Brace yourselves parents - Hannah Montana has arrived on the big screen. And if you happen to have a tween or early teen daughter, then it is one film you are certainly going to have to have on your radar.
Hannah Montana the movie is the cinematic spin-off of an incredibly successful television series aimed at young girls. For parents who aren't quite sure what is going on, Hannah Montana is the super-star alter ego of Myley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a fairly average Californian school girl. Half the day Myley struggles to perform in gym and get her home chores done; the other half she is riding in limousines and strutting the stage with back-up dancers. This double life was a solution she arrived at with her father (Billy-Ray Cyrus), so that she could have the advantages of a normal family life as well as pursue a meteoric music career. No points for guessing that the drama revolves around her struggle to keep her incredibly incompatible worlds from colliding.
The Hannah Montana series, which began life on the Disney Channel and now airs free-to-air in Australia on the Seven Network, markets itself to 10+ girls, a factor made more obvious in the film when you get a look at the majority of the fans chasing this hip-hop idol. The tension for parents arises in so far as Myley Stewart provides a role model for their daughters. Photographs of Myley Cyrus' in seductive poses highlights just how thorny an issue this is, and how much the self-image of young girls is shifting. However Disney has made its franchise on being family friendly, and parents are certain to be pleased with most of what is being preached in Hannah Montan the movie.
Hannah Montana the movie will have a great deal of superficial attraction for tweens. Much like the High School Musical franchise, the plot is built around a series of sometimes boppy, sometimes soulful songs. Myley also possesses many things that would appear attractive to a girl of that age - wracks of expensive and outrageous clothes, a make-up kit the size of a toolbox, plus the adoration of thousands of fans. It is her father that grounds her in normality, reminding her as she goes on stage not to forget that, ". it's your turn to do the dishes tonight . [after all] you're the one who wanted the best of both worlds." Which is a cue for the series theme song and the central question of the film: it is possible to have small-town family values as well as fame and fortune?
The men who are supposed to guide Myley on her quest to solve this thorny problem are a mixed bag. The majority her age are klutzy and simplistic - her brother Jackson divides his time between falling into the jaws of crocodiles and falling off ladders. The key exception is love interest Travis Brody (Lucas Still), a young cowboy-cum-handyman who Myley meets when she returns to her home in Tennessee to get back in touch with her roots. Travis is hard working, thoughtful, wise and equipped with the sort of shy smile and perfect skin you so often see in cowboys these days. Parents will be happy to know that Disney has been incredibly discrete with the physical side of this relationship. Travis only manages to get his shirt off for a second while he is up to the neck in water and the only kiss in the film is so chaste even the camera is embarrassed and has to turn away. This boyfriend's main purpose is to underline Myley's need to live an authentic rather than make-believe life, whatever the consequences. As he puts it, "Life's a climb but the view is great." The same motto could easily be adopted by peer-group prone teens struggling on the road to Heaven.
Myley is much better served by the female characters of the film, especially her grandmother. Gran gives Myley what for when her selfishness over her career leads her to forget the family that raised her. She is also the character that affirms Myley's desires to succeed while providing the clearest example of commitment and integrity. Together with other characters she delivers the sort of message that will be appreciated by struggling Christian parents: honesty is the most important quality, to yourself and others. You cannot live a double life. In the end lies hurt everyone, especially the liar. And the one place you need to be yourself is at home.
It is a very simple morality, but helpful nonetheless for children who might be tempted to assume a new personality every place they visit, every group they associate with. At one level the film gives voice to a desire to find the way back to the sort of hometown values that the worship of celebrity has stolen from the western world. Denying who she is not only confuses Myley, it devalues her family. The same might be said for the Christian girl tempted to turn her back on the Heavenly Father and family that form an integral part of her identity. The danger is that repeated denial will turn into the death of that relationship. As Myley comes to realise, "There are only so many sacrifices that you can ask family to make."
Paradoxically the film finishes with the affirmation that it is somehow possible to gain the world and keep your soul. Myley finishes by singing "You can change everything but you'll always find a way back home." However Myley is ultimately set free to soar as 'Hannah' because she has embraced new priorities that put honesty and relationship above image and success. It's a homespun, soul-centred lesson that won't be unhelpful for budding minds.
