Lizzie McGuire: A Reminder of the Times


So over the weekend, Amanda Bynes tweeted that she is quitting acting. And for a full 24 hours last week, “Lizzie McGuire” (or “Lizzie McGuire Movie”) was the top trending topic. Meanwhile, there’s some controversy over pictures of Miley Cyrus.

What an incredible sign of the times. No, I don’t mean Twitter or gossip blogs. I mean reminiscing of a time when Amanda Bynes had her own show and Lizzie McGuire was the face of Disney Channel.

Boy how time flies. And how the world changes.

Unfortunately for us, not always for the better.

Seeing “Lizzie McGuire” become the hot topic of Twitter last week just because Disney Channel decided to air the big screen adventure of what was once the flagship series on the network really hit me hard. Gone are the days of squeaky clean children and tween programming. Hello gyrating, scantily clad teens and conglomerate manufactured pop stars.

The relative innocence, but fun of All That and The Amanda Show replaced with boob jokes. (And I mean literally, jokes about female breasts… on kids shows.)

Watching The Lizzie McGuire really got me thinking. Look at this film and retroactively, the series; a simple premise of a young girl and her friends in the 8th grade and all the hilarity that happens at that young age. What ever happened to that kind of genius simplicity? The series clicked. Disney made tons of money without having to force feed the audience and created a star in Hilary Duff without all the paparazzi gossip garbage that comes along with today’s young stars. (Good Charlotte aside of course, which really was post-Disney and not under-18 anyway.)

The film was only released in 2003 but it seems so long ago compared to what kids are being brainwashed with these days.

Shows from the early 2000s or even the Nickelodeon renaissance of the late 90s weren’t necessarily groundbreaking, but they were less grating and superficial than the shows that litter the airwaves today, if at all.

It’s 2010, yes, but does that have to mean teens must act and/or look up to teens who act like they’re 30? Must the corporations have to force these annoying new breed of teen stars on us?

It’s not like we can avoid any of it or ignore it when it is all around you, whether it be TV, internet, or your local grocery store.

Where has all the wholesome family entertainment gone? Not being a prude, but there’s nothing wrong with promoting actually wearing clothes on TV and music videos right?

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