Watching this docu-series was just a shock. This series centres around Dan Schneider and his behaviour and even worse, the employment of present and future criminals in the presence of kids in the shows. Having grown up watching Nickelodeon, I was obviously unaware of the innuendos that were made.
Schneider was seen as a very sexist person. He tended to only hire men and only hired two women. He would dehumanised these ladies by not calling them by their names and instead, refering to them as, "the girls." To add to this, the ladies weren't paid separate salaries. One big salary was split in two between them. He additionally believed that women aren't funny and challenged the writers to name a funny female writer - which couldn't be done.
This is just despicable. Women can be and are very funny. No one should sexualise roles. There should be an even split. Regardless of the gender split, everyone is equal. There shouldn't be any favouritism. No one deserves to be dehumanised - no matter what they have done. Dehumanisation can be very detrimental to someone. Their self-esteem can be hugely compromised.
Schneider also played the female writers like dolls. He dared one of them to eat two pints of ice-cream for 300 Dollars. This was done and no money was seen. Another thing that occured was ordering massages to be performed. He was said to have "owned" the times of the writers. One writer got fired for going to a concert and having friends over. The other writer left after refusing to work 11 weeks (out of 27) for free while a recently hired male writer wasn't ordered to do the same.
This is just disgusting. This is just a classic case of gender discrimination. You shouldn't discriminate among gender/sexes. Everyone is entitled to have free time away from the workplace. No one owns the amount of time to do something. There are and should be specific times to do things and when the times are met, employees should have the freedom of choice as to what they want to do. It shouldn't be dictated by the boss. Schneider was sued for the above actions by one of the writers. This is right in my view. There shouldn't be gender domination in a workplace. It's apparent to me that the terms "gender equality" isn't in Dan Schneider's vocabulary.
The female actors were also watched over their figures. He would drop actresses if they were deemed to be fat. This is quite ridiculous. You shouldn't push people aside just because of the weight of the person/people. The talent is still there. The weight of someone should never disqualify them from a promising future/position. It's also reported that the actors/actresses were tossed aside like old news when a "new" story arises. Passing on words of advice and experience can be vital for everyone involved. The length of stay should be determined by the cast member and not the ones in charge.
In addition, there were racist actions being done. One such act was a black actor selling cookies on the street. This could easily translate to selling drugs when it comes to adult viewing. To me, the latter statement could be stated as a typecast. This "typecasting" is really disturbing to me. There shouldn't be room for "typecasting" of this nature. When deciding which actor to play a certain role, the skin colour shouldn't be taken into consideration.
Another aspect that I foound unsettling were the dares that took place. None of them were necessary. This was essentially the kids version of "Fear Factor." These segments shouldn't have taken place. Dares such as making dogs lick peanut butter off your body can be damaging to a kid's psyche. These type of acts/dares must be left for adults who have mentally matured for this.
Now, it's time for the serious actions to be talked about. There were men who were arrested and sentenced (at different times) for adults actions being done on child actors. One such action was sending a picture of him doing something really disturbing to a young girl. Search of his home found adult themed entertainment and a journal speaking of the unspeakable acts.
Another case involved an unnamed child actor reporting full blown abuse from a dialogue coach. That actor would be revealed as Drake Bell. His dad suspected that something was going on but the coach drew a wedge between the dad and Bell. Later, the first act of abuse occured. As per all abusers, the coach stated that it was a once-off and it would never happen again it was believed. However, it happened repeatedly. The coach brought his friends as well. It stopped when Bell's girlfriend's mom asked him what was going on after multiple calls from the coach.
I see all this happen and I'm speechless. When there's an allegation (and subsequent conviction), there should've been a complete shutdown and investigation into every adult that's in their background. It's maddening to think that a studio/organisation can see what has happened and allow things to move forward as if nothing happened. Something drastic must've been done there and then.
The after effects aren't terrific. Things such as self-esteem have been severely affected by what has happened. Although the ones haven't repeated the actions, they have done other things such as drug use and DUI'S. Dan Schneider has since been left in the cold by Nickelodeon.
As a kid and watching these shows, I was completely oblivious to what was going on in the background. I'm sure I'm not alone. Every child who watches tv, are all unawares of realities in the real world. The same could be said for the child actors. All kids are innocent and carefree. As such, we might take what happens to us a norm and thus perform it on others - completely unaware that it's illegal and potentially harmful to others.
My advice would be to educate kids as to what constitutes good and bad behaviour. Teach them about bad touches and stranger danger. Children should feel safe in every aspect of society.