Demi Lovato recently released a YouTube documentary called “Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated," which I had seen previews and trailers for before it debuted on October 17th. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t originally interested in watching this documentary for a few reasons: the major one being the fact that I was never the biggest Demi fan. I was never super into her music, but I did like the few singles she has released over the years. Other than that, I was just not a big fan. Another reason was that I’m not into documentaries. The only time I ever watch documentaries is when I have to, which is usually for school.

Last Friday night, I was sitting on my bed, scrolling through my Facebook feed, and I ended up watching a short clip of the documentary. The clip discussed the story of how Demi was horribly bullied when she was a little girl. This clip hit me close to home, because my younger sister was bullied when she was in elementary school. It got to the point where my sister had no choice but to switch schools. I remember seeing my sister crying over these horrible emails that the mean girls were sending her. I felt so angry and helpless, because I knew I couldn’t just beat up a bunch of elementary school girls. Demi’s experience was a bit more extreme than my sister’s, though. The girls in Demi’s class passed around a petition that the students signed in support of Demi killing herself. I almost starting crying, but the clip cut out, and I was suddenly inspired to watch the documentary in it’s entirety.

I quickly switched on the documentary, which is available for free(!) on Youtube. I began watching, and was absolutely taken aback by all the struggles that Demi Lovato has gone through and overcome in her life so far. I remember her as being one of my favorite Disney Channel stars when “Camp Rock" came out, and I also enjoyed her shows “As the Bell Rings" and “Sonny with a Chance." Apparently, as Demi was balancing her life as a major Disney star and rising musician, she was battling substance abuse and an eating disorder, too. By simply judging her based on her Disney career, I never would have known that.

One thing that I really admired about Demi was her complete honesty throughout the entire documentary. She owned up to every mistake she made, even when she was talking about the story of when she hit absolute rock bottom. She was completely open to discussing every struggle, and not just talking on a basic level, but really digging deep for her fans and viewers to see. I think her documentary shed a lot of light on the seriousness of bullying, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Those things aren’t usually talked about publicly, and I think it’s important to start a conversation surrounding these four serious issues that affect people everywhere on a daily basis.

Starting a conversation and creating awareness was exactly what Demi’s documentary achieved. I commend her honesty and her authenticity, and she really struck me emotionally when I was watching. I cried and I laughed during her documentary. Her journey is absolutely amazing, and I am truly a hardcore fan now. I can’t wait to see what other amazing things she will achieve throughout her lifetime. I give this documentary 5 stars for sure, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone.