There you are, sitting in front of your box television, with a tape in your VCR ready to record the newest show on Nickelodeon.
Everyone in school was telling you how funny “The Amanda Show” was going to be. You’ve watched the previews all week and you are finally ready to see what this new variety show is all about.
After the hilarious opening sequence, out walks a little girl from a wall of doors with handles shaped like the letter A. She is dressed in a tie-dye pink and red shirt with matching jewelry and headband.
Graciously, she thanks everyone in her life for letting her dreams come true and helping her get to where she is today. Interrupting her speech, a lookalike bursts through the set trying to get a glimpse of Nick’s newest star.
It is at that moment that you realized you would absolutely adore Amanda Bynes.
Bynes stole the hearts of many teenagers throughout the years.
Every girl wanted to be her and every guy wanted to date her.
One day, after her teen years ended, things changed.
Fastforward to 2010.
In and out of rehab, battling horrible news tabloids that smeared her personal life on front pages, Bynes went into a spiraling downfall.
Bynes started to fall off the charts.
She decided to retire from acting claiming through a tweet that, “I don’t like acting anymore, so I’ve stopped doing it.”
Twitter seems to always be in the picture during any significant outbreak of reckless behavior in Amanda Byne’s life.
By the time 2012 rolled around, Bynes found herself in a lot of trouble.
Between a DUI, many car accidents, provocative Instagram pictures and supposed drug paraphernalia in her car, Bynes was having a rough year.
Despite the negative slew of events in 2012, Bynes still said, “I’m not ‘troubled’. I don’t get naked in public. I’m 26, a multimillionaire, retired. Please respect my privacy.”
Fast forward to present-day.
Bynes has found herself in the tabloids once again.
While attending a fashion school in New York, Bynes had been spotted with bleach blonde hair. She was said to have not attended many classes.
To those that she did attend, she would be found outside feverishly smoking cigarettes on breaks.
Once again, Twitter has been a huge outlet for Bynes during this time. Between pleas of privacy, false announcements of engagement and bizarre claims to need massive amounts of plastic surgery, Bynes is displaying quite a negative message.
Now, that child who loved Amanda Bynes in 1999 and grew up with great admiration for her is left confused.
Is what she is doing right? She is still a millionaire, why can’t she still be my idol?
If Amanda Bynes can post half naked pictures, I can too, right?
Do you see the pattern?
Stars like Bynes are growing up with a lot of pressure.
They have to balance school and the intensity of the limelight.
The constant need to be prettier, to make more money and to become more famous is always a battle they must face.
There is competition in every industry, however, this one is the strongest.
At a certain point, it is hard to place personal blame on these celebrities when they have so much going on in their lives at such a young age.
The problem then becomes, how do we teach young members of society how to not follow in their footsteps?
My advice? Be yourself.
Let others’ accomplishments help motivate you to be the best you can be.
Be an original, not a duplicate.
