By Tyler Patrick
As my 18th birthday approaches, this issue’s entertainment column marks an end to my final days as a child. For every person there are events that shape a childhood and most of the events that helped shape me include ones from the ever-changing entertainment industry.
Britney Spears- One of the most well known celebrities on the planet, Britney Spears stands as more than just a musician for this fan. She was in a sense, like a mother to me. When I had no one else to turn to or I felt most alone in the world, I would listen to Spears’ music or watch her music videos, performances, documentaries, specials and interviews.
Spears’ dancing and performance skills gave me the confidence to be myself and fight for my goals. Her sex appeal was also a huge factor in my life, as I strove to see what she would do next so I could imitate it in both dance and style.
To this day, I put on shows in my room every night, dancing to entire tours and making my own routines to songs that do not have videos or performances. It is this kind of dedication that made me realize my dream of one day becoming Spears’ backup dancer or transforming into a Britney Spears impersonator.
Since the age of five, Spears has been both a learning tool and an escape. After the release of her first single “…Baby One More Time,” I officially found my inspiration for the future and something that would make me happy for the rest of my life, teaching me to be myself and live life so that it would make me happy, not others.
Disney Movies- This mega-empire has continued to capture the imaginations of children across the globe since the 1950’s, and it was definitely no different for me. As a child, I watched Disney movies almost everyday; my favorites were The Little Mermaid and The Lion King.
I always dreamed of being a mermaid growing up and still do to this day, which is why watching The Little Mermaid was such a huge part of my life. I always watched it with the hopes that I could one day become a mermaid, much like Ariel became a human. Disney’s sense of dreams and imagination gave me the hope growing up that mermaids actually existed and I could one day find the proper magic in the world to transform me into one.
Nickelodeon- In the 1990’s, Nickelodeon was the sole existence of most children with it is wide range of great TV shows, including Rugrats, The Wild Thornberry’s, All That, Kablam and Rocko’s Modern Life, to name a few.
Watching these shows everyday after school was a must. It was something to look forward to and do whenever one got bored. These shows taught me that being a kid was important and living it to the fullest was mandatory.
ABC soap operas- Growing up, I would watch both General Hospital and One Life to Live with my grandparents and my mom. The soap operas planted an obsession.
Soap opera’s constant changing plot lines and dangerous lifestyles truly intrigued me
I even wrote a letter to Kristen Alderson, who plays Starr Manning on OLTL, and she not only replied, but even included an autographed picture.
These shows were something I looked forward to everyday after school and when I missed one, I would hound my relatives to tell me what had happened. These soaps taught me that life can sometimes be extremely unexpected and even though it may not happen as drastically as it does in these shows, life can still change without warning.
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch- This was perhaps the greatest show ever created in the history of mankind and I saw every episode growing up; I followed it religiously. I was obsessed with the magical abilities Sabrina possessed and Melissa Joan Hart, who plays Sabrina Spellman. Hart was good friends with Britney Spears and had Spears make a guest appearance on the show in 1999, which is my favorite episode.
Every character was hilarious and relatable in his own way. The show created something that was so unreal it almost became reality and posed the question of whether magical creatures secretly exist within our lives or not.
All of these events served as stepping stones toward adulthood for me. They were either making me happy or teaching me lessons of being myself, understanding the difficulty of life, being a kid and dreaming.
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