A common line between personal life and career has always been drawn when it comes to celebrities. Celebrities in the public eye are pressured into feeling like they need to act, dress and be a certain way. This is seen mostly when it comes to children actors that were linked to Disney channel, most of them go through a rebel phase because they were thrown into being a role model too early in their lives. The most popular disney channel actors who have went through this phase are Miley Cyrus, Bella Thorne, and Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens (Spring Breakers). Not many stars go on to talk about this phase once it is over.

Demi Lovato’s Documentary: Simply Complicated aired on October 17, 2017. With a current 12,615,611 views, and 541K likes, overall 98% of people liked this documentary. People who have not seen it are stuck wondering, why is it that so many people are loving this movie? It is because Demi is so real and open about everything that has happened to her within her rise to stardom. There are no secrets left after watching this documentary. Yes, Demi did cocaine, yes Demi enjoyed getting drunk often, yes Demi at one point was on adderall and that is why she left the Jonas brother tour. Biggest of all, yes Demi’s father was an addict and she partially became one too.

Throughout my childhood, I loved every project I had seen that Demi was in. I loved Camp Rock, Princess Protection Program, Camp Rock 2, Sonny with a Chance, and So Random. I would listen to her music all the time and jam along. Until she disappeared from the public eye.I did not know why she disappeared and this was in a time where internet was still dial up and I was not waiting at least 10 minutes for the connection to start up. Instead, I would just rejoice in the reruns of So Random that occasionally came on Disney Channel. I was 12 when Demi began getting help.

Not only does this documentary give the public eye a look at the struggles child actors go through, but it has an overall empowering message to it: recovery is possible. The way this film was recorded, it gave a very personal feel to the audience. You felt as if you were Demi’s best friend and she was telling you about how she knew she loved Wilmer Valderrama the day she first laid eyes on him.

The personal feeling to the film leaves you in awe, wanting to watch it once more because you realize she is also a human and she has things in common with you. A common thing that is forgotten is that people (specifically celebrities) are people too. They love, they lose, they get stressed out, they use dating apps and they have issues too.

I think the moment this documentary stole our hearts was the first scene shown of Demi being interviewed and she says, “the last time I did an interview this long, I was on cocaine”. This film was simply amazing and an overall game changer for celebrity documentaries. It has got me back into being a Demi fan, and I’m sure after seeing this, you will have a new appreciation for her as well.

A special thank you to:

Demi for being so open with us, Hannah Lux Davis for the miraculous directing and Phi McIntyre for never giving up on Demi.

Watch 'Simply Complicated'