Hannah Montana: 20th Special Review
I had such a blast watching this! Seeing the love and joy Miley had with sharing the memories of the years she was Hannah was really heartwarming to see. I could see so much of her childhood taken away at such a young age, but despite that she was able to have some joy in those years as both Miley and Hannah.
I also love the songs that she performed for the fans with those being Best of Both Worlds, This is the Life, and The Climb. However I do wish she performed more and didn’t pull back to just three songs. Granted I’m not sure how long the concert was, so she might’ve performed more, but it would’ve been such a treat to see more songs being performed instead of limiting because we did see how much of an icon Hannah Montana was to the Millennial and Gen Z era.
As much as I did enjoy the special, there were moments I was like, what? For instance, the host Alex Cooper didn’t feel as authentic as an interviewer could’ve been. I mean sure, it was a special occasion and tried to keep the energy upbeat and positive, but there needs to be a balance of upbeat while remaining grounded in what you want to know when interviewing someone. For me, Cooper failed to do that as she was too invested in the star struck feel of seeing Miley and reminiscing on Hannah Montana rather than finding that balance. There is a positive that I can respect and that is she was able to respect the boundaries of Miley and not dive into personal things/make it about herself, unlike Chappell Roan.
Okay, so I don’t know a lot about the controversy of Chappell Roan, so my judgement is only based what I saw in the special. While at first, it seemed genuine when she started getting talking about how Miley walked, so she could run, I was lost on that. It wasn’t about her and it feels honestly so weird she would do that when the celebration was about the legacy of Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana. It felt selfish, along with her bringing up the struggles Miley faced in 2012-2013 and the criticism she faced. That to be wasn’t right and had no right to bring up. Despite the fame and the knowledge, there are boundaries still in play when it comes to those things and I feel that Roan has no regard or respect for that boundary. I could tell Cyrus was uncomfortable with that and did address it in a classy and professional way, but it didn’t feel necessary to address in the first place. This is where some of the cast members could’ve replaced her and talk about the impact the show had on them, rather than that forced interview in my opinion.
Now, back to the positive and speaking of supporting cast members, we got Selena Gomez, who played Mikayla on the show in the earlier seasons. Now, this felt authentic and genuine and made my little Gen Z heart. Two queens reuniting felt amazing. I gasped and I loved there interaction. It felt like a breath of fresh air and finally get to see a true reunion take place, rather than forced interviews that didn’t feel real. Honestly, I was so stunned and when Selena put on the Mikayla red hat, oh yeah something did click in place for me and soothed my soul. Mwah! That was the highlight of the special.
While the Cooper interview segment didn’t feel necessary, I did get emotional when Miley teared up about working in the industry. I couldn’t imagine working in that industry, especially so young as Miley was and knowing what child stars go through and potentially ending up in dangerous situations. While I don’t agree with everything Billy Ray Cyrus does, I really do believe he did protect her on set. It is really disgusting how adults use there powers to take advantage of young stars and its no wonder they burn out and Miley addressing that could’ve been her and having the gratitude for the adults on set that protected her, made me emotional, along with saying goodbye to the Hannah Montana set for the last time and the ending song, Younger Me felt authentic and those moments made this special genuine for me and a lot of other people.
While the special could’ve featured a lot more of the cast, I do like how Miley addresses them in a classy and good fashion way! Overall, it was a joy to watch!