Hannah Montana (played by Miley Cyrus) and Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie) are two of pop music's best-known alter egos. (Left image: Buena Vista Pictures. Right image: Steve Wood/Express/Getty Images) With this week's launch of Hannah Montana: The Movie, pop music's most famous alter ego continues her march toward world domination. In case you aren't a fan, Miley Cyrus originated the character on a TV show called, appropriately, Hannah Montana. In it, Cyrus plays Miley Stewart, a girl who wants to be a star without forsaking her life as an ordinary school kid. She creates an alt-persona named Hannah Montana, who goes on to become a tweener idol.
The construct "Hannah Montana" has had actual hit concert tours, songs and albums and is beloved by six- to 14-year old girls — but Miley Cyrus did all the singing. Making matters more complicated, Cyrus has recently started performing under her own moniker as well; last year, she released her "debut" album, Breakout.
Cyrus's identity conundrum brings to mind another manufactured alter ego: David Bowie's glam doppelganger, Ziggy Stardust. Bowie's 1972 concept album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, remains a high watermark in his career, and will certainly outlast the high-calorie pop of Hannah Montana.
Still, we couldn't resist comparing their strategies.
Nature of alter ego
Ziggy Stardust: Messianic, androgynous rock star/alien who tries to deliver a message of hope to humanity but meets untimely end.
Hannah Montana: Happy-go-lucky pop star who has to deal with annoying brother.
Self-mythologizing theme song
Ziggy Stardust: Ziggy Stardust ("He took it all too far, but boy could he play guitar.")
Hannah Montana: Best of Both Worlds ("In some ways you're just like all your friends/But on stage you're a star.")
Transformative costume/disguise
Ziggy Stardust: Shocking red mullet, inordinate amounts of eyeliner and a variety of costumes, including a white toga miniskirt, leotards, hot pants and thigh-high boots.
Hannah Montana: Blond wig.
Drug of choice
Ziggy Stardust: Cocaine.
Hannah Montana: Shopping.
Lyrical themes
Ziggy Stardust: Impending apocalypse (Five Years); intergalactic communication between an alien and earthlings (Starman); the excitement of being a rock 'n' roll star (Star)
Hannah Montana: Enjoying life (This Is the Life); partying (Pumpin' Up the Party); teenage crushes (If We Were a Movie).
Musical partners
Ziggy Stardust: Mick Ronson (glam guitar genius who also collaborated with Bob Dylan, Mott the Hoople and Morrissey)
Hannah Montana: Billy Ray Cyrus (Miley's dad, a.k.a the dude who had a hit with Achy Breaky Heart)
Movie plotlines
Ziggy Stardust: Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars: The Motion Picture documents a 1973 concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon, during which the Ziggy character announces his retirement from live performance.
Hannah Montana: In Hannah Montana: The Movie, Miley Stewart considers the possibility of retiring the Hannah Montana character, due to romantic hassles and her general discomfort with deceiving people.
Impact of alter ego on psychological health
David Bowie on Ziggy Stardust: "That f---er would not leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to sour … And it took me an awful time to level out. My whole personality was affected."
Miley Cyrus on Hannah Montana: "To finally be like not hiding behind a wig or being a character … if no-one shows up [when I'm] Miley, I'm like, OK, this is really going to hurt."
Hannah Montana: The Movie opens on April 10.
Greig Dymond writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.
