Growing up in the early 2000s meant that I happened to be just the right age to watch TV during Disney Channel’s golden age. From the High School Musical movies to series such as Hannah Montana, I watched all of it. As I’ve grown older, I’ve become very nostalgic for it, of course (yes, I’ve used my Disney+ subscription to reminisce). But, I’ve also come to understand that it wasn’t the same kind of glory days for its stars. I’m looking back at Disney Channel differently since I picked up Alyson Stoner’s memoir, Semi-Well-Adjusted Despite Literally Everything.
Stoner (who uses they/them pronouns) may not technically have the status of Disney Channel actors-turned-movie stars like Zendaya, Zac Efron, Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez, but they were just as important to an upbringing where it felt like Disney Channel was part of my identity. When I got the audiobook for Semi-Well-Adjusted it wasn’t long before I found myself absolutely enveloped in their life story. Now that I’ve soaked up every word, I want to share this unexpected feeling of gratefulness I feel for Stoner for sharing their story through this book.
I Watched A Lot Of Disney Channel Growing Up, And Really Looked Up To Its Stars
As a young girl looking to belong, watching Disney Channel felt like a safe space and a rite of passage that allowed me to relate to my peers growing up. In elementary school, I would quote Hannah Montana jokes and sing karaoke from the High School Musical with my friends. The first CD I was ever gifted was Hilary Duff’s debut album which I’d listen to over and over. The channel was oozing with role models who felt like big sisters introducing me to the wonderful (and completely unrealistic) world of being a teenager.
Looking back, it was all pure fantasy. Yes, a lot of the programming explored some relatable topics, but it also enforced a lot of messaging about who I thought I was supposed to aspire to be, and that definition was rather narrow. As I grew up and found out about things such as Demi Lovato’s eating disorder and sobriety story, that smokescreen has dissipated as I’ve reflected on the cost of these role models of mine being child stars.
Reading Alyson Stoner’s Memoir Reminded Me Why I Looked Up To Them In Particular
In Semi-Well-Adjusted, Stoner gets into why they were never one of the main Disney Channel gals, and how it wasn’t for lack of trying. Stoner’s story starts at the age of seven when they compete in a child talent convention. I was floored that at their young age, they already found themselves in competition with a gal with blonde hair and light eyes and actually felt like a failure for winning anything less than first place awards. Stoner and their mom told themselves it was all for “fun,” but clearing the stakes were high for the burgeoning Hollywood child star.
Ultimately, they head to Hollywood to pursue acting, where they face rejection after rejection before finding big breaks as the lead dancer for Missy Elliott’s “Work It” music video and on Disney Channel Mike’s Super Short Show – which aired longer than most Disney shows, from 2001 to 2007. The actor would also end up scoring the Cheaper By The Dozen, Step Up and Camp Rock movies as well.
In a landscape that was cluttered with glammed up teens who wore makeup and always talked about boys was giving “main character energy,” I can recall lighting up when Alyson Stoner showed up in something, because they were way more relatable to me. Stoner’s characters were a tad awkward, imperfect and tom-boyish, which was much truer to myself. Now I know via the memoir that those things about Stoner kept them from getting roles. Stoner’s winding road to fit into Hollywood reminds me of my own difficulties finding a way to see my own identity as valuable because these shows and movies were telling me that Alyson Stoner types (and literally Alyson Stoner) would never be center stage.
But, It Also Put In Perspective How Harmful Being A Child Actor Can Be
Stoner’s perceived shortcomings as a kid highlights how inauthentic and harmful the Disney Channel could be. One potent example in the book was how right after Stoner’s first big movie came out, Cheaper By The Dozen, they went on the internet to find tons of mean-spirited comments about their nose and how people didn’t like it. Stoner has a perfectly normal nose, but because it didn’t fit into the norm, people felt the need to point it out. The commentary felt so hurtful that ultimately Stoner revealed they got a nose job later in life. And once they did, they recalled looking into the mirror and truly feeling gorgeous for the first time.
An experience like this isn’t singular to child stars, but they speak in the book about how things people didn’t like about them hit harder because it meant they weren’t marketable, and would lose jobs and fail the staff of people who had jobs because of their stardom. The stakes and pressure was too high for Stoner, and being a child actor meant the loss of childhood very early in life.
An even higher stakes example in the book is Stoner’s account of having an eating disorder, which led them to go to a rehab facility to get back to a healthy weight. Once again, Stoner’s disorder was the result of putting pressure on themselves to be marketable and be enough to get the leading roles their peers were getting. As if growing up isn’t hard enough.
I’m Grateful For How They’re Speaking Up About The Future Of Child Acting In Hollywood
In Semi-Well-Adjusted Stoner maps out much of their life thus far, which also included other traumas like being queer with a religious upbringing, having an abusive stepfather and being a survivor of rape. Sure, it’s part cautionary tale, but it doesn’t come off as trauma porn either. Ultimately, Stoner is sharing their life story (so far) to tell a really hopeful one about how they found themselves despite, as the title suggests, “literally everything.”
What I particularly loved, is how the actor/dancer is doing so as a way to advocate for future generations of child stars as they’re now a certified Mental Health Coordinator for Film/TV/Stage productions and co-creator of Artist Wellbeing Essentials, which offers guides for talent that can help them remain informed about the unique risks and challenges that come with being a minor in Hollywood.
I’m grateful Stoner shared their life in such an honest and vulnerable way without holding back, because it really helped heal the part of myself that thought I wasn’t good enough as a kid like Stoner, watching Disney Channel, and deglamorize something I put on a pedestal. I am even more grateful Stoner is using their experience to affect change in the industry moving forward. Here’s hoping the young people in the business now won’t come back around with the same stories two decades from now.
