that Miley Cyrus has been at the forefront of Pop culture would be an understatement.
Miley’s recent outlandish and controversial behavior including twerking at the VMA’s, stating publically to Rolling Stone that “weed is the best drug on earth,” and swinging nude from a wrecking ball all have taken her exposure to astronomical heights. Her way of muddling through personal issues entices more destructive attention upon herself. On September 9, 2013 Miley released the music video, “Wrecking Ball. ” This music video was one of the most talked about videos of the year.
Miley got asked to attend a lot of interviews for major magazines and hit late night television shows. In these interviews she repeatedly states that she based her idea of “Wrecking Ball” on her previous relationship with actor Liam Hemsworth. Utilizing this perfect window of opportunity, Miley displays an excellent use of rhetoric to intelligently construct her personal message of her broken heart to the rest of the world. Behind all of the publicity and humiliation lies an artist who took a record that was delivered to her by her song writers and made it her own.
Miley distributes the words and phrases in her songs in a catchy and notable manner that relates with multitudes of people throughout the world. “I think the video is much more [than that]. If people get past the point I make, and you actually look at me, you can tell I look more broken than even the song sounds” (Johnson). In the beginning of the music video, the audience gets the impression of the captivity because the chorus itself acts as a wrecking ball. The video shows a wrecking ball crashing into the side of a cement wall.
This coincides perfectly with the song title. Wrecking Ball” is a strong music video as well as a strong lyrical piece that both agree perfectly to provide the audience with the deepest connection imaginable. Both exigence and audience, elements of a rhetorical situation, are used successfully in this music video. The exigence here is that Miley needs to become aware of the signs she is portraying to the rest of the world as well as to those who see her as a role model because she is sending out mixed signals. Her obvious audience is her fans or haters and anyone who has seen the music video. However, her rhetorical audience is her exboyfriend Liam Hemsworth.
This became known a few days after the music video was released when Miley had her interviews. In the case of Wrecking Ball, the set up consists of the following 3 stages. The backing music fades from the mix at the tail end of the pre-chorus. The silence that follows acts to heighten the tension factor for the listener in anticipation of the chorus that follows. Cyrus slams in with the “I came in like a… ” vocal. Notice that this is a SOLO vocal. The backing music isn’t present within the mix. The full chorus,slams in on the title “payoff” lyrics “wrecking ball.
By going through this 3 stage setup, it enables the full chorus to slam in with the impact of a “wrecking ball,” ultimately taking the impact of the section, and the song for that matter, to the next level. Most viewers were quick to judge the video without actually analyzing the lyrics and the actions Miley takes. What comes off slutty to some, may actually be genius on her part. In The Harbrace Guide to Writing, pathos is defined as “the emotional appeal of language and examples that stir the audience’s feelings” (Glenn 44). Miley uses pathos successfully to portray the entire effect of her argument.
The opening of the music video is a close up of Miley’s face. She is looking directly into the camera crying as to connect with the audience right away, making the video feel more personal. Miley is still trying out different personalities on herself, making this an optimal point for use of rhetorical appeal. Ethos is defined as the ethical appeal of the writer’s credibility (Glenn 44). Miley’s use of dramatic facial expressions show how distraught she is. She tries to hold back tears by closing her eyes, as this shot is presented the lyrics, “Don’t you ever say I just walked away, I will always want you” are played.
Miley is trying to show the depth of the meaning of what she is saying. This engages in a more personal setting with her audience. Miley’s goal is to get the audience to feel the pain she is in. The purpose for Mileys music video is to get her ex to notice her. She is trying to get the point across to her ex know that she is still in love with him even though he has moved on. Her message is proved very clearly in her lyrics, “I never meant to start a war, I just wanted you to let me in, and instead of using force, I guess I should’ve let you win”.
This represents Miley’s realization that she went too far and exhausted or overwhelmed Liam. This is her way of offering an apology and admitting responsibility for her mistakes. The references to war hint at how bad things got before the final split. The other person may have wanted their space and she was too needy. Instead of taking their time together she came off too strong. Overall, Miley Cyrus went through a very one sided relationship where she was madly in love with Liam but unfortunately for her he did not feel the same way.
She became so vulnerable that when all was said and done she was left heart broken and in pieces. She is left hoping that someday Liam realizes the pain he caused her and that she still has feelings for him. She is waiting for him hoping that he comes around and falls back in love with her. Making herself a figure that also based her image around sexuality, her career as of today has gone down the drain and Miley’s beauty and talent is being exploited. The way to stop this is to truly empower herself and stop attracting negative attention upon herself.
