Scarce Margaret O'brien Signed Very Young Child Actress Vintage Autograph Box

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Seller: memorabilia111 ✉️ (808) 100%, Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US, Ships to: US & many other countries, Item: 176290277095 SCARCE MARGARET O'BRIEN SIGNED VERY YOUNG CHILD ACTRESS VINTAGE AUTOGRAPH BOX. A GREAT 4X5 INCH SIGNED PHOTO BY  CHILD ACTRESS MARGARET O'BRIEN  Margaret O'Brien (born Angela Maxine O'Brien; January 15, 1937) is an American film, radio, television, and stage actress. Beginning a prolific career as a child actress in feature films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the age of four, O'Brien became one of the most popular child stars in cinema history and was honored with a Juvenile Academy Award as the outstanding child actress of 1944. In her later career, she appeared on television, on stage, and in supporting film roles.
This child star of the 1940s was best known for her natural, emotional style and her startling facility for tears. As Maxine O'Brien (her birth name), she first appeared in a civil defense film starring James Cagney, then in a bit in "Babes on Broadway" (both 1941). Sensing her potential, MGM signed her, changed her first name to Margaret and starred her in the tour de force "Journey for Margaret" (1942), as a terrified London war orphan who "adopts" reporter Robert Young. It was an adult, intelligent and slightly scary performance which made her an overnight star. She was loaned out to Fox for "Jane Eyre" (1944). O'Brien's next big showcase came with "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944). As Tootie Smith, the feisty but fragile little sister of Judy Garland, she was a bright point in a very good film, especially in her musical numbers with Garland and during a Halloween sequence in which she confronts a grouchy neighbor. For her performance, she was awarded a special juvenile Oscar. Her next two features, "Music for Millions" (1944) and the drama "Our Vines Have Tender Grapes" (1945) were also impressive. Two good roles came her way in 1949, as the tragic Beth in a remake of "Little Women" and as Mary Lennox in "The Secret Garden." CLOSE THE FULL BIOGRAPHY Filmography CAST: (feature film) 1. Story of Lassie, The (1994) 2. Amy (1981) 3. Heller in Pink Tights (1960) Della Southby 4. Glory (1956) Clarabel Tilbee 5. Her First Romance (1951) Betty Foster 6. Little Women (1949) Beth [March] 7. The Secret Garden (1949) Mary Lennox 8. Big City (1948) Midge [also known as Mary Ellen Rachel O'Donnell Andrews Feldman] 9. Tenth Avenue Angel (1948) Flavia Mills 10. The Unfinished Dance (1947) [Margaret] "Meg" Merlin Margaret O'Brien (born Angela Maxine O'Brien; January 15, 1937)[1] is an American film, radio, television, and stage actress. Beginning a prolific career as a child actress in feature films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer at the age of four, O'Brien became one of the most popular child stars in cinema history and was honored with a Juvenile Academy Award as the outstanding child actress of 1944. In her later career, she appeared on television, on stage, and in supporting film roles. Contents 1 Life and career 1.1 Film 1.2 Television 2 Academy Award 3 Additional honors 4 Personal life 5 Filmography 6 Select radio credits 7 Accolades 7.1 Box office ranking 8 References 9 Bibliography 10 External links Life and career Margaret O'Brien was born Angela Maxine O'Brien; her name was later changed following the success of the film Journey for Margaret (1942), in which she played the title role. Her father, Lawrence O'Brien, a circus performer, died before she was born.[2] O'Brien's mother, Gladys Flores, was a well-known flamenco dancer who often performed with her sister Marissa, also a dancer. O'Brien is of half-Irish and half-Spanish ancestry. She was raised Catholic.[3] Film Margaret O'Brien in Journey for Margaret (1942) Orson Welles, Margaret O'Brien and Joan Fontaine in Jane Eyre (1943) Margaret O'Brien and Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) O'Brien made her first film appearance in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Babes on Broadway (1941) at the age of four, but it was the following year that her first major role brought her widespread attention. As a five-year-old in Journey for Margaret (1942), O'Brien won wide praise for her quite convincing acting style, unusual for a child of her age. By 1943, she was considered a big enough star to have a cameo appearance in the all-star military show finale of Thousands Cheer. Also In 1943, at the age of seven, Margaret co-starred in "You, John Jones," a "War Bond/Effort," short film, with James Cagney and Ann Sothern (playing their daughter), in which she dramatically recited President Lincoln's "Gettysburg Address." She played Adèle, a young French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent in Jane Eyre (1943). Arguably her most memorable role was in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), opposite Judy Garland. As Tootie Smith, the feisty but fragile little sister of Judy Garland, she was a bright point, especially in her musical numbers with Garland and during a Halloween sequence in which she confronts a grouchy neighbor. For her performance, she was awarded a special juvenile Oscar in 1944. Margaret and June Allyson were known as "The Town Criers" of MGM. "We were always in competition: I wanted to cry better than June, and June wanted to cry better than me. The way my mother got me to cry was if I was having trouble with a scene, she'd say, 'why don't we have the make-up man come over and give you false tears?' Then I'd think to myself, 'they'll say I'm not as good as June,' and I'd start to cry."[4] Her other successes included The Canterville Ghost (1944), Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (1945), Bad Bascomb (1946) with Wallace Beery, and the first sound version of The Secret Garden (1949). She played Beth in the 1949 MGM release of Little Women, but she was unable to make the transition to adult roles. O'Brien later shed her child star image in 1958 by appearing on the cover of Life magazine with the caption "The Girl's Grown", and was a mystery guest on the TV panel show What's My Line?.[5] O'Brien's acting appearances as an adult have been sporadic, mostly in small independent films and occasional television roles. She has also given interviews, mostly for the Turner Classic Movies cable network. Television O'Brien gave television credit for helping her to change her public image. In an interview in 1957, when she was 20, she said: "The wonderful thing about TV is that it has given me a chance to get out of the awkward age -- something the movies couldn't do for me. No movie producer could really afford to take a chance at handing me an adult role."[6] On December 22, 1957, O'Brien starred in "The Young Years" on General Electric Theater.[7] She played the role of Betsy Stauffer, a small-town nurse, in "The Incident of the Town in Terror" on television's Rawhide. She appeared in an episode of Wagon Train in 1958. She made a guest appearance on a 1963 episode of Perry Mason as Virginia Trent in "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe." In 1967, she made a guest appearance on the World War II TV drama Combat!. Also, in a 1968 two-part episode of Ironside ("Split Second to an Epitaph") O'Brien played a pharmacist who (quite the opposite of her usual screen persona) was involved in drug theft and was accessory to attempted murder of star Raymond Burr's Ironside. Another rare television outing was as a guest star on the popular Marcus Welby, M.D. in the early 1970s, reuniting O'Brien with her Journey for Margaret and The Canterville Ghost co-star Robert Young. In 1991, O'Brien appeared in Murder, She Wrote, season 7, episode "Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?", reuniting O'Brien with her Tenth Avenue Angel co-star Angela Lansbury. Academy Award An image of Margaret O'Brien in Eiga no Tomo (November 1952) O'Brien in Eiga no Tomo ("Film Friend" magazine; November 1952) While O'Brien was growing up, her awards were always kept in a special room. One day in 1954, the family's maid asked to take O'Brien's Juvenile Oscar and two other awards home with her to polish, as she had done in the past.