I’ve always been pretty sentimental when it comes to entertainment.
The sappier the better. And nobody does sappy like Disney. ‘Beauty and the Beast? ? best movie ever made.
Amongst their latest work is Hannah Montana, TV show/music artist.
I knew enough to be aware that Hannah is a Hillary Duff/ Britney Spears lookalike, sporting blond, straight hair with bangs.
I started watching in the middle of one of her episodes, and was confused when no one fitting this description ever showed up.
The young teenage characters referred to ‘Hannah Montana? a couple times, but she herself never seemed to make an appearance.
I thought it strange to name a show after a character and never have that character appear.
Of course, the character is in about every scene. It turns out ‘Hannah Montana? is a stage name for a brown-haired character named Miley Stewart, who wears a blond wig and lots of makeup on stage to hide her true identity.
Sort of like Batman, except I don’t think he wears as much lipstick.
The series is about Miley Stewart, who dresses up as Hannah Montana when performing. She keeps her expensive clothes and shoes hidden in a secret closet, only to be revealed to her closest friends and, presumably, the IRS.
Looking into it further, I found the character is played by Miley Cyrus, daughter of ?80s country singer Billy Ray ‘Achy Breaky Heart? Cyrus.
I also found that ‘Miley Cyrus? is itself a stage name. Her ‘real? name, the one her parents gave her when she was born, is Destiny Cyrus. ‘Miley? is short for ‘Smiley,? which apparently she does a lot.
So actress Destiny Cyrus who performs under stage name Miley Cyrus plays character Miley Stewart who performs under stage name Hannah Montana.
Strangest to me is no one else seems particularly confused by this.
In ‘real life,? she released a CD and is performing a concert tour as Hannah Montana, with some songs as Miley Cyrus. She wears her blond wig on stage ? I don’t know if she removes it when performing as Miley Cyrus.
The 2001 film ‘Wet Hot American Summer,? in heavy rotation on Comedy Central, featured a character with important advice for Gene, a troubled Vietnam vet played by Law & Order’s Christopher Meloni.
The sage-like character was portrayed as a can of vegetables, but what he said was important: ‘Be true to yourself.?
In Gene’s case, ‘yourself? meant being oddly affectionate with clothing and kitchen appliances.
In Destiny/Miley/Miley/Hannah’s case, it might mean picking one name and sticking with it.