All anyone seems to be talking about at the moment is Syria. And Miley Cyrus. And her ferociously embarrassing twerking and manic tongue lashing at the VMAs. But will the internet chatter dissipate come the next horribly unwatchable TV moment? Or is this going to go down in the annals of crucial cultural moments, like Metallica throwing a hissy fit about Napster or that time Janet Jackson happened to be wearing an embellished nipple plate when Justin Timberlake pulled her top down?
I went to ask London's public a question to investigate: Was Miley Cyrus twerking an important cultural moment?
Carly: An important cultural moment? Not really, no. Wait – what do you mean by that?
VICE: People are saying she was trying to re-appropriate black culture by twerking. Is that important?
I don’t think twerking has anything to do with black culture, really. I think if anyone wants to do the twerk dance they can, and I think anyone can do it, whether you’re black, white, Chinese – anything,
Do you think it was a good idea for her image?
The aim was just album sales. I only tuned in to that performance because people were saying so much stuff on Facebook and Twitter about it; apparently her album sales are shooting up now she’s done it. She changed her image and now everyone’s talking about it, which is exactly what she wanted.
Clever girl.
Grace: Absolutely not. I didn’t even know who Miley Cyrus was until about 48 hours ago, which I think is a credit to the fact that it’s not important culturally at all.
Is her twerking racist?
No, absolutely not. I heard that she was using black girls as "props" in her video and onstage, but I haven’t seen the footage. But, in my opinion, if she’s being criticised for dancing “like a black girl”, then that’s kind of more racist.
So you think she was just trying to celebrate individuality and originality with her twerking?
I don’t know – I couldn’t possibly put myself into the mind of Miley Cyrus.
Meg: I don’t know what twerking is.
It's a dance where you shake your ass around, basically.
Oh yes, that Caribbean dance!
That's the one. So do you think her doing the dance was an important cultural moment?
No, I think she just did it because it seemed like a good idea at the time. If we’re referring to Miley Cyrus’ arse as hugely cultural, we need to get some sort of different perspective on society.
Luke: No, I don’t think it was. I just know she’s desperately trying to be interesting.
What was the aim of her twerking on stage?
It was meant to cause exactly that – people talking about it. It’s to show that she’s outgrown her previous persona. It’s not about the music at all. I have no idea what message she’s trying to convey to us.
You cynic, you.
Yeah, I probably am quite cynical about it. I haven’t heard her song, or Robin Thicke’s song. But I’ve heard Robin Thicke’s song that basically advocates rape, and if it's about that, then that’s really worrying. It says something about pop culture – about that realm of it. A lot of pop is very interesting, but I think this part of it is just so repetitive and simple. If it’s spontaneous and fun, that’s fine. But this is so choreographed.
Previously - Are Western Airstrikes the Solution in Syria?