[8] After three days, the maid failed to return to work, prompting O'Brien's mother to discharge her, requesting that the awards be returned.[9] Not long after, O'Brien's mother, who had been sick with a heart condition, suffered a relapse and died.[8] In mourning, 17-year-old O'Brien forgot about the maid and the Oscar until several months later when she tried to contact her, only to find that the maid had moved and had left no forwarding address.[8][9] Several years later, upon learning that the original had been stolen, the Academy promptly supplied O'Brien with a replacement Oscar, but O'Brien still held on to hope that she might one day recover her original Award.[8][9] In the years that followed, O'Brien attended memorabilia shows and searched antique shops, hoping she might find the original statuette, until one day in 1995 when Bruce Davis, then executive director of the Academy, was alerted that a miniature statuette bearing O'Brien's name had surfaced in a catalogue for an upcoming memorabilia auction.[8] Davis contacted a mutual friend of his and O'Brien's, who in turn phoned O'Brien to tell her the long-lost Oscar had been found.[8][9] Memorabilia collectors Steve Neimand and Mark Nash were attending a flea market in 1995 when Neimand spotted a small Oscar with Margaret O'Brien's name inscribed upon it.[10] The two men decided to split the $500 asking price hoping to resell it at a profit and lent it to a photographer to shoot for an upcoming auction catalogue.[8] This led to Bruce Davis' discovery that the statuette had resurfaced and, upon learning of the award's history, Nash and Neimand agreed to return the Oscar to O'Brien.[8] On February 7, 1995, nearly 50 years after she had first received it, and nearly 40 years since it had been stolen, the Academy held a special ceremony in Beverly Hills to return the stolen award to O'Brien.[8][10] Upon being reunited with her Juvenile Oscar, Margaret O'Brien spoke to the attending journalists: For all those people who have lost or misplaced something that was dear to them, as I have, never give up the dream of searching—never let go of the hope that you'll find it because after all these many years, at last, my Oscar has been returned to me.[11] Additional honors In February 1960, O'Brien was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures at 6606 Hollywood Boulevard, and one for television at 1634 Vine St.[12] In 1990, O'Brien was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award recognizing her outstanding achievements within the film industry as a child actress.[13] In 2006, she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the SunDeis Film Festival at Brandeis University. Personal life She has been married twice, to Harold Allen, Jr. from 1959 to 1968, and later to Roy Thorsen. The latter marriage produced her only child, Mara Tolene Thorsen, born in 1977. Filmography Year Film Role Other notes 1941 Babes on Broadway Maxine, Little Girl at Audition Uncredited 1942 Journey for Margaret Margaret White 1943 You, John Jones! Their daughter Short film Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case Margaret Thousands Cheer Customer in Red Skelton Skit Madame Curie Irene Curie (at age 5) Lost Angel Alpha 1944 Jane Eyre Adèle Varens The Canterville Ghost Lady Jessica de Canterville Meet Me in St. Louis 'Tootie' Smith Academy Juvenile Award Music for Millions Mike 1945 Our Vines Have Tender Grapes Selma Jacobson 1946 Bad Bascomb Emmy Three Wise Fools Sheila O'Monahan 1947 The Unfinished Dance 'Meg' Merlin 1948 Big City Midge Tenth Avenue Angel Flavia Mills 1949 Little Women Beth March The Secret Garden Mary Lennox 1951 Her First Romance Betty Foster 1952 Futari no hitomi Katherine McDermott US title: Girls Hand in Hand 1956 Glory Clarabel Tilbee 1958 Little Women Beth March CBS musical TV movie 1960 Heller in Pink Tights Della Southby 1962 Dr. Kildare Nurse Lori Palmer "The Dragon"; Season 1, Ep. 20, aired Feb. 15, 1962 1963 Perry Mason Virginia Trent "The Case of the Shoplifter's Shoe"; Season 6, Ep. 13, aired Jan. 3, 1963 1965 Agente S 3 S operazione Uranio 1967 Combat! Marianne Fraisnet "Entombed" Season 5, Ep. 16, aired Jan. 3, 1967 1970 Adam-12 Mrs. Pendleton "Log 85: Sign of the Twins"; Season 3, Episode 12, aired Dec. 26, 1970 1974 Annabelle Lee Diabolique Wedding AKA Diabolic Wedding That's Entertainment! Herself and archive footage 1977 Testimony of Two Men Flora Eaton Television miniseries 1981 Amy Hazel Johnson AKA Amy on the Lips 1991 Murder, She Wrote Florence Episode: "Who Killed J.B. Fletcher?" 1996 Sunset After Dark 1998 Creaturealm: From the Dead Herself Segment: Hollywood Mortuary 2000 Child Stars: Their Story Herself AKA Child Stars 2002 Dead Season Friendly Looking Lady 2004 The Mystery of Natalie Wood Herself 2005 Boxes Herself Short film 2006 Store Herself 2009 Dead in Love Cris 2009–2011 Project Lodestar Sagas Livia Wells 2010 Frankenstein Rising 2010 Elf Sparkle and the Special Red Dress Mrs. Claus (voice) 2017 Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Ms. Stevenson 2017 Halloween Pussy Trap Kill! Kill! Bridgette's Grandmother 2018 Prepper's Grove Gigi 2018 This Is Our Christmas Mrs. Foxworth 2018 Impact Event Amanda Select radio credits Year Program Episode Airdate Writer (original story) Character Role Notes mp3 1943[14] The Screen Guild Theater[14] "Journey for Margaret"[14][15] 5 April 1943[14] William Lindsay White Margaret Davis (girl) The Lady Esther Presents The Screen Guild Players.[14] Related movie: Journey for Margaret. mp3 1947[16] Philco Radio Time[16] (with Bing Crosby)[16] 28 May 1947[16] self (as guest)[16] mp3 1948 Lux Radio Theatre "Bad Bascomb" 1 March 1948 Emmy (girl) Western radio drama involving a Mormon emigrant wagon train. Related movie: Bad Bascomb. mp3 1948[16] Philco Radio Time[16][17] (with Bing Crosby)[16] "St. Patrick's Day Program"[15] 17 March 1948[16][17] self (as guest)[16][17] Saint Patrick's Day special. mp3 1948[18][19] Suspense[18][19][20] "The Screaming Woman"[18][19][20] 25 November 1948[18][19] Ray Bradbury[19][20] Margaret Leary (girl) Thanksgiving themed radio drama. Agnes Moorehead[18] as the screaming woman.[19] Considered one of the best episodes of Suspense and old-time radio overall.[19] mp3 1949 The MGM Theater of the Air "The Youngest Profession" 25 November 1949 Ira Marion (adaption to radio) Joan Lyons Classical tale of the teenagers, the autograph hounds, who also get their names. Accolades Year Award Honor Result Ref. 1945 Academy Award Juvenile Award for Outstanding Child Actress of 1944 Honored [21] 1960 Hollywood Walk of Fame Star of Motion Pictures – 6606 Hollywood Blvd. Inducted [12] Star of Television – 1634 Vine Street. Inducted 1990 Young Artist Award Former Child Star Lifetime Achievement Award Honored [13] Box office ranking For a time O'Brien was voted by exhibitors as among the most popular stars in the country. 