Lots of people are pissed at Miley Cyrus for her VMA performance, and each person seems to have their own special reason. But one of these people, Steve Chmelar, has a reason that may be the most special of all.

You see, back in 1971, when Chmelar was 16 years old, he invented the foam finger.

Fast forward four decades, and Chmelar's beloved invention is being used by Miley to faux-masturbate in front of thousands of shrieking teens at MTV's Video Music Awards.

"She took an honorable icon that is seen in sporting venues everywhere and degraded it," Chmelar told Fox Sports.

The now-59-year-old admits he's no fan of Miley in general — "If I had a choice between Julie Andrews singing 'The Sound of Music' and Miley Cyrus doing 'Can't Stop,' I'd go the Julie Andrews route" — but he respects people's right to debauch themselves as they see fit.

And Chmelar assures foam finger and Miley fans alike that all is certainly not lost.

"Fortunately, the foam finger has been around long enough that it will survive this incident," he said. "As for Miley Cyrus, let's hope she can outlive this event and also survive."

[H/T: The Atlantic Wire, photos via Getty]