Last week, a groundbreaking four-part documentary was released on the popular streaming site Max, about the behind the scenes of all of our favorite Nickelodeon shows. Our generation grew up on shows like Victorious, Zoey 101, The Amanda show, Drake and Josh, and iCarly. We idolized the actors, adored the shows, and dreamed of being a child star just like Victoria Justice, Amanda Bynes, Drake Bell, Miranda Cosgrove, etc. But the documentary shocked all of the child versions of ourselves and broke everything we thought we knew.
Dan Schneider was revolutionary for the world of children’s television. Somehow, he was the first one to come up with the idea of humor created for children. He grew into the role of a sort of ‘God’ for Nickelodeon because his ideas were so innovative and new and he brought in so much revenue, and eventually this became problematic as no one dared say no to him. This began manifesting into him just being a terrible employer and a total dictator in the writers room and on set. Dan’s first big hit, The Amanda Show, was the first time we saw this. In a show that centered around the life of a young girl named Amanda and her friends, there were zero female writers on the staff. Later on, two female writers were thankfully added, but it turned out to be not all that sweet. Christy Stratton and Jenny Kilgen, who were both featured in the documentary, were splitting the salary of one person. They were both so desperate for a job, for a big break, they didn’t care about the injustice they were being served. Dan’s misogyny and blatant disregard for women continued after they were hired, when he wanted to only refer to Christy and Jenny and “the girls”. Whenever a female input was needed he would simply say, “where are the girls in the room?”, refusing to acknowledge their names though he learned every. Single. Name. of. Every. Male. in. the. Room.
Dan’s power trip continued to evolve from just being a terrible employer to being an overall terrible and disgusting person. Though the documentary did not state any specific allegations or charges against Schneider, his close connection with the young white females on the show as well as some of his scripts lead many to believe that there are things still left unsaid. He was extremely close with Amanda Bynes and they had a very touchy relationship. The documentary featured a viral video of Amanda, in her bathing suit, in a hot tub, sitting next to Dan Schneider, who is fully clothed. In the show itself, we can see Dan’s twisted mind coming out in the characters. Specifically, in one character named “Penelope Taynt”, who’s charm and personality was that she frequently repeated her first and last name. In the writers room, Dan asked his staff to keep the meaning behind the last name as a secret between them, and when Nickelodeon questioned him about it, he simply stated that it was not meant to be dirty, but that he took it from the idea of something being tainted.
In addition to Amanda and her show, Ariana Grande is a hot topic in the downfall of Schneider. There were many parts of the show Victorious that featured her in a sexual manner that wouldn’t be recognized by children, and often fetishized parts of her body, like her feet. There were also “extras” put out on Nickelodeon that were less censored that had her doing things that referenced sexual innuendos. As kids it flew right over all of our heads, but rewatching it as an adult was truly haunting.
Though the first two episodes were about Dan’s empire, the actual confirmed assaulter of the story was a dialogue coach from The Amanda Show, Brian Peck. In the first two episodes, It is said that the orchestrating of the documentary was from the story of a survivor of a child star from one of their shows, but it is not revealed who until the end of the second episode. Fans expected it to be Amanda Bynes, Ariana Grande, Victoria Justice, or one of the many prominent females his shows featured. Writers, castmates, and staff were shocked to find out it was in fact, Drake Bell.
When Drake first created his case, he was a fifteen year old kid with no idea what was truly happening to him. He kept his identity anonymous until the release of the documentary. Many big name celebrities such as, Ron Melendez, James Marsden, Taren Killam and Adam Thicke wrote letters of support for Brian Peck, all diminishing the efforts of Drake to get away from his abuser.
The point of the documentary was to reveal the dark truth behind our entire childhood. That the stars we idolized and dreamed of being were silently going through hell. But it does open your eyes. If child stars could be going through so much horror right in front of their parents eyes and on display on national television, imagine how much else could be hidden in any child’s life. At school, at daycare, at sports and extracurriculars. Watching and listening to the kids is so important to preventing things like this, but we also need to start informing them that the adults in their life might not always have the best motives. We need to teach kids to trust their gut and to speak up when something feels even slightly wrong. Drake Bell and his fellow child-star colleagues suffered at the hands of the adults who were supposed to protect them. The documentary is an incredible form of awareness and a jolting wake up call to all parents.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 