1945: 9th 1946: 8th[22] 1947: 19th[23] he term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began their acting career as a child. To avoid confusion, the latter is also called a former child actor. Closely associated is teenage actor or teen actor, an actor who reached popularity as a teenager. Many child actors find themselves struggling to adapt as they become adults, mainly due to typecasting. Lindsay Lohan and Macaulay Culkin are two particular famous child actors who eventually experienced much difficulty with the fame they acquired at a young age. Many child actors also become successful adult actors as well, a prime example of this being Jodie Foster, who was 12 years old in the film Taxi Driver in 1976 and went on to become an adult star with variety of films including The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Contents 1 Regulation 1.1 California 1.2 United Kingdom 2 Issues 2.1 Ownership of earnings 2.2 Competitive pressure 3 Post-success troubles 4 Post-childhood success 4.1 Other careers 5 See also 6 References 7 External links Regulation In the United States, the activities of child actors are regulated by the governing labor union, if any, and state laws. Some projects film in remote locations specifically to evade regulations intended to protect the child. Longer work hours or risky stunts prohibited by California, for example, might be permitted to a project filming in British Columbia. US federal law "specifically exempted minors working in the Entertainment Business from all provisions of the Child Labor Laws." Any regulation of child actors is governed by disparate state laws. California Due to the large presence of the entertainment industry in California, it has some of the most explicit laws protecting child actors. Being a minor, a child actor must secure an entertainment work permit before accepting any paid performing work. Compulsory education laws mandate that the education of the child actor not be disrupted while the child is working, whether the child actor is enrolled in public school, private school or even home school. The child does his/her schoolwork under the supervision of a studio teacher while on the set. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a child actor is defined as someone under school leaving age.[1] Before a child can work, they require a performance license from their Local Education Authority as well as a licensed chaperone; a parent can only chaperone their own child, unless they are a licensed chaperone, and a chaperone's duties include acting in loco parentis and record arrival and departure time from the work place, the time a child is working, their breaks and the amount of tutoring.[1][2] A child requires three hours minimum of tutoring daily and a lesson must be a minimum of 30 minutes to count towards the total and with regards to 16 and 17-year-olds in further education, considerations are made in regards to their studies.[3] There are regulations and guidance to safeguard all actors under the age of 18; OFCOM guidance states a child's health and safety, wellbeing and welfare is paramount in television production and factors such as their age, maturity and life experiences can affect their performance.[4] OFCOM also advises that broadcasters undertake risk assesmsents, consider seeking expert advice and follow best practise.[4] Issues Ownership of earnings Before the 1930s, many child actors never got to see the money they earned because they were not in charge of this money. Jackie Coogan earned millions of dollars from working as a child actor only to see most of it squandered by his parents. In 1939, California weighed in on this controversy and enacted the Coogan Bill which requires a portion of the earnings of a child to be preserved in a special savings account called a blocked trust.[5] A trust that is not actively monitored can also be problematic however as in the case of Gary Coleman who after working from 1974, later sued his adoptive parents and former business advisor for $3.8 million over misappropriation of his trust fund.[6][7] Competitive pressure Some people[who?] also criticize the parents of child actors for allowing their children to work, believing that more "normal" activities should be the staple during the childhood years. Others[who?] observe that competition is present in all areas of a child's life—from sports to student newspaper to orchestra and band—and believe that the work ethic instilled or the talent developed accrues to the child's benefit.[citation needed] The child actor may experience unique and negative pressures when working under tight production schedules. Large projects which depend for their success on the ability of the child to deliver an effective performance add to the pressure.[citation needed] Ethel Merman, who several times worked in long-running stage productions with child actors, disliked what she eventually saw as their overprofessionalization - "acting more like midgets than children" - and disapproved of parents pushing adulthood on them.[8] Post-success troubles The failure to retain stardom and success and the exposure at a young age to fame has caused many child actors to lead adult lives plagued by legal troubles, bankruptcy and drug abuse. One such case was Bridgette Andersen, the star of film Savannah Smiles, who had a long history of drug abuse, before dying of a overdose . Examples include child cast members of the American sitcom Diff'rent Strokes Gary Coleman, Dana Plato and Todd Bridges. Coleman famously sued his parents for misuse of his trust fund and, although awarded over $1,000,000, filed for bankruptcy in 1999. After many charges of assault throughout the next years, Coleman died in May 2010. Plato had went on to pose for Playboy magazine and was featured in several softcore pornography films. She was arrested twice for armed robbery and forging prescriptions, and died in May 1999 from an overdose of prescription medication, deemed as a suicide. Bridges was plagued with many legal troubles as well as an addiction to cocaine. After breaking this habit, he became an anti-drug activist and traveled across the U.S., touring schools and warning about the dangers of drug abuse. He has since made several cameo appearances on multiple television programs. The popular television sitcom Full House made child stars out of Jodie Sweetin and the Olsen twins. After the show, Sweetin went on to develop an addiction to methamphetamine, as well as alcoholism. She later overcame this and wrote a memoir describing her experiences. Mary-Kate Olsen, as well as Tracey Gold from the serial Growing Pains, both developed eating disorders, for which they were treated with intensive rehab. Anissa Jones, best known for appearing in the sitcom Family Affair, overdosed on August 28, 1976 at age 18. Jonathan Brandis, who appeared in a number of films as a child and teenager, committed suicide by hanging in November 2003 at the age of 27 due to reasons possibly related to his lack of continued success into adulthood. Likewise, Sawyer Sweeten, a child actor who portrayed Geoffrey Barone on the American sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, took his life in April 2015 at the age of 19, after a period of depression. Drew Barrymore was notorious for her illegal and public antics beginning shortly after her first role in E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Barrymore admits to smoking cigarettes at age nine, drinking alcohol by the time she was 11, smoking marijuana at the age of 12, and snorting cocaine at the age of 13. At the age of 14, she attempted suicide. Another popular example today of child actors with post-success troubles would be Lindsay Lohan. Famous for her starring roles in The Parent Trap (1998), Freaky Friday (2003), Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004), Mean Girls (2004), Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005), Just My Luck (2006) and Georgia Rule (2007), Lohan has since run into much trouble with the law. In May 2007, Lohan was arrested on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI.) Lohan entered the Promises Treatment Center rehabilitation facility where she stayed for 45 days. In July of that year, less than two weeks out of rehab, Lohan was arrested a second time on charges of possession of cocaine, driving under the influence and driving with a suspended license. In August, Lohan pleaded guilty to misdemeanor cocaine use and driving under the influence and was sentenced to an alcohol education program, community service, one day in jail, and was given three years probation. The same month Lohan entered the Cirque Lodge Treatment Center in Sundance, Utah for a third stint at rehabilitation, staying for three months until her discharge in October. In November, Lohan served 84 minutes in jail. A sheriff spokesman cited overcrowding and the nonviolent nature of the crime as reasons for the reduced sentence. In 1990, actor and writer Paul Petersen founded a support group for child actors, "A Minor Consideration", following the suicide of another former child star, Rusty Hamer. The group seeks to improve working conditions for child actors and to assist in the transition to adult life, whether in acting or other professions.