Miley Cyrus at the VMAs: Oh Dear God

After watching Miley Cyrus’ performances at the VMAs, I only had three words: Oh. Dear. God.

Miley Cyrus gets fresh with a foam finger and Robin Thicke at the 2013 VMAs on MTV.

Cyrus set social media sites ablaze, making Twitter, well, atwitter (pun intended), with her twerking-filled, clothing-optional, foam finger-assaulting performances at the 2013 VMAs this past weekend. Rather than Lady Gaga being the talk of the night as the most outrageous, Miley Cyrus won that title tongues-out, I mean, hands down.

What is this phenomenon that has affected both Miley Cyrus and Amanda Bynes, among others? It’s when a decent or good child star–be it actor or singer or both–grows up and stays in the business, but ends up having a breakdown/crisis/catastrophe of the mental/psychological/career variety. But Amanda Bynes and Miley Cyrus are only the latest in a long line of child stars who’ve fallen or wrecked their careers.

Everyone remembers Britney Spears’ erratic meltdown in 2007 in which she famously shaved her head (what is it with stars melting down and doing something bad to their hair?), was placed on psychiatric holds, lost custody of her kids, and was placed under her father’s conservatorship. Though Spears spiraled, she managed a solid comeback and released her albums “Blackout,” “Circus,” and “Femme Fatale” in 2007, 2008, and 2011 respectively, which were all certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). She was also featured in will.i.am’s single “Scream & Shout” in 2012, which went 3x platinum per the RIAA, and she served as a judge in The X Factor’s first season.

People will also recall Demi Lovato’s emotional crisis that led her to check into rehab in 2010 for emotional and physical issues after allegedly punching a backup dancer on her tour. She emerged back into Hollywood as a spokeswoman and advocate for those bullied, depressed, and suffering from bipolar disorder, and she is now a judge on The X Factor for her second season. Her single “Heart Attack” from her latest album “Demi” was certified double platinum by the RIAA.

Amanda Bynes’ mental breakdown has been all over the news for the past several months, as the former actress and self-proclaimed upcoming rapper has had a string of legal troubles regarding her driving. These problems were followed by the recent news of her latest crazy behavior in which she threw a bong out the window and falsely accused an NYPD officer of inappropriately handling her, and days later she set a fire. Her ups and downs and increasingly erratic and disturbing behavior have also been documented on Bynes’ Twitter page, as she tweets random thoughts and insults to other stars and the public. Bynes’ issues and breakdown have landed her in a mental ward for an extended period of time under judge’s orders.

Miley Cyrus taking advantage of Robin Thicke while continuing to show off how long her tongue is.

Miley Cyrus had notable success as a Disney star on the hit show Hannah Montana and rose to fame as an actress-singer. After the show ended, Cyrus tried to shed the good girl, Disney star image and released the forgettable single “Can’t Be Tamed” in 2010 from her album of the same name. Besides swirling break-up and make-up rumors surrounding her and Australian beau/fiance Liam Hemsworth, and increasingly more revealing clothing, all was fairly quiet on the Miley Cyrus front until she chopped off and dyed her hair in 2012. The first single off her upcoming album “We Can’t Stop” has been certified by the RIAA as double platinum and has also caused controversy over its not-so-clean lyrics.

At her latest stunt at the VMAs, she pranced around for the second part of her performance in a flesh-colored bra and panty outfit with a handsy foam finger and inappropriately danced on Robin Thicke, who was on stage to perform his hit song “Blurred Lines.” Her behavior pretty much epitomizes the struggle within child and teen stars as they attempt to break free of the mold and become an adult star. Cyrus, in her efforts to leave her Hannah Montana phase behind, has majorly overcorrected.

Whether Cyrus manages to go the way of Spears and Lovato and turn herself around remains to be seen.