When you go to your first prom at someone else's high school
Fourteen-year-old Madisyn Shipman, of Nickelodeon's Game Shakers, went to her first prom this month, with a fan of the show as her date. She flew from Los Angeles to Charlotte, NC (near her hometown, Kings Mountain), to attend prom with a high school senior named Joe, who just completed treatment for cystic fibrosis at Levine Children's Hospital. Their date was set up by the Ryan Seacrest Foundation, and Madisyn wore her outfit from Nickelodeon's Kids Choice Awards on March 11.
Afterwards, Madisyn posted photos of her and Joe together at the dance on her Instagram, along with this message: @liljoe_ flacko_ and I had such an amazing time last night!!! Joe, you are such a awesome guy, you are so fun and your smile was priceless last night 😊 💗 Thank you to everyone that made this possible. You guys rock my socks off!!!❤️🌈 @merenator @levinechildrens @ryanfoundation 💕 😘
Madisyn and Joe on prom night
I'm reminded of something that Emma Watson said a few years ago, about how she began trying to keep her public and personal lives separate after "reading this thing that Elizabeth Taylor wrote. She had her first kiss in character. On a movie set. It really struck me. I had this sense that if I wasn't really careful, that could be me. That my first kiss could be in somebody else's clothes. And my experiences could all belong to someone else."
That's why there's something a little sad to me about this. Madisyn went to her first prom at a high school that she doesn't attend (she hasn't lived in North Carolina since she booked Game Shakers in 2015), with a fan that she didn't know (and as a senior, Joe was probably about four years older than her), in a date that was arranged by someone else, likely to bring her good publicity. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, and Madisyn really just wanted to be nice, but I think there's a lot of blur here between public and private. Should a teenager's first prom really be used as an opportunity for exposure? I just hope that Madisyn, and all young actresses, are able to hold on to their identities in the face of stuff like this.
Afterwards, Madisyn posted photos of her and Joe together at the dance on her Instagram, along with this message: @liljoe_ flacko_ and I had such an amazing time last night!!! Joe, you are such a awesome guy, you are so fun and your smile was priceless last night 😊 💗 Thank you to everyone that made this possible. You guys rock my socks off!!!❤️🌈 @merenator @levinechildrens @ryanfoundation 💕 😘
Madisyn and Joe on prom night
I'm reminded of something that Emma Watson said a few years ago, about how she began trying to keep her public and personal lives separate after "reading this thing that Elizabeth Taylor wrote. She had her first kiss in character. On a movie set. It really struck me. I had this sense that if I wasn't really careful, that could be me. That my first kiss could be in somebody else's clothes. And my experiences could all belong to someone else."
That's why there's something a little sad to me about this. Madisyn went to her first prom at a high school that she doesn't attend (she hasn't lived in North Carolina since she booked Game Shakers in 2015), with a fan that she didn't know (and as a senior, Joe was probably about four years older than her), in a date that was arranged by someone else, likely to bring her good publicity. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, and Madisyn really just wanted to be nice, but I think there's a lot of blur here between public and private. Should a teenager's first prom really be used as an opportunity for exposure? I just hope that Madisyn, and all young actresses, are able to hold on to their identities in the face of stuff like this.