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ENTERTAINMENT Monday, May 3, 2021 ECHO
Liz Asitimbay,
REVIEW:
Lovato release uncovers heartbreaking truths deep into reality Johanna Kaplan johannakaplan@slpecho.com
S
uperstar singer Demi Lovato released her album “Dancing With The Devil … The Art of Starting Over” with an accompanying docuseries April 2. In four parts, Lovato gives fans an inside look at her struggles with addiction, fame and family. The series is centered around Lovato’s near-fatal drug overdose in 2018. Lovato, as well as her friends and family, gives insight into what it was like at the time and what led up to it. The series is emotional and challenges viewers to sympathize with Lovato’s experience. I can’t speak for everyone, but I definitely felt for her. Addiction doesn’t just appear out of the blue; it is accompanied by years of unreconciled trauma. Lovato makes this clear by sharing the stories of her traumatic past as a child actor.
Fair use from SB Films
Constantly being in the limelight, Lovato had impossible expectations placed on her at a young age. Her fans looked up to her and disappointing them was never a feasible option. At just 7 years old, Lovato began her acting career in Barney and Friends. As time progressed, she rose to become a beloved Disney Channel star. Her most notable performances were in “Camp Rock” and “Sonny with a Chance.” She accumulated a large fan base and began to feel the pressure of it all. Lovato had to be the perfect role model so her fans could continue to see her as their hero. In the end, working so hard to be this unflawed, unbroken version of herself only isolated her further. Drugs became her only solace. Lovato’s first encounter with cocaine was
in 2009. A group of friends introduced her to it and for 17-year-old Demi, it was love at first sight. Her own father fell down the same rabbithole some years ago. He also used drugs as a means of escape, abandoning Demi and her sister as children. Much like her father, she was in too deep, falling down the broken and battered path of substance abuse. Spiraling into a world of self-medicated chaos, Lovato’s addiction consumed her. After years of sobriety, she eventually overdosed in July 2018. The docuseries described just how close she came to death, detailing the night’s horrors. Lovato took opioids laced with fentanyl, unbeknownst to her, after her drug dealer gave her a
visit. He took advantage of her in a vulnerable moment, and left her helpless. The fentanyl forced her body into complete turmoil. She suffered several strokes, a heart attack as well as other side effects. Her assistant found her the following morning. She immediately called for help. If Lovato was found just 10 minutes later, she would not have survived. While the docuseries wasn’t perfect, Lovato’s courage to speak up is something that overrides any technical errors.
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Ben Sanford bensanford@slpecho.com Fair use from Minneapolis Institute of Art,
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