Miley Cyrus is a genius. Yes I mean that literally and not in a sarcastic way. Before you write me off as a delusional teenage girl with a pathetic Hannah Montana obsession that has dictated her life since middle school, take a moment to think about the path Miley’s life has taken.

Two years ago, Miley was done. She’d enjoyed a brief reign as the Queen of Disney Channel complete with a celebrity meltdown and several mediocre movies. We expected occasional scandals as she continued to spiral into the lifestyle of drugs and partying but assumed that for the most part her time in the spotlight had ended.

Then last summer she released a song called “We Can’t Stop.” It was a masterful blend of sleazy drug references and an absurdly catchy chorus complete with a bizarre music video to match. After her performance with Robin Thicke at the VMA’s Miley cemented her status as the new weird girl in the music world. People were appalled and disgusted. She was mocked, ridiculed and chastised. She was all anyone could talk about.

Miley Cyrus has made millions of dollars off of our “disgust.” We blame Miley for the downfall of society when the reality is that we are the problem. We are the ones who keep watching and listening. We are the ones who make it profitable for celebrities to go crazy. Whether Miley made a conscious decision to do stunts for publicity or her craziness is genuine, she makes money off of doing stupid things because it gets our attention.

The reason celebrities pull these stunts is because we buy into them. We are disgusted by the actions of paparazzi who stalk famous people and invade their privacy but if there was no demand for these pictures than those photographers would be out of a job. We are the people keeping them in business by remaining fascinated by the lives, especially the scandalous and drug infested lives, of the rich and famous.

Critique Miley Cyrus all you want but remember that it is your criticism that keeps her twerking all the way to the bank.