Inside Out by Demi Moore

I have always loved Demi Moore movies, with A Few Good Men and Ghost being my favorites, but I didn't understand the whole Ashton Kutcher/Demi Moore thing. He just seemed so young for her. This book is truly an eye-opener that explains a lot. I love that she examines herself "inside out". Her childhood was challenging, to say the least. She had a complicated relationship with her mother; she didn't feel fully accepted by her "dad", especially after she discovers that he is not her birth father; she is never given the chance to develop relationships with others due to the number of times her family moved (escaping their creditors). It's fortunate that Demi was forced into rehab when filming St. Elmo's Fire. That was a turn of events that allowed her to have an incredibly successful movie career. More proof that sometimes it just takes one person with influence to turn someone's life around. Demi stayed clean and sober for 20 years after that. Unfortunately, while her binge drinking and cocaine use stopped, she turned to obsessive exercise and a eating disorder.

It's incredibly sad to me that someone so naturally beautiful and talented could have such low self-esteem. She can thank her parents for that. Demi's life is another example of how children will often go back to their parents, again and again, despite abuse and significant neglect. Children just always want to trust their parents, whether that's a smart thing to do or not. Demi's mother "sold her" for $500 to an older man for sex when she was 15. This scarred her for life. 

Her look into her three marriages was really interesting. Her marriage to Freddy Moore at 18 was short; she kept the name though! The way she described Bruce Willis, who she met when he was winning awards for Moonlighting (a show that I loved!) is totally convincing. I remember hearing an interview with him back then and he seemed so cocky and self-assured. It soured me a bit on him. Kudos to Demi for standing her own about continuing with her movie career. He wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom to support his career. In retrospect, she realizes that she was so independent and closed off from Bruce that it wasn't much of a marriage. I totally understand that, given her familial relationships. She only had herself to count on growing up. So then of course she did the opposite thing with Ashton. She opened herself up; made herself vulnerable. She traveled with Ashton and catered to him. He was her next obsession after she tired of the excessive exercising and calorie counting. Ashton's one-night stands just about killed her. Literally.

It took her three years after her near death experience and famous 911 call to repair her relationships with her daughters and Bruce. She has had a long, difficult journey to where she is today, both physically and emotionally. She is a survivor.

Wendy's Rating: *****