We Don’t Deserve an Amanda Bynes comeback…

You know this is my blog and I come here to write whatever I want, and regardless of everything that’s been going on in my life this year, I wanted to write about what I know (who is it that famously said that, Cher Horowitz?). But see, that’s the thing, I don’t know Amanda Bynes. I mean, sure, if I were on Celebrity Mastermind my specialist subject would be the life and times of Amanda Bynes, and in the words of Maureen from Scream 2, “I know my shit!”

What I knew back then was a personality and I guess, to a degree, do we ever truly know anyone? We are all guilty of presenting a facade, some of us more faithful to the core than others, and I do truly love to believe that where Amanda is concerned she presented to the world who she was. That’s part of the reason why despite her stellar career, there wasn’t the hype and attention surrounding her back in the 00s in a way that you saw Lindsay or Hilary being treated. For most of her career, everyone just assumed there was no deeper story behind Amanda. She wasn’t dating a rock musician, or dealing with feuding parents, or famous siblings trying to break into the spotlight.

We’ll never likely know the absolute true story of Amanda’s childhood. There are The Facts. There are rumours, and then there’s the well-documented psychological pressure that Young Hollywood puts on children. All of these influence perception, and even if a person is standing now right in front of you saying this is who I am, are you gonna believe them over decades of conjecture? And maybe the person isn’t even saying much of anything, so what are you going to form an opinion based on?

Taking all of this as much into account as I possibly can, I watched Amanda’s first ever podcast episode with great trepidation. On the surface, it seems like she’s on her way to managing adult life with stability and sobriety, and on a personal level I see her being surrounded by better people and having more control than maybe she had years prior when she was trying to get her life back on track. As for the content of the podcast – look, I can speak from experience, even doing an audio based podcast with multiple people is hard. You go listen to my first episodes of Pretty Little Myers, it’s tough!

As first episodes go, it’s short and sweet, but honestly, seeing anything of Amanda again is amazing. The last time we saw her in front of a camera that wasn’t her phone was over six years ago. I have to believe as she gets into a rhythm it will become easier, more conversational, and less static. Some people might watch and listen and remark that Paul should’ve given her more of a chance to talk, but I honestly don’t believe that this podcast would even be happening if it wasn’t for her co-host. I can imagine, just based on the fact that the video was flipped in editing, Amanda is doing this podcast with complete and total creative control.

That’s important, and I’m glad she’s getting that, because it’s very apparent people in Amanda’s past have tried to control her. I think back to one of her first ever tweets, where she talked about being told to play characters as a child. Imagine that for a second – she got more praise in her formative years pretending to be someone else. She had to bury and hide her personality for years to please other people. And I also think back to what would be a very significant time in Amanda’s life, one that I’ve never really heard anyone else discuss in-depth, where Amanda disclosed she had been in an abusive relationship with a controlling guy (Elle Girl magazine, April 2006).

I think that’s maybe what some people might find frustrating with this podcast, that after so long of wanting to see Amanda speak freely, she really doesn’t talk all that much. Paul and Dahlia discuss tattoos, but we don’t hear Amanda’s insight on her own experience getting a face tattoo. When Dahlia talks about how she felt used by the industry at 14-years-old, Amanda seemingly has nothing to contribute.

And quite frankly, I don’t think we deserve it yet. After the awful treatment Amanda Bynes received from the public only a decade ago, do you really expect to just click through to the Daily Mail and rejoice that she’s gotten herself “happy” and “healthy” again and that means, what, that we’re entitled to having her back in the spotlight to pass judgement on?

We don’t deserve an Amanda Bynes comeback.