[9] Post-childhood success Ambox question.svg This section possibly contains synthesis of material which does not verifiably mention or relate to the main topic. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) Jodie Foster in 1974 There are many instances of troubled adult lives due to the stressful environment to which child actors are subjected. It is common to see a child actor grow up in front of the camera, whether in films, television shows or both. However, it is not uncommon to see child actors continue their careers throughout as actors or in a different professional field. Jodie Foster started acting at age three, becoming the quintessential child actor during the 1970s with roles in films such as Tom Sawyer (1973) Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Taxi Driver (1976), Bugsy Malone (1976), The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976), and Freaky Friday (1976). A child prodigy, Foster received her first Academy Award nomination at age 13, and later took a sabbatical from films to attend Yale University. She made a successful transition to adult roles, winning two Academy Awards for Best Actress before the age of 30, and starring in several successful and acclaimed films such as The Accused (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Nell (1994), Maverick (1994), Contact (1997), and The Brave One (2007), thus establishing herself as one of the most accomplished and sought-after actresses of her generation. She has also ventured into directing, and her directing credits include films such as Little Man Tate (1991) and Money Monster (2016) and television shows such as House of Cards, Orange Is the New Black and Black Mirror. Now adults, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson, the three leads of the acclaimed Harry Potter film series (2001–11), starred in all the installments in the series, and have since continued to act in film, television, and theater in their early thirties. Dakota Fanning rose to prominence after her breakthrough performance at age seven in the film I Am Sam (2001). Her performance earned her a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination at age eight in 2002, making her the youngest nominee in SAG history. She later appeared in major Hollywood productions, in such acclaimed blockbuster films as Man on Fire (2004), War of the Worlds (2005), Charlotte's Web (2006), Hounddog (2007), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), Coraline (2009), The Twilight Saga film series (2009–12), The Runaways (2010), and The Motel Life (2012). Fanning's younger sister, Elle Fanning also rose to prominence as a child actress, having appeared in many films since before she turned three. Miranda Cosgrove, known mainly for her role on Drake & Josh as a child, gained more attention for her role as a teenager in the show iCarly. Since the end of the show she has been featured in other roles, including as the voice of Margo in the Despicable Me franchise. Once she was of age, she decided to pursue a college degree in film at the University of Southern California.[10] Shirley Temple became a public figure and diplomat, beginning in the 1960s. Some of her duties included representing the United Nations, and becoming a U.S. ambassador in countries such as Ghana and Czechoslovakia.[11] Mary-Kate Olsen was treated for an eating disorder, deemed anorexia, but her twin sister remained less troubled. In an article with the magazine Marie Claire, Mary-Kate expressed the bittersweet nature of the twins' childhood. "I look at old photos of me, and I don't feel connected to them at all," she said. "I would never wish my upbringing on anyone... but I wouldn't take it back for the world." The twins now have continued success in the fashion industry with an estimated net worth of approximately $100 million. Since the begginig of her carrer at age 15 in 1999, Mandy Moore is one of the child star to have success in adult age. Drew Barrymore started acting at age three. During her childhood she battled with drugs, but today she continues to act in films. Natalie Portman took a small break in acting to get a bachelor's degree in Psychology from Harvard University before continuing her career as an actress. Rider Strong, known as "Shawn Hunter" in Boy Meets World, was educated at Columbia University and now runs a successful blog and published a graphic novel.[12] Neil Patrick Harris got his acting start in Doogie Howser, M.D. He continues to act in television, films and theater. Jonathan Lipnicki, known mostly for the Stuart Little films, now successfully competes in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.[12] Sara Gilbert is known for her role on Roseanne and is now successful as a talk show host on The Talk. Also from Rosanne, Michael Fishman continued to work in film, but behind the scenes and has since been nominated for an Emmy for the work he did in Sports Science. [12] Kirsten Dunst and Lacey Chabert both made the transition from a child actress to an adult actress with a rough patch including depression. After a stay in a rehabilitation center, Dunst was able to recover and continue her career. She proves that the pressures of growing up under the spotlight may not come without repercussions.[13] Roddy McDowall, who had a long and distinguished career including as the regular star of the Planet of the Apes series; Micky Dolenz, who started his career as a child star in the 1950s, grew up to be a musician of the successful 1960s pop group The Monkees, which had its own successful television show; Ron Howard, who, in addition to being the star of both of the long running The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days television series, became an Academy Award-winning director in adulthood; Elijah Wood, who continued his career successfully into adulthood starring as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings film series and starring as Ryan Newman in the television series Wilfred. Other child actors who have continued their careers into adulthood include Mandy Moore, Rose Marie, Hayley Mills, Ann Jillian, Johnny Whitaker, Kathy Garver, Tim Matheson, Bonnie Franklin, Melissa Gilbert, Danielle Brisebois, Erika Eleniak, Max Pomeranc, Christina Ricci, Shelley Fabares, Candace Cameron Bure, Karron Graves, Gaby Hoffmann, Hilary Duff, Molly Ringwald, Stacy Ferguson, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Lisa Whelchel, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Soleil Moon Frye, Melissa Joan Hart, Dean Stockwell, Fred Savage, Neil Patrick Harris, Michelle Chia, Shawn Lee, Joshua Ang, Aloysius Pang, Raven-Symoné and other Academy Award winners and nominees include; Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Scarlett Johansson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, Helen Hunt, Irene Cara, Reese Witherspoon, Hilary Swank, Christian Bale, Saoirse Ronan, Brie Larson, Regina King, Jennifer Lawrence, Lacey Chabert, Elizabeth Taylor, and Leonardo DiCaprio. Other careers Many actors' careers are short-lived and this is also true of child actors. Many actors out of personal choice that start their careers as child actors decide not to pursue the same careers as adults, Shirley Temple became a public figure and diplomat. Peter Ostrum, appearing in his only role, the title character of Charlie Bucket in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory became a large-scale veterinarian surgeon. Whilst Jenny Lewis, formerly of film Troop Beverly Hills in 1989, is a well-known singer-songwriter indie rock musician. In