Image of Miley Cyrus performing. Image via Wikipedia Commons.
Jojo Siwa at the iHeart Awards. Image via Wikipedia Commons.
By Gabriella Rodriguez ’27
Business Manager & Opinion Editor
The transition from child star to adult celebrity is difficult, but this seems especially so for performers who are women. The ethics of child star performance are dubious at best, and actively harmful at worst. Many of these adolescents never get to experience common domestic environments, and they are exploited and carefully “perfected” by their producers until they are as marketable as possible, often at the expense of their personal identities and well-being. Actors such as Selena Gomez and JoJo Siwa started as child performers on television, and both have pursued their own independent music careers. However, the breakthrough from child star to adult entertainer is a brutal growing pain.
Miley Cyrus, one of the most well-known examples, is famous for her dramatic transformation. For years, she had projected the family-friendly persona of Hannah Montana on the sitcom of the same name and was associated with Disney, even voice acting for them in the animated film Bolt. However, in 2013, she released the album “Bangerz” with a highly controversial music video for her song “Wrecking Ball.” The video featured more anguished and sensual themes, with the singer wielding a hammer and swinging nude from the titular wrecking ball. The visuals clearly have strong sexual overtones, and for a singer trying desperately to deviate from her previous image, the shock was all but inevitable.
Child stars transitioning to adulthood — especially women — likely feel the pressure to make a shocking statement. I feel that, as part of American pop culture, we as an audience expect performers to fulfill impossible dichotomies; when they are walking the line and trying to reinvent themselves, we can be brutally unforgiving. Nowadays, Cyrus is considered to have had a successful adult career, enduring the controversy and establishing a new image for herself. She has explored various music genres, including hip-hop, psychedelic rock and country ballads, with her albums “Bangerz” and “Endless Summer Vacation” even receiving Grammy nominations. Yet despite her success, she is an exception. Most child stars are not so fortunate.
All too often, we are conditioned to think of these entertainers as larger-than-life characters instead of real human beings. While industry standards often expect a performer to build up a marketable and appealing persona, they must recognize that people are dynamic and malleable. We cannot demand that any person stays the same their whole life for our own entertainment; that is the antithesis of self-discovery and creation. People grow and evolve, sometimes in messy and dramatic ways. I feel that we are so quick to criticize that we never give many child stars a chance. With the same fervor that we praise underdog stories and rises to fame, we also revel in vicious scandals and humiliating falls. One prominent — and ongoing — show of this trend is the case of JoJo Siwa.
Siwa is best known for her role in the reality show “Dance Moms.” From there, she went on to have a successful career in Nickelodeon productions. She was well known for her bright personality, skilled dancing and distinctive colorful outfits, often seen covered with eye-catching sparkles and expressive makeup. This vibrant image made her incredibly popular among child audiences. Behind the scenes, however, the story is much more surprising. For example, Siwa revealed that she is not naturally blonde and that her mother has been bleaching her hair since the age of two. These unrealistic beauty standards, imposed on child stars before they can truly make their own decisions, perpetuate the belief that they need to portray themselves perfectly and present themselves as products first and people second.
“We cannot demand that any person stays the same their whole life for our own entertainment; that is the antithesis of self-discovery and creation.”
Transitioning into adulthood, Siwa has tried to rebrand herself using more mature themes. Back in April, her music video for the song “Karma” was widely lambasted, with the comments flooded with jokes at the singer’s expense. It featured Siwa in KISS-style makeup and a sparkly black costume, dancing on a boat and performing sensually with a woman on an island. The song itself, which makes extensive references to infidelity, is clearly meant to deviate from Siwa’s previous work. However, this too ignited criticism. It was compounded with accusations that the song was not Siwa’s to begin with; it had been recorded at least ten years prior by Brit Smith and was allegedly written for Miley Cyrus.
To me, it seems vicious that people love a rise and fall. Tabloids and commentators thrive on calling out and deconstructing public figures. We should also remember that we have a hand in this as well. For example, we call swear words “mature,” yet when an adult swears frequently, we say that they are aggressive, immature, moody or “trying too hard.” If these standards are confusing to us as normal people, then they must be infinitely more so to former child celebrities. As they are abruptly thrust into adulthood, our culture demands that they gain their balance, tiptoeing carefully along an impossible midline.
Unfortunately, this pressure and need for child stars to “prove” themselves as adults leads to many extreme public displays. Just recently, at the LA Pride In the Park event, Siwa was filmed performing and touching herself sexually on stage while seemingly intoxicated. While I believe that there is a time and place for sensual dancing, I consider this degree to be indecent and extreme. That said, I can see where it comes from. Wanting to present herself as an adult celebrity, Siwa leans very hard into erotic dancing. It is so shocking and raw that audiences are forced to differentiate her from her child star persona, which is what she needs if she intends to change her public image for good.
I feel bad for these celebrities, to an extent. They have essentially grown up in secluded worlds, highly sensationalized by the media. But they have also been living with tremendous privilege, and they wield social and financial power that most people can only dream of. In describing positionality, I think it is also relevant to bring up that Cyrus and Siwa are both queer women. They have expressed themselves and broken away from their previous public personas, and this is important, even if controversial.
While I am personally not a fan of Siwa, we must recognize that her behavior is, in large part, a result of the way that the singer was treated by everyone around her in her youth, including ourselves as the audience. With such an extremely kid-friendly image that the public fostered, it seems like this “equal opposite reaction” is a natural consequence. Siwa has made further controversial statements, like her infamous claim that she had created “gay pop,” which she has since retracted.
As much controversy as this has caused, I also feel that there is something important about former child performers having the freedom to express their adult selves. Incorporating sexuality into their art and performance can be incredibly liberating for them. In addition, both Cyrus and Siwa have publicly advocated for LGBTQ+ rights and other causes using their platforms. Ultimately, I believe we should recognize that child star celebrities are often exploited by industries, and while their transitions to adulthood may be shocking, we need to remember that they are human beings. When we step back and acknowledge that they are not infallible idols, we can become more thoughtful about the social forces that affect these entertainers, and be a little gentler.
