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Jennette McCurdy rants about not being a role model

posted 11 years ago by pmfg_pan
9 replies | jump to latest

I am not a role model.

I don't claim to be, I don't try to be, and I don't want to be.

There was a time when I tried to live up to the aggrandizing title, that pedestal of a thing. Maybe it wasn't so much that I was trying to live up to it. Perhaps I thought I could and I thought I was supposed to, so I gave it my best shot.

It's fine, I can admit it. Back in my adolescence, I was more amiable, bubbly, and on lightly humid days, maybe even flouncy. I was role model material and then some.

Fast forward a few years, I've grown up a bit (emphasis on "a bit"). I might not be any wiser, but I like to think I'm more honest.

With the growing I've done, I realize that to attempt to live up to the idea of being a role model is to set myself up for foregone failure. Sure, I've made some mistakes, but even if I hadn't, people would have found invisible ones. This world is one seemingly most keen on judgment and negativity, despite all the hearts and smiley emoticons.

To remove myself from the role model battle, the falsified standard set by the bubblegum industry, is - in my eyes - to remove myself from the counterintuitive battle of attempting to be something perfect while being glaringly aware of my imperfections.

Sure, I still love my teddy bears. I still love a heart emoji (the white heart in the pink box is my favorite) and I still have a soft spot for American Girl dolls. I still love a cute dress, a good pop song, and a vanilla-scented candle. But these things don't define me or determine that I am any kind of a role model. What defines a person as a role model is the way they live their life. And no offense, but none of you know how I live my life.

Now before you start thinking I'm some sort of derelict that leads a life of crime, let me clarify. I am proud of the way I live my life. I am proud of my choices. I am proud that no one can call me fake or say I don't stand up for myself. I am proud that my friends and family would say that I'm a good person.

But in order to be thought of as a real, true role model, I believe you have to know a person and their actions, inside and out. Calling a celebrity a role model is like calling a stranger a role model. The knowledge you have of a celebrity is no more than a caricature drawn by media tastemakers specializing in selling you an image you’re dying to buy. It’s good to have heroes, but you have to look for them in the right places. They say don’t look for true love in a bar, well I say, don’t look for role models on screens.

For those of you who do consider me a role model, I hope you don't read this and cringe. I appreciate you. I appreciate you so much! I appreciate that you believe in me, support me, and in some way, hope to live your life like me. But please, I encourage you to find role models in the people around you, the people in your everyday life, the people that are your friends and family. I encourage you to base your idea of a role model off of someone you know well enough to see purely, not in the light, cameras, and actions of Hollywood.

xo Jennette

http://www.reddit.com/r/jennettemccurdy/comments/2blzkb/i_am_not_a_rol e_model/

[–] drawsdakcab 11 years ago

I either agree with her or don't depending on how she defines role model. Jennette could make an excellent or terrible role model if I knew what she meant. Is a role model a person whose life she by imitated to the smallest detail? Is it a successful person? Somebody who worked hard to get where they are? Somebody I must copy exactly?

[–] savedcrb2 11 years ago

These are excellent points. Based on her "bubblegum industry" comment, Jennette is defining the role model status that the world of Nickelodeon and children's entertainment puts her in and how that is in conflict with how she actually lives her life. Unfortunately, it sounds as if she put a lot of pressure on herself and I feel for her. In a perfect world, people would look to their friends and family as role models. However, we don't live in a perfect world, so she is wrong that she isn't a role model in that narrow definition.

Whether she wants to be or not, kids look up to her as a role model based on her actions. They don't have to know what she does daily. You can't control what kids think. They will not understand that they are not to look up to her just because she says so. They may only care that Sam Puckett is funny and will want to live in a cool apartment like her on TV or have her sense of humor. Other kids may look up to Jennette McCurdy because they heard her sing for cancer patients at the hospital and find that is behavior to be emulated; when she greets her fans and is gracious and respectful, it is behavior that is to be emulated. If Nickelodeon treated her unfairly, then she should be applauded for sticking up for herself; young females especially will find that behavior empowering and behavior to emulate.

If she didn't want to be a role model, then she should have removed herself from children's entertainment a long time ago. Don't sign the contract. She would already know what is expected by Nickelodeon. No one said she had to be perfect, but there is some responsibility actors and actresses bear while working in that particular industry. She cannot simply "remove herself". Its a cop out.

With all that being said, her comments will not hurt her career at all. She is a talented actress. She will find work.

[–] NamedFabio 11 years ago

I love this. I respect this girl a lot for saying all of that. She's absolutely correct & clearly has a good head on her shoulders.
Hope she didn't somehow damn her career for speaking out though.

[–] JRichardSingleton 11 years ago

I'm guessing she's gotten flack for her PG13 sexting and her pay demands. She's trying to defend herself here.

OK.

[–] amanda-lu862 11 years ago

exactly. Be an adult actress. Go semi naked or naked. Show lingerie--and not lingerie as props. Instead she casted herself in Schneider's perverted series about bra and foot fetishes.

[–] iamcage187 11 years ago

Lol, you are so delusional it's funny, about as bad as that idiot Jeneral

[–] drawsdakcab 11 years ago

No one said she had to be perfect, but there is some responsibility actors and actresses bear while working in that particular industry.

And how many former child stars go off the deep end? I, as a private citizen, am allowed to shape my public persona as I see fit. Jennette should be too but people want her public persona to fit a mold because it's 'the price she pays for being on a kids' show'. Maybe it shouldn't be.

Whether she wants to be or not, kids look up to her as a role model based on her actions.

Except she isn't a kid and people still expect her to act like one.

[–] savedcrb2 11 years ago

Sadly, many child stars do go off the deep end because they are forced to grow up very quickly in an adult world. TV and movie sets are places of business and kids don't get to experience the normal outlets regular kids do.

I'm sure there are some that want Jennette to fit a mold, but she has to deal with that. I don't expect her to act like a kid, but I do expect her to be mature about the situation she is in and make prudent choices. Its not her fault kids look up to her, but that's part of the gig she signed up for.

Nickelodeon is like most companies with work guidelines. I work in the telecommunications industry. Before I joined the company, I was told there were certain things I could not put on social media (like disparaging the company) or I would lose my job. I accepted the job and signed the papers even though I thought some of it was unfair. However, I will honor my commitment to the company. I can leave the job at any time, I'm not forced to stay there.