Along with Pamela Anderson getting acknowledged by the Golden Globe Awards for her work in The Last Showgirl, so, too, has Miley Cyrus received her due. This thanks to a nomination for Best Original Song. Competing with few other offerings in its league, “Beautiful That Way” ought to be the obvious winner in the category (though if Sky Ferreira’s “Leash” from Babygirl was nominated, it might have some worthier competition). And yet, with two other nominations given to Emilia Pérez (one for “El Mal” and another for “Mi Camino”), there’s a strong chance Jacques Audiard’s ten-time nominated film could win out over not only Cyrus’ song, but also nominations for “Compress / Repress” from Challengers, “Forbidden Road” from Better Man and “Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot.
However, what makes Cyrus’ soundtrack contribution truly stand out is that it is filled with the kind of genuine emotion (granted, so is “Compress / Repress”) that most songs placed in awards categories only pretend to have. And yet, there is something inherently ersatz and overly saccharine about them. With “Beautiful That Way,” co-written by Cyrus, Andrew Wyatt (who also produced the track) and Lykke Li (likely helpful to the authenticity of the lyrics), there is a realness to the forlorn sentiments expressed (read: belted out) by Cyrus. A woman who knows, better than most, “At least you had your day/Now the light shines on some other girl/Who’s beautiful that way.”
While, of course, Cyrus is still a pop cultural force to be reckoned with, it’s apparent that she’s grappling with, like most female pop stars entering their thirties, the idea of her “ascendance” waning. As it “must” in order to make way for a new crop of younger models in the industry (e.g., Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo and Sabrina Carpenter) before, they, too, are “turned over” and served as grist for the mill of ageism in Hollywood.
This, apparently, has been on Cyrus’ mind a lot lately. That is, if one is to go by her 2023 single, “Used to Be Young,” which was written and released at the time Cyrus was thirty (despite all of Madonna’s efforts, this is still deemed “geriatric” by pop star standards). Now thirty-two (the same age as Charli XCX), it makes sense that Cyrus has the ability to be all the more wistful about her so-called faded youth.
And, considering that The Last Showgirl (directed by Gia Coppola and written by Kate Gersten) is about a showgirl named Shelly (Anderson) being left with no choice but to “pack it in” after thirty years on the Las Vegas stage, it makes sense that Cyrus, in her present mood, would be drawn to the material. Hence, a line like, “I know it hurts/For what it’s worth/But you had to know/Summer would go” (which smacks of Li’s songwriting influence on the single). Ah yes, nothing like a classic “season” metaphor to drive home the bleak point about getting older—and no longer being able to cling so easily to the things you once did when you were in “the bloom of youth.”
Indeed, talking of flower analogies, there’s plenty of that as well (what else would one expect from the creator of “Flowers?). Namely, when Cyrus opens the song with, “Just like a rose red in its glow [try not to think of the Beauty and the Beast image]/Watch her as she sways/Just like a rose, she’ll cut you with thorns/She’s beautiful that way.” Or, as Anderson’s former flame, Bret Michaels, once put it, “Every rose has its thorn.” And women do tend to get very thorny when they start to feel as though they’re being usurped, pushed out of the spotlight before they’re ready (granted, is anyone ever really ready to be “vaudeville hooked”?). Just ask Elisabeth Sparkle.
Cyrus, however, seems determined to keep evolving her musical style in such a way as to remain relevant for many years to come. From ballads to Joan Jett-esque rock to disco-fied anthems (like “Doctor [Work It Out]”), Cyrus has proven repeatedly that she is a chameleon when it comes to genre. Just as Pamela Anderson has proven her own chameleon-like nature when it comes to which artistic mediums she can excel in (case in point, recently releasing a bestselling cookbook). And, with The Last Showgirl, Anderson, at fifty-seven years old, is also proving that you shouldn’t count someone out—least of all a woman—just because they’ve gotten to “a certain age.”
With regard to the unanimous praise for this unexpected performance, Cyrus put it best when she said, “It’s an honor to be nominated for Best Original Song… Pamela is graciously sharing her moment with us. I am continuing to root for her.” At just two minutes and twenty seconds, that’s exactly what Cyrus does with a song as powerful and emotionally packed (while also remaining sparse) as this one.
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