Miley Cyrus’ transformation from a beloved Disney star to the prolific pop icon that she is today has been controversial to say the least. However, she could have gone down a much darker path like former child star Amanda Bynes, or suffered a Lindsay Lohan-esque downfall where drug and alcohol fueled stunts landed her in rehab or possibly a jail cell.

Instead, Miley Cyrus has truly pulled off one of the greatest rebranding efforts in history.

Her recent music videos are evidence enough of how racy she has become. Throughout the video for her recent hit, “We Can’t Stop,” Cyrus highlights extremely sexual situations and incorporates some very dirty dancing that people cannot seem to stop talking about.

As part of her transformation, she used her recent appearance on Saturday Night Live to put a dagger through the heart of her child star alter-ego, when she announced that Hannah Montana was “murdered.” Hannah Montana represented a fun, kid-friendly pop star, but now Miley has cast off her childish disguise in favor of a more adult character.

Additionally, Cyrus went on to explain how she is only 20 years old and needs her time to make mistakes.

In many ways, Cyrus’ situation just highlights two major problems with our society: the overwhelming attention we give celebrities and the lack of understanding we have toward celebrities.

Think about the popularity of reality TV shows such as “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” Most recently, the show tied for the top spot alongside Thursday night football.

The success of the Kardashian’s voyeuristic TV show demonstrates that people care enough to watch the mundane moments of their “real lives,” and it is this interest that allows viewers to live vicariously through these characters. In fact, I even have a friend who demands to be called Kim Kardashian. If that’s not dedication to a celebrity, I don’t know what is.

Or consider the aftermath of Cyrus’ performance at the Video Music Awards: There were more than 90,000 downloads of her song “Wrecking Ball”, which premiered the same day as the VMAs. Forget the scandalous performance, people supported Cyrus during and after.

The second problem relates a lot to the first, but always seems to be overlooked. It is a hard fact that Miley Cyrus is a human being, and she will make mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes, it’s just that most of us are not on the international stage. To those who say that being on an international platform obligates celebrities to carry on more maturely, why should they lose their right to make mistakes like any normal person?

People judge our politicians and leaders for their mistakes, but when we hold politicians accountable, it’s because they are not doing the jobs that the public elected them to do.

Lil’ Wayne and Miley Cyrus are not public servants. It’s not a celebrity’s job to be perfect so that you have someone to look up to. Celebrities are not heroes, they are pretty people with cool talents.

The main reason why these celebrities end up as people’s heroes is because people equate wealth and fame with respect and reverence.

If you want a role model, look back at the great historical figures that have lived out their lives so that you can see their faults and successes. There is a reason that more people will say that they look up to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. than Dr. Dre. King led a group of people in a mass movement toward racial equality; Dr. Dre laid down some sick beats.

So far, Miley Cyrus has been fairly deliberate with her media stunts, and it’s paying off. Her grand rebranding effort is working.

She is producing popular, sexually-driven music, and she has pulled off prolific stunts at large public events, such as the racy moves she put on Robin Thicke at the Video Music Awards. Her provocative new image has been carefully crafted for success.

While her methods are slightly questionable, she is catering to the desires of her fans. Celebrities like Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Rhianna, and Lady Gaga are celebrated for their over-the-top performances. Cyrus most likely saw this trend and decided to create an edgier persona before she burned out or became a forgotten child star.

Say what you like, Miley Cyrus just might have twerked her way to success.

Max is a freshman in DGS. He can be reached at [email protected].