“The D’Amelio Show” Review

Story posted September 13, 2021 in Arts & Entertainment by Emily McGlynn.

Celebrities and entertainers are not superhumans, they are plain and simple human beings. A quick rise to fame does not make the superhuman aspect easier, it makes it harder.

The D’Amelio’s, ever heard of the name? Charli the Tik Tok Dancer, Dixie the model and singer and their parents have almost become the new Kardashian family.

In the new reality Hulu television show “The D’Amelio Show,” viewers finally get to witness the overwhelming success and intense criticism of social media and Hollywood.

In 2019, Tik Tok “stars” began to control gossip columns and show up on everybody's ‘for you page’ on every other video on TikTok. One of those people was Charli D’Amelio. A 15-year-old girl from Connecticut was casually making TikToks, which at the time was considered embarrassing, having fun and making her friends laugh.

Overnight, Charli became an internet sensation. For her great dance ability, good looks and youthful relatability, she is everything that the internet has been “searching” for. Soon enough, she introduced her older sister Dixie. Ever since then, their life has changed.

The D’Amelio’s packed up their bags, moved to California and began a new life with this opportunity. This is a lot to take in in just under a year, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic occurring.

The main things that viewers will see while watching this show are Dixie’s music career, Charli's dancing, mental health issues, behind-the-scenes of social media and projects, social gatherings and more. A big theme of this show is mental health,  which is a powerful thing to show.

Said by Charli D’Amelio herself, just about everything people see on social media is a highlight reel. It’s complicated because influencers want to be real with their fans, however, they could be “cancelled” or crucified by trolls at any moment.

Millions of eyes commenting on your looks, your personality, and your passions can do a lot of damage to your brain. Influencers are ‘fake’ in a way because they are deathly afraid of truly being themselves and being made fun of for it. So, they try to combat this by being their ‘perfect’ selves.

What’s interesting is watchers get to hear both sides of the story from the girls’ perspective and the parents’ point of view. They take half the time of each episode to discuss anxiety and depression and how those illnesses affect each of them.

Because of the talk of mental health in the show, it’s negative. This was most likely not the intention. It needs to be discussed and it will make a lot of phone-scrollers understand the power of their thumb.

It’s important to point out that the episodes are repetitive. They talk about the same things over and over, but new pieces of information are shared. This aspect of the show will keep viewers hooked. It might be annoying, but it’s an interesting approach to a reality show.

Regardless of people liking the new “it family,” they work hard to make the audience happy while also trying to pursue their own happiness. That’s extremely difficult to do. Viewers might gain a lot of respect for the girls and for their parents after they watch the new reality show.

If a viewer has the time to watch eight episodes that are 30 minutes, then "The D’Amelio Show” is the new show they should binge.

Rating: 4/5 stars

 

Emily McGlynn is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, email her at esm5378@psu.edu.