Poland, child actor identical twin brothers Lech and Jarosław Kaczyński became very successful politicians, at one time Lech being President and Jarosław the Prime Minister. There are times the stars align, the perfect storm hits, and the going gets good. These idioms apply to the making of “Meet Me in St. Louis,” a nearly perfect movie. The tetrad responsible for this delicacy of a film: Arthur Freed, producer at MGM; Vincente Minnelli, director; Judy Garland, actress; and, World War II. Arthur Freed, born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1894, had a happy childhood. The eldest of eight children, his family was privileged and middle class. After attending Phillips Exeter Academy, he worked on the vaudeville circuit, and eventually landed at MGM as a lyricist. Ten years later, in 1938, Freed convinced Louis B. Mayer to let him produce films. Judy Garland signed with MGM at age 13. Garland’s life has been dissected in countless journals and most folks are knowledgeable about her horrendous upbringing and tragic life. Needless to say, at 13 she was already a professional having performed since age two with her siblings as The Gumm Sisters. Although Mayer and the studio have deservedly taken the blame for her induction to chemicals, as a child her mother had already introduced her to “pep” pills for late-night shows and alcohol to calm her nerves. Once signed by MGM, Garland and fellow adolescent crooners Mickey Rooney and Deanna Durbin bided there time at the studio by doing bit parts until their “big break.” Judy’s, of course, was “The Wizard of Oz” (1939) in which she was cast at age 16. It was Arthur Freed who pushed Mayer to cast Garland; Mayer had wanted Shirley Temple. Freed’s ambition helped and hindered Garland. He was known as having a superb eye for talent and given this fine curatorial ability he developed what came to be known as the “Freed Unit” at MGM. This unit would eventually comprise the most talented group of writers, composers, designers, and choreographers working in Hollywood, many of whom Freed gathered in hopes of boosting Garland to superstardom. He worked her non-stop, simultaneously developing his own incredible career. Vincente Minnelli (neé Lester Anthony Minnelli) was born in Chicago and grew up in the Midwest, traveling with his parents who were tent show musicians and performers. As a young man, Minnelli decorated windows at Marshall Fields in Chicago, and then moved to the Balaban theaters where he designed and directed musicals. This led to work at Radio City Music Hall and eventually, Broadway. It was Freed who brought Minnelli to Hollywood and to MGM. Minnelli’s first films were “I Dood It” (1942), starring Red Skelton and the more successful, and interesting, “Cabin in the Sky” (1943), starring Ethel Waters and Lena Horne. Yet by 1943, Minnelli hadn’t solidified his position with the most powerful studio in Hollywood, and like Freed, was hungry to advance. In 1942, Freed came across a charming set of stories in The New Yorker written by Sally Benson. Entitled “5135 Kensington,” the stories were based on Benson’s childhood in turn-of-the-century St. Louis. Freed thought these stories would make a fine musical. Initially, Freed thought of George Cukor to direct, but he was called to service, so Freed turned to Minnelli. The original release poster featuring Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. Judy Garland was made to do “Meet Me in St. Louis,” and she was not initially in love her role. At 21 she wanted to play an adult, and told Mayer so. For once, Mayer agreed with her, and sent her to Freed to handle it. Freed, in turn, set up a meeting with Minnelli. Regarding the role of Esther and the plot in general, Minnelli wrote that Garland stated, “It’s not very good is it?” to which Minnelli answered, “I think it’s fine. I see a lot of great things in it. In fact, it’s magical.” Still doubtful, Garland agreed to start rehearsals on November 11, 1943. In 1944, when Minnelli and Freed began filming “Meet Me in St. Louis,” America had been at war for two years. During that year the U.S. Military personnel consisted of a staggering 11,623,468 troops, triple the amount of enlisted personnel in 1942. In 1944, American forces would suffer unprecedented casualties. Families would lose fathers, sons, and brothers. Women would enter the work force, en masse. Daily life across the country was dramatically altered. Food, gas and clothing were rationed. Popular entertainment often demonized the enemy, but just as often it served as escapism from the war’s worries. This was MGM’s cultural backdrop in 1944. The film opens with the introduction of the Smith family, one lovely summer day in 1903. Eldest son, Lon, arrives home by bicycle. Mom, Anna, and maid, Katie, are in the kitchen making ketchup. Daughter Agnes arrives from the swimming hole trilling the soon to be oft-heard ditty “Meet Me in St. Louis,” as she bumps into Grandpa coming out of the bathroom. Esther (Garland) arrives home by buggy, glowing from her tennis game. Soon beautiful eldest sister Rose and father, Alonzo, arrive. Within the first ten minutes of the film, Minnelli, with his fluid camera and perfect choreography, established the Smith home and the milieu for the entire film. St. Louis is preparing for the 1904 World’s Fair. Yet, this isn’t really what the film is about. The film is about family and home and what happens if either is potentially disrupted. We see few other locations besides the beautiful Smith house, as nothing else is as important. All the action takes place in the hearth, or close to it. Esther falls in love with the boy next door, a good, safe thing to do. The family celebrates the holidays in the house, and food is plentiful. The real drama occurs when Alonzo announces he has taken a job in New York, setting the scene for the most memorable song of the film, “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” which Esther sings to young sister Tootie (played by the remarkable Margaret O’Brien). After the song, Tootie has a violent outburst, leading Alonzo to thoughtfully cancel the family’s move and create harmony once again. Women were the primary audience of the film, and the film centers around six strong women; the male characters’ absence mirroring life in 1944. Equally, if not more important, however, is the trope that men will return and it’s made clear that female education is secondary to marriage, and that a woman’s place is to make the home comfortable. “Meet Me in St. Louis” opened five months after DDay. The unspoken purpose of World War II wafts throughout the film: where we have come from in our American history, who we are now, and what we will be in the future are all worth the fight. However, the incredible talent of those responsible for the film will be its enduring legacy: producer Arthur Freed, who created the modern musical as we know it, i.e. that songs are utilized to move the narrative forward, rather than merely interrupt it; Vincente Minnelli for his artistic perfectionism and iconic use of color, costume, design and harmonious movement; and of course, Judy Garland, who never looked so beautiful or so stable, and whose delivery of song resonated with unparalleled sentimental immersion.  