#79: my heart goes out to the young actors of my childhood
diving right into the abuse that nickelodeon and disney channel put my favorite childhood actors through
hi hi hi sisters ♡ I had work today instead of tomorrow as my monday class got moved to tuesday… so this is coming much later than usual, thank you for your patience. I hope you havent been too anxious about this hitting your inbox !!
LOTS of links in this week’s substack, hope you click on them all because they are picked and found with love
keeping the recommendations section to recommendations for different substacks that I read. I find it to be really important to support small “businesses” (that sounds odd to use here, but maybe influencers is another word I can use?) and one way I can do that is by sharing about them!
to end off womens history month I am sharing a post of book recommendations written by
, the author of . she made A Long List of Book Recommendations that Explore Womanhood/The Female ExperienceI have only read one on the entire list. so I need to get cracking !!
movies: starting to reach the end of the mission impossible series as we watched mission impossible- fallout. a FANTASTIC mask reveal and the friendships are so strong. the day after taking the mpre, I treated myself to a solo movie and saw paddington in peru. he’s such a cute lil bear, not as great as the original two, but still so tender. bjørn and I saw princess mononoke as it was released in imax theaters for some reason. this was my third time watching this movie, and with each watch it, my appreciation increases tenfold. I want to watch every studio ghibli movie in an imax theater. finallyyyyyy got around to see my cousin vinny. you guys, it was genuinely very funny and well done and made me more appreciative of the knowledge i’ve gained these past three years.
podcasts: severance ended and I am tweaking out, thankfully I have the white lotus for a week longer to keep me going. however, in the interim, this episode of girlscamp was just what I needed to continue geeking out about severance
music: lucy dacus (of boygenius and solo stuff) released an album this past week and it is gorgeous !!! for those that are not familiar with her, I recommend starting out with bullseye featuring hozier, as you’ll get to appreciate her vocals while having the comfort of knowing a voice you are familiar with along the way.
in my mind: I did indeed finish manacled shortly after the last update I gave about it. I really really enjoyed it. and I *might* have convinced my sister to read it, who knows !!! for our book to movie club we chose the hunger games, and between that and having just read manacled I felt myself going back to middle school, and I was NOT mad about it. that being said, I started margo’s got money troubles and am enjoying it so far. I am also listening to the crucible to prep for a broadway show I’m seeing tomorrow night, its so dramatic.
in my stomach: kelley and I had delicious food in charleston. one of the best pulled pork sandwiches i’ve probably ever had was consumed our first night there. we also went to a restaurant called the obstinate daughter, it was a necessity to dine there
while scrolling on tiktok I stumbled upon this video for a podcast interview to be released…
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thats right, drake bell and josh peck (my bb boys from drake & josh) reunited for an interview on josh peck’s podcast the good guys. you can listen to part one and part two at those links (or on spotify as well). I really enjoyed the interviews (even though I do not support the good guys podcast as a whole for the zionist statements they have said…) I am glad I was able to listen to this podcast because I feel like it needed to come from both of them to be as impactful as it was to me. they had me cracking up and thinking back on the amanda show and drake and josh.
for those of you that don’t know, drake bell was among the nickelodeon stars that was abused by dan schneider, and he also endured physical abuse by brian peck, both of which are adults that worked with nickelodeon to produce some of the tv shows that raised my generation. it has been heartbreaking to hear about all of the stars that have come out and reported their abuse they endured while children on a tv set. while nickelodeon stars dealt more with abusers from the people working at nickelodeon, disney channel stars also suffered from bullying, substance use, and depression due to the way the entertainment industry is set up to do little to protect the stars of their shows. because of the abuse and pressure that these stars went through, many of them ended up suffering as adults and their actions were reflective of the trials they were subjected to as children.
and drake bell isnt alone in his suffering. other nickelodeon stars such as jennette mccurdy (icarly/sam & cat), daniella monet (victorious), alexa nikolas and matthew underwood (zoey 101), and amanda bynes (the amanda show) are among just some of the actors that have spoken out about their horrible experiences while filming their respective tv shows. while many many many other nickelodeon actors have also spoken out to express disgust with how the industry treats child actors following the quiet on set documentary that was released. as for disney channel stars, demi lovato (camp rock and more), raven symone (thats so raven and cheetah girls), alyson stoner (camp rock), miley cyrus (hannah montana), bella thorne (shake it up), debby ryan (radio rebel and more), and others have also shared their experiences and the hardships they had while trying to be a kid in an adult industry.
its not just the nickelodeon and disney stars of my childhood. other actors, specifically drew barrymore, have also made many public statements regarding how she was treated as a child star. and even now we see how family vlogging has become toxic (cue eight passengers and ruby franke). thankfully states are starting to implement laws that protect children who are part of family vlogging as well as protect child actors.
it breaks my heart to hear person after person come out and express how being on these shows practically ruined a portion of their childhood; as these shows truly were the foundation of my childhood. its frustrating to see how little has been done up until this point to protect child actors and children in careers in general. i’m so proud of the actors that have spoken out and have shared their stories. the more that do the more that can be done to make changes.
to end, i’m sharing a pic of when i met drake bell at disneyland, he was so nice !!!
pinterest: this would be the birthday cake I would make alyssa in august but she wants a sheet cake for her bday instead… but MAYBE i’ll figure out a way to add bugs to it; spots and stripes; the best girls
instagram: I need her to do every campaign ever; ben stiller gets it
love you all so much! thank you for the kind texts from friends wishing me well on the mpre and asking me how I felt! I dont feel horrid (I did the 2nd time) but I dont feel amazinggggg, but I feel just fine. so hopefully that is enough !
i do love the bugs