If you’ve been anywhere near Twitter lately, you’ve probably noticed a post or two from Amanda Bynes retweeted onto your timeline. Popular tweets include “It goes against my religion to follow an ugly person,” with more than 110,000 retweets, and “My dad never did any of those things The microchip in my brain made me say those things but he’s the one that ordered them to microchip me,” a tweet that was retweeted more than 20,000 times before it was deleted by Bynes.
Even if you haven’t scrolled through Bynes’ Twitter page recently, the former television and movie star has been making headlines for her troubled behavior since April 2012, when she was arrested on a DUI charge.
Since then, the actress has gained media notoriety for antics that include multiple car accidents, reportedly being kicked out of a Hollywood gym spin class for wearing lingerie and disorderly conduct charges after allegedly throwing a bong out of her 36th-floor New York apartment.
Most recently, Bynes was hounded by the media when TMZ released an audio recording on Nov. 15 that reportedly features the voice of the actress stating that she wants to slit her father’s throat and her mother’s wrist because her parents are in control of her money.
I’ll admit it: Back in June 2012, when Bynes tweeted to President Obama asking him for help with her legal troubles, I laughed. And I laughed again in February of last year when the actress began calling celebrities ugly through her Twitter account and posted sexual comments about rapper Drake. How bizarre and how funny, I thought.
Today, however, as I sit and write this essay and sift through a once-beloved Hollywood sweetheart’s downward spiral, my thoughts are much different.
How bizarre and how sad, I think. And I wonder why Bynes’ troubling tweets, clear evidence of mental illness, are being consumed by the public as entertainment. There is nothing entertaining about mental illness.
Bynes’ antics hit a tipping point in July 2013 when the actress was hospitalized on 5150 involuntary psychiatric hold after starting a fire at an elderly person’s house and was recently hospitalized in October after she went on an alarming Twitter rant, accusing her dad of sexual and physical abuse and later blaming the incident on “the microchip in my head.”
Despite the She’s the Man star’s hospitalizations, Bynes’ mother stated in April 2014 that her daughter does not suffer from rumored schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Whether true or not, Bynes even tweeted, “I was diagnosed bi – polar and manic depressive so I’m on medication and I’m seeing my psychologist and psychiatrists weekly so I’m fine :D.” The actress’ tweets since that post on Nov. 4 remain as concerning as ever, though.
An endearing star’s promising career has turned into a chance to chuckle by Twitter users as they scroll down the troubled star’s Twitter page and reply to her tweets with laughing emojis and “LOLs.” However, users should see the tweets for what they really are: an unsettling and worrying look into a mentally ill young woman’s head.
On Aug. 11, another celebrity’s struggle with mental illness was pushed into the public spotlight when actor Robin Williams’ suicide shocked the nation. A man behind so many films that made generations smile and laugh — a man who was perceived as so happy — was also linked to serious depression.
And the nation cried. And the nation mourned Williams’ death. But today, Americans laugh in the face of Amanda Bynes, an individual who may be facing the same issues that led to Williams’ death.
Why do we laugh when Bynes is hospitalized but cry when Williams takes his own life? Why do we look at the two stars differently despite the fact they were, or in Bynes’ case, still are, grappling with similar diseases?
The social stigma around mental illness exists because of the public’s lack of empathy, because of the lack of understanding in realizing the severity of mental illnesses. We have turned Bynes’ life into a giant laughing stock, perpetuating the notion that those suffering should be mocked and pointed out.
Think back to Oct. 16, 1999 for a moment, when a 13-year-old Amanda Bynes captured children’s hearts with the debut of The Amanda Show. The charm that filled our screens and hearts all those years ago has now been replaced with a messy blonde wig and publicly accepted infamy. There’s clearly something going on there.
We grew up with Amanda Bynes, and if I’ve learned anything during my time at college, it’s that no one, especially old friends, should be abandoned in their darkest moments. We must understand that the actress is struggling and we must support her, not continue to knock her down. Removing the stigma requires a society’s effort.