Introduction In contemporary Western culture the term child star has become synonymous with a deviant Images type particularly of precocious young performers, monstrous of childhood. disastrous 'lost' stage parents, childhoods and adult lives have all become part of the way child stars are commonly perceived thus often rendering them objects of pity, ridicule and disdain. Popular accounts of child stardom to date have focussed on the supposed detrimental in dysfunctional business the psychological effects of early success show and parent/child relations which allow such children to become commodities. The idea that it is parents projecting their unrealised hopes and dreams onto their off-spring which creates the impetus for children to be pushed into the limelight is a common perception of the dynamic behind child stardom, as is the idea of such children as being ruined by the experience. In essence the story about child stars so far has been one of vulnerable children being by their parents and the fickle world of entertainment, and then suffering exploited breakdowns in form drug the psychological of and alcohol addiction and most commonly disorders. figure famously This the tragic eating child star as a was most construction of in film Jane? (1962) Bette 1960s Whatever Happened Baby the to which starred embodied Davis as a grotesque ageing one-time child performer, still dressed in baby doll clothes trapped both by her past and her sadomasochisticsister. This image of former child stars as figures of parody and derision continues to be reinforced in Western culture by various bad' former 'child For the star gone child means. example, stories and media sensationalise in has tales television of woe what stars appear on chat shows and programmes recounting been described as 'the has-been-circuit' (Bonaduce 1991). Characterised by phrases such as 'too much too young' and 'scarred by success', interviews feature also work to reinforce this negative articles, obituaries and newspaper foriner dies, tries to make a come-back or gets cast in a child star stereotype whenever a is loud The does film the message role. and clear; responsible parent not even major become their to child a professional performer. consider allowing I Within this largely middle-class discourse then, being a 'proper' parent involves protecting your child from the entertainment industry and being a 'proper' child involves not perfort-ningfor money: The horror stories of young actors whose childhoods end in parental estrangement, drug addiction or suicide are enough to terrify any into sensible parent giving stageand screen a wide berth. (The Guardian 22.11.00) These 'horror stories' have become part of the popular imagination, a litany of failure of demises promising youngsters whose are recounted, embellished and exaggeratedover and over again to the morbid fascination of readers, listeners or viewers. They are the tales of 'America's least wanted' as Ryan (2000) describes former child TV stars, forever hapless, inadequate individuals, children who have lost their only saving grace their cute appeal, - in a less than fi7iendlyadult world. Some stories have become almost legendary, their victims eliciting as little, if not less, real compassion as the misadventures of one of their screen characters might; Judy Garland's hands the pill popping ruin at of MGM, Margaret O'Brien being told her pet dog had just died to ensure she cried on cue, Macaulay Culkin throwing $20 bills out the window to try friends, firmly dope Drew Barrymore the and entice new on party sceneand smoking at age his fortunes Phoenix Jackie Coogan for his River nine, collapsing suing as an adult, mother and dying of a drug overdose outside a New York nightclub, the entire cast of Diffrent Strokes being arrested for various misdemeanoursand one of them dying of an overdose, Lena Zavaroni starving herself to death in a desperateattempt not to grow up. The list goes on and on and is a sorry account of adult betrayal, false hopes, exploitation and excess. Such individuals are often referred to as 'lost' in adult life, for example; 'Little Girl Lost' (The Guardian 06.03.00), Langford 34 Bonnie the title was of an interview with a year old Jones; in 'Child Star be Anissa dead, TV 'found' the to obituary of only when such as Found Dead' (New York Daily News 1976) suggesting a lifetime in a wilderness of failure death. because tragic a of and rejection, with public recognition now only possible it is interesting how the audience is never implicated in such accounts of failure and is demands the culture nor wider which child stars as a media product and rejection, and 2 By from their then writes them off as they grow up and away endearing childhood selves. centring accountsof child stardom on the individual pathology of the young performers and the adults who are supposed to be looking after them it has become accepted that child stardom is a kind of deviance which activates the worst characteristics of children (precociousness and arrogance), and their parents (greed and ruthlessness). That the trajectory for all child performers is one of disaster and regret has also become a standard expectation for child stars, even given some research which suggeststhat the majority of ' individuals live happy such go on to and productive adult lives. This study aims to both challenge the narrow view which such reductive psychological accounts of child stardom provide by investigating the social nature of the child star and also to question why child stars have traditionally been conceptualised in such a negative way. In order to do this I will be examining the way in which the category 'child star' is constructed by the media and will consider the symbolic value of child stars as a culturally significant phenomenon. I wish to relocate the child star as emblematic of our fraught both beginning first the the twenty relationship with children at of century whereby we fear image By to the they the grow into. romanticise what are going of child and yet industry both the conceptualising child stars as and a a product of entertainment intend I desire 'special' to the to manifestation of see children reified and adored universal demonstratethe complex nature of the child star as a social category which is informed by influences as diverse as mythology, the media, the economy, sexual politics and social policy. I aim to show that, far from being an example of individual deviance the child star is in fact a manifestation of much wider cultural contradictions surrounding childhood. Indeed, I will in is demanded that the culture symptomatic and constructed our argue way child stars are is defined being in 'child' the the who as contemporary society of complex status of different in all ways to the adult whilst being persistently commodified, sexualised and thus 'adultified' in the media. Cute they may be, but the idea of a child who has become a 1A 1998 Wayne State University survey of former child stars found that three-quarters of the participants felt they led 'normal' lives with 'normal' relationships with their parents. (Rapport 1999) 3 commodity does not sit happily with accepted standards of childhood experience in our culture. The child star therefore has to be understood in relation to the way in which children today bound are and regulated by sharednormative ideals about appropriate activities, behaviour homogenise to and appearanceswhich work and control childhood. As Rose notes: The modem child has become the focus of innumerable projects that it from to purport safeguard physical, sexual or moral danger, to ensure its 'normal' development, to actively promote certain of -capacities intelligence, attributes such as educability and emotional stability. (Rose 1989:121) Within this protectionist and aspirational concept of childhood, the 'child' functions as an index of civilisation and modernity with those who fall outside the normative definitions being pathologised and subject to the regulating authority of institutional holders of power. For instance, the child who is not deemed to behave 'properly' at school is subject to the dictates of medicine and educational psychology which seek to return the child to drugs behaviour through the normative standards of administration of or therapeutic intervention. The media too work to demonise certain versions of childhood which threaten the social order - the frequent tabloid denigration of 'wayward' teenageparents who live on benefits for example bears testamentto this, as does the construction of traveller children as deviant. In this sensethen the 'child' has come to be one of a select group of persons and phenomenawhich symbolise: a range of social anxieties concerning threats to the establishedorder