I'm not too familiar with Miley Cyrus so I can't speak on the quality of her music, but from this I take maybe an unpopular position. How is she any different from previous generations of musicians that have shocked us in the past. Off the top of my head, Elvis, Madonna, Eminem, GG Allen, Marilyn Manson - they have all given us some sort of public discourse and I really don't see how we don't recognize the fact we've always been edging into an age of no inhibition. I mean, if Cyrus didn't do what she did, we wouldn't be talking about her right now. Is she not in fact, doing her job, and doing it well? For once though, It seems like people are more disappointed in Miley than they are shocked. Perhaps that disappointment is misdirected though, because Miley is merely filling a void that everyone is so eager to gobble up.
I think it's the new love of watching celebrities spiraling out of control. "She's pulling a Lindsey Lohan, she's pulling an Amanda Bynes", etc. etc. There's a belief that she isn't control of herself or what she's doing, and that belief stems from how she was forced into this position as Hannah Montana most of her life. Hence all of the attention on her.