So...what's the solution?
Sometimes people will ask me why The Youngster is not actively pursuing an entertainment career, or more precisely why we are not pursuing one for her. (Okay, actually, nobody is asking me this, but pretend they are so that this whole post works.) She is, after all, photogenic, and a little bit of that goes a long way.
Here's why: show business ruins children. You can't swing a cat without hitting an example, or so it seems. For every incredible success like Ron Howard, you have a Dana Plato, a Todd Bridges, a Gary Coleman, a Lindsay Lohan...a Michael Jackson. I was watching the director's commentary on a movie about a kid, and the director had something like this to say about his actor: "He's a really sweet kid. I hope the business doesn't change him." And then he went on to imply that it was too late.
Show business ruins children. Current case in point, the continued meltdown of Britney Spears, who assaulted and threatened to kill a paparazzi (paparazzo?). If you read the article, you'll be able to imagine the kind of threats she was laying down; I wonder if she knows Shane Stant?
Show business ruins children. I suppose it's not fair to lay the blame entirely at the industry's feet--parents have to take their share. But the industry does pretty much chew 'em up and spit 'em out.
We return, though, to the question posed in the title of this post: what's the solution? No more child roles? No more child entertainers? I'm not sure that's realistic. What can be done to make sure that kids in the entertainment industry reach adulthood with their heads screwed on straight and their priorities in order?
Here's why: show business ruins children. You can't swing a cat without hitting an example, or so it seems. For every incredible success like Ron Howard, you have a Dana Plato, a Todd Bridges, a Gary Coleman, a Lindsay Lohan...a Michael Jackson. I was watching the director's commentary on a movie about a kid, and the director had something like this to say about his actor: "He's a really sweet kid. I hope the business doesn't change him." And then he went on to imply that it was too late.
Show business ruins children. Current case in point, the continued meltdown of Britney Spears, who assaulted and threatened to kill a paparazzi (paparazzo?). If you read the article, you'll be able to imagine the kind of threats she was laying down; I wonder if she knows Shane Stant?
Show business ruins children. I suppose it's not fair to lay the blame entirely at the industry's feet--parents have to take their share. But the industry does pretty much chew 'em up and spit 'em out.
We return, though, to the question posed in the title of this post: what's the solution? No more child roles? No more child entertainers? I'm not sure that's realistic. What can be done to make sure that kids in the entertainment industry reach adulthood with their heads screwed on straight and their priorities in order?
posted by Robert at
9:21 PM
2 Comments:
(Savannah) Actually, someone *did* once ask me about that. She looked at Youngster and said, "Do you put her in talents?" And I was like "Huh?" It turns out that that meant talent shows. This woman was a stage mother herself. I pretty much ran away.
By
Anonymous, at 6:52 AM
Interesting - and yet you have no compunction about making her fan you and peel you grapes.
By
Anonymous, at 4:04 PM
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