There are very few who seem to “like” Miley Cyrus, but I still seem to sympathize with the girl…

Here are a couple of my favorite excerpts from her latest interview with Rolling Stone, for their October 2013 issue.

On her VMAs performance, and why it was just a “fun” performance and not to be taken seriously:

Miley thought there was a chance the network might pull the plug on her mid-performance, but she didn’t expect so much shock and vitriol. “Honestly, that was our MTV version,” she says. “We could have even gone further, but we didn’t. I thought that’s what the VMAs were all about! It’s not the Grammys or the Oscars. You’re not supposed to show up in a gown, Vanna White-style” – a little dig at Taylor Swift. “It’s supposed to be fun!”

Her relationship with her parents is still very good and strong. She grew up in a life already in pop culture, but they love and care for her to death–and, she isn’t oblivious or naive to it.

Billy Ray named his daughter Destiny Hope because he thought it was her destiny to bring hope to the world. (She legally changed it to Miley, a childhood nickname, in 2008.)

These days Miley is pretty close to her parents. She sees them about once a week. “My dad’s always home,” she says. “He’s like, ‘There’s nothing for me to do out here.’ So he chills at the house all day, and I go see him.”

She spends more time with her mom, Tish, whom Miley says dreamed of being a performer herself, but couldn’t because of bad anxiety. “She danced ballet from the time she was three till she was 30, but she was very shy,” Miley says. “She could never do this, so she wanted it for me. I get anxiety too, and she didn’t want my anxiety to ever stop me from doing it the way it stopped her.” Her mom often travels with her, but she can still make Miley cringe. “When she’s being embarrassing, she’ll call me ‘sweet girl,'” Miley says. “When we were getting ready for the VMAs, I was about to put on my teddy-bear costume and she’s like, ‘Sweet girl, do you need to potty before you put your costume on?’ I’m like, ‘Mom! Kanye is standing right here!'”

She has finally taken her training wheels off and, as the past five years have been full of attempts to rid of her media-controlled image, she finally has the freedom to embrace who she is.

Miley has since hired Britney Spears’ manager, Larry Rudolph, but she’s still the one in control. Her life is remarkably handler-free – no publicists hanging around, no minders telling her what she can and can’t do. “I hung out with way too many adults when I was a kid,” she says. “So now I don’t want to hang out with any adults. I’ve already done all the hard work. Now I can kind of fuck off.

And, people in the industry still seem to respect this girl so much. They believe in her, and in her power. It’s obvious she has the power to grab people’s attention by millions. She’s in such a high spot and chair. She can do whatever she wants with it. But, she decides to just wag her tongue around and stick her ass out. After all, this is the entertainment industry, right?

“On the way back to L.A., Miley’s phone buzzes. “This is why I love Pharrell so much,” she says, then reads a text that he sent her out loud. It’s at least 1,000 characters long; she scrolls forever. “The VMAs was nothing more than God or the Universe showing you how powerful anything you do is,” he says at one point. “It’s like uranium – it has the power to take over lives or power entire countries. Now that you’ve seen your power, master it.”

“You’re not a train wreck,” he says later. “You’re the train pulling everyone else along.””

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/miley-cyrus-confessions-of-pops-wildest-child-20130924#ixzz2fxbhlXNc
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Perhaps for so long, she never had the chance to really rebel or live a life of “regret” and “failure.” Many of us, or many wish they could have, “messed up” a little in their young lives. That’s what many claim college to be, if it be their cup of tea. Others choose to embrace the goodness of their hearts. Others want to rebel.

Have you read the issue? What are your thoughts on her skydiving? Or of what industry professionals think of her? Or just what you think of the girl herself? All her media attention is… definitely working.