On October 17, 2017 Demi Lovato gave her fans a deeper look into her tribulations during her rise to stardom. The documentary, titled Simply Complicated, shares a deeply vulnerable side of Demi’s past but an encouraging look at her life today. The film gives Demi’s fans a new connection to the starlet as well as a greater respect for her authenticity.
Growing up watching shows like As the Bell Rings and films like Camp Rock, viewers had no idea just how much Demi was dealing with. She fell into a category of Disney stars that many girls of our generation looked up to. Now being at an age where us fans can understand what her struggles really were, it is almost unreal to think about what she was going through. To her fans, she was an actress and a singer who was edgy and different than many other Disney girls. In releasing this film she creates a new outlook to what was really happening behind the scenes. By seeing a look into what was really happening, there is a new connection growing between Demi and her fans who may struggle in the same ways. For that, she remains a woman that many of us can continue to look up to for not only her strength but her ability to share her most personal struggles with the world.
In the one hour and eighteen minute documentary, Demi takes her fans through the difficulties she had with bullying and depression from a young age. Along with that she shares her family dynamic and the truth about how her biological father’s addiction has impacted her journey. Having acted from a young age, she always felt a greater pressure than most kids— which carried over into her teenage years, and impacted the most crucial time in her career. At fifteen, she booked her first Disney Channel show. The pressure she put on herself and her quick rise to fame made all her personal struggles come to light. Early addiction and a consistent need to be perfect in the public eye made for a mental outburst. At the worst point in her addiction, her career and relationships were placed on the line and she had to decide where her life would go from there.
Once she made the decision to better herself through treatment, she found hope and a greater connection to what she loves to do. Though she made it clear it was not an easy thing to do, she does show the commitment that went into becoming who she is today. She expresses a new found love for working out and a passion for Jiu Jitsu. These new forms of therapy have only added to her healing and improved the way she looks at herself.
The toughest of struggles she shares are the ones she still has yet to overcome. Her struggles with food and her eating disorder are still a great challenge for her. In the film Demi says, “Food is still the biggest challenge in my life…I don’t want to give it the power to say that it controls my every thought but…it’s something that i am constantly thinking about.” She makes the discussion of eating disorders seem so much less of a taboo and more of something that needs to be talked about to help people work through it.
Beyond all of her struggles and talk of her personal growth, the core of this film is Demi’s new music. The album titled “Tell Me You Love Me” emulates a new place in her life because it came after she almost walked away from music altogether. Throughout the documentary you can hear bits and pieces of her newer sound and hear her explanation as to why these songs are so different than her other music. As we have seen in her sixth album, she has found a new voice of strength and connection to her womanhood and she is not playing around!
As a viewer, my favorite moments of the documentary are when Demi is open and honest with her insights on love and connection as well as sex and the fun of being a young woman. She talks about heartbreak and the decisions that she made to ensure she was the strongest person she could be for herself. Demi takes the time to share her issues with disrespectful boys and her openness to human connection with either men or women— showing just how much of a catch she is. Her outlook on love and life makes her so relatable and enjoyable to watch.
As she takes us on this journey through her past and now present, Demi is honest with herself and her fans. This shows even more that she is more than just a star but an even bigger role model to many. Simply Complicated takes a new approach to being an open book. Demi has not left anything out and encourages others to be honest about their personal struggles. Watching her documentary makes her feel like a girlfriend sharing all her life struggles with you, in hopes of making your struggles seem like something you can overcome. And sometimes women like Demi can act as motivation for women in all places of their lives to push to be even greater.
Photo Courtesy of Youtube.com