and traditional values, the decline of morality and social discipline, and the downward in firm to to take a spiral into prevent steps order need disorder. (Rose 1989:123) This concept of the child as symbolic of something more than itself is a key theme of this study which investigates the cultural significance of one tiny sub-section of childhood, investigation demonstrate I Through to the usefulness such an intend namely, child stars. in illuminating the the the contradictory status of all status of child star of exploring both hope futurity largely in are society our 'ývho of and powerful symbols and children 4 In this sensechild stars, although viewed as very powerless subjects of adult manipulation. different to 'normal' children, are also an extreme embodiment of the 'child' as a identified in Thus conceptual entity. processesof reification and subjectification which are relation to child stars can be understood as micro examples of macro Processeswhich work to subjectify all children but which are generally more obscure and diluted than they are in the caseof the publicly accessiblechild star. The child star then is used in this study as an analytic tool with which to examine some of the tensions and power struggles which are inherent in our current construction of 4-:) childhood, as well as being the subject of investigation as a distinct social category. First, however, it is necessaryto define more specifically what I mean by the term child star and, as such, set the boundaries of the subject of this research. 1.1 Defining the Child Star The term child star is commonly understood to have been invented to describe the young performers in Hollywood films of the 1920sand 30s such as Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and Jackie Coogan. Such stars provided the prototypes for subsequentchild actors and singers although, as will become evident in the social history chapter, the figure of the special performing child has a legacy which reachesfar beyond this time and continues to the present day. Therefore, in this study 'child star' is conceptualised as a much wider in definition Hollywood than the category narrow would allow order to encompasschildren have before found in the who and since the so-called 'Child success entertainment world Star Era' and also to include children who have become famous through singing as well as acting. Although the definition of child star should logically involve a neat definition of 'child' definition 'star' to create a clear and unambiguous new category, as a neat with of paired up has define tried to either will testify, no such straightforward simplicity is anyone who Definitions delineations the of child are, of course, culturally specific as are possible. as to kinds ends and what of activities and experiences are considered when childhood 5 appropriate for those in the early stage of life. I explore the historical antecedentsof the dominant Western version of childhood in the Literature Review, but for the purpose of this definition it is sufficient to say that the 'child' is understood as a person under sixteen years of age, although most child stars are in fact under twelve. The incongruity of the child star with normalised definitions of the child and childhood as they are constructedin our society is a central theme of the study and therefore, the child stars investigated in this researchall 2 emanatefrom Western culture. As well as being a special kind of child, the child star is also, of course, a particular kind of star. Definitions of what a star is are nearly as slippery as definitions of what a child is due Ellis to the fact that the star is both a symbol and a commodity as well as a human being. 4:-) (1982) describesa star in purely functional terms as: a performer in a particular medium, whose figure enters into subsidiary forms of circulation and then feeds back into future performances.(Ellis in quoted Cook 1985:5 1) and views stars as primarily a marketing device and an 'invitation to cinema' highlighting how their appeal is diffused through media reporting which: both the that ordinary stars are plays upon central paradox of stardom: both both like a person and a and glamorous, us and unlike us, (ibid: both intimate. 52) both public and commodity, real and mythical, However, in his definitioný Friedberg (1982) focuses on the semiotic value of the star which fih-n fantasy the to the of narratives: allows audience enter The film star is a particular commoditised human, routed through a ... system of signs with exchange value..... the star image carries powerful fictional both the codes of character exceed cultural connotations which into fictional bind identification the to world of the us and work and film. (Friedberg quoted in Cook 1985:50) 2 Due to the limitations of this project it was not possible to take child actors and performers from all over the full a understanding of the way in which childhood is constructed in each culture world into consideration as familiarity inform languages be the media the as well as a with codes which and serniotic required would communications of each country. 6 In relation to classic Hollywood child stars such as Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney and Freddie Bartholomew, it will be demonstratedin a later chapter how their definition as stars was due to the same process of establishing their 'star quality' and charisma which Clark Gable Rita Hayward However, to propelled adult stars such as and popular success. Hollywood's this as study will make clear, child stars also had another element of appeal, namely their power to symbolise all of the 'good' attributes of childhood such as innocence and natural wisdom. In this sensethe child star of stageand screencoincided with and was informed by the child star of mythical adventure, thereby elevating the child star to a from its is It this construction of the separaterealm of existence adult star counterparts. beyond both 'normal' childhood and generalised child star as an entity above and definitions of stardom which render child stars such a unique group to investigate. The fact that the term child star has been appropriated from its original commercial usage to denote children who were part of the Hollywood star system of the early twentieth century and has since become a common phrase to describe any and all children who in achieve even a modicum of success the entertaim-nentworld serves to complicate the definition further. For the purposes of this study then a tautological definition applies, (as long in is is described the as their such media as whereby a child star anyone who definition Although in the such a circuitous achievements are popular performing arts). highlight first insubstantial the arbitrary constructed nature of the to appears at it serves be has to the term the come associatedwith a certain negative child star and way in which disastrous future brat the with pushy parents and a stereotype of precocious, over-confident be for by image the them which will media reasons and reinforced created ahead of an explored in later chapters. Finally, I wish to differentiate the child stars in this study from early achievers in other fields of endeavour. The term 'child star' has become an increasingly popular short-hand do describe for to the particularly well at something any and all children who press way thus losing some of its unique correlation with stars who perfonn on the stage or screen. Although 'child star' is still primarily associated with young actors and singers then we footballers have tennis and mathematicians players, chess champions, pianists, young also 7 being described as 'stars'. Howeverý interesting though investigations into such Individuals would be, this study does not include these children in the central analysis although they do pop up from time to time in discussion over the nature of genius or the definitions of 4normality' in relation to childhood. This study is about child stars of the