"I think my dad is a lot cooler than other dads. He still acts like he's still 17"
About this Quote
Miley Cyrus is doing something slyly strategic here: she flatters her dad in the language of teen culture while quietly licensing her own refusal to “grow up” the boring way. “Cooler than other dads” isn’t a serious comparative claim; it’s a ranking system borrowed from high school, where credibility is social currency and adulthood is often framed as a kind of aesthetic failure. The line works because it sounds offhand, even a little bratty, but it’s actually a tight piece of brand storytelling.
The key move is the double “still.” “He still acts like he’s still 17” turns maturity into a performance you can opt out of, not a moral achievement. It’s affection, but it’s also a wink: if her father can keep a teenager’s energy, Miley can keep reinventing herself without apologizing for volatility, spectacle, or desire. Subtextually, it normalizes a family dynamic built around youthfulness as a shared posture, not a phase to outgrow.
Context matters: Billy Ray Cyrus comes from country music’s old-school respectability, while Miley’s career has been a public tug-of-war between Disney polish and boundary-pushing pop provocation. Framing him as perpetually 17 collapses that generational gap. It turns the parent into a peer, which reads sweet on the surface but also signals a household where rules are negotiable and image is part of the family business. It’s not just “my dad is fun.” It’s “rebellion runs in the brand.”
The key move is the double “still.” “He still acts like he’s still 17” turns maturity into a performance you can opt out of, not a moral achievement. It’s affection, but it’s also a wink: if her father can keep a teenager’s energy, Miley can keep reinventing herself without apologizing for volatility, spectacle, or desire. Subtextually, it normalizes a family dynamic built around youthfulness as a shared posture, not a phase to outgrow.
Context matters: Billy Ray Cyrus comes from country music’s old-school respectability, while Miley’s career has been a public tug-of-war between Disney polish and boundary-pushing pop provocation. Framing him as perpetually 17 collapses that generational gap. It turns the parent into a peer, which reads sweet on the surface but also signals a household where rules are negotiable and image is part of the family business. It’s not just “my dad is fun.” It’s “rebellion runs in the brand.”
Quote Details
| Topic | Father |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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