stageand screen and the significance that their very presence and the way they are categorised and conceptualisedhas in our culture. Therefore, I use the term 'child star' in two different ways in this study. The first is used when describing a juvenile individual who acted or sang in a primary role in a stage or screen production. It is purely a descriptive ten-n and is alternated with terms such as 'young performer' and 'child actor'. A child star then is a young actor or singer who has achieved some degree of fame and recognition and who is paid for his or her professional services. The other use of the term refers to the category of child star as distinct from the material experience of any one perfon-ner and denotes the socially constructed nature of the phenomenon. The child star is also, of course, a temporary rather than a fixed, social category despite the lifelong repercussionssuch a label often brings. Therefore, the collective term 'child stars' is often used in this study in a manner which necessarily disregards temporal conventions to refer to a social group connected only by their extraordinary childhood experiences as they have passedthrough their child stardom at varying historical moments. .2 The Anomalous Child Star One of the main reasonswhy child stars are a particularly interesting group to investigate is their apparently anomalous status in relation to accepted,dominant tenets of contemporary Western childhood. Indeed, the question of how the child star has managedto continue to find a niche in our popular culture, given the protectionist attitude towards children which has characterised social and educational policy in the West in the last hundred years, is an intriguing4-:) one. 8 For example, the messageabout child labour is unequivocal in societies such as ours and is it that that morally, physically and emotionally states children should not work, damaging for them to do so and that adults who do allow or encourage their children to for The today's child is proper place undertake paid employment are unfit parents. for be in being instructed home being the to and cared generally accepted classroom or at the law in the UK upholds this view. Dictates on child employment state that children and in limited for jobs young people can only work a and a specified time until they number of fourteen date. leaving For thirteen the may and minimum school reach example children of day be in light for five hours to on which they are not only employed on any work, up including hours to to twenty-five each week, not expected attend school, up a maximum of Sundays and all children must also now obtain permits to work from the education and leisure services of their borough which is signed by employers and parents. Although children who work in the entertainment industry are also subject to exacting rules 3 and regulations intended to safeguardtheir well-being they are still regarded as a separate is industry from For 'ordinary' the only industry the entertainment children. example, case for to is twelve allowed to are children which and children under allowed employ which hours have long days three they their of to as regular education as a year of miss up eighty daily tutoring on set. There also seemsto be evidence of a somewhat lackadaisical attitude financial huge due hours the to and towards regulations over the young performers work is 'rule-bending' This time pressures which surround most productions. commonplace former from in following the child actor: a quote recalled I can't rememberbeing taken off the set becausethey'd gone over hours. I think a lot of chaperonesare quite liberal. I remember being on set till 2 o'clock in the morning, with 6 o'clock starts. (Quoted in SingletonTurner 1999:50) Unsurprisingly, in an adults' world, adults' rules apply. ' For example children under 5 may work for a maximum of 30 minutes and may be at the place of Singleton(Source 4.30pm for hours, hours between 9.30am 2 being those and only performance or rehearsal Turner 1999:44) 9 Those who attend stage schools are also treated differently from 'normal' children as a large part of the educational day is spent practising performance skills such as singing,and 4:) dancing rather than the literacy and numeracy which most schools focus on. That success for such children is more aligned to getting auditions and winning parts than achieving academically is a common perception which no doubt stageschool owners would dispute. The young performer is also separatedfrom 'normal' children in other more subtle ways. For example, in general children are no longer expected to contribute to their family's income in Western society and yet it is acceptedthat children who find successworking in the entertainment industry will raise their family's standard of living through their economic activity. Furthen-nore, the vast majority of children are not encouraged or expected to start their careers when still receiving their formal education and children on the whole are expected to be 'natural' and unaffected and are not required to maintain and managea professional persona. Against the background of our current dominant definitions of what childhood should and should not entail then, the experience of the child star begins to stand out like a beacon as incongruous utterly with the innocent and protected space in which all other children are be to supposed growing up. The child star is, to all intents and purposes,an anachronismof an earlier time when the welfare of the child was not a priority and childhood as a special So the period of education and security was not seen as right of all children. why are child be it demanded fulfilling Presumably they stars still are some need, and still appearing? by in by is children adult social, cultural or psychological, which not met either general or performers. Therefore, the first question to be addressedin this research is 'Why do we have child filled by do in be ' What they other play our culture which cannot satisfactorily role stars? have found fame in treacherous those the apparently early of who given experiences means life and our dedication as a society to protecting children from all possible danger and from the commercial adult world in general? 10 The second question relates to the way in which stories about famous child perfon-ners image in be framed in to to of the media order present an overwhelmingly negative seem the child star and the former child star. This also appears anomalous with our general hard try encouragementand support of children who and achieve something special. The first in into little back little Tommy the turns pat on comes a race a sneer when when Tommy lands the lead role in a movie. This sentiment, when naturalised through the print becomes media, a powerful tool in creating a stigma around the child star and former child star which can blight the individual's life and career until the very end. Indeed, as one haunted former child star puts it: 4 The words 'child star' will be on my gravestone. The question to be asked then is 'Why are child stars and former child stars frequently is denigrated I in ' the this the that ridiculed and question possibility will explore media? because it issues to particularly salient of managementand manipulation of children relates into beyond 'childhood' the the the star and world of child and of category which resonate in in lives By the examining way every aspect of children's and experiences our society. last have been definitions 'non-nal' the which shared child socially constructed over of a two centuries in the literature review it will hopefully become clear that certain strategiesof in by the control are employed media order to maintain the status quo, to reinforce certain in Furthermore, 'keep their to children place'. collective values concerning childhood and due to their location outside of mainstream ideas and practices around raising children, I investigating by Therefore, be the to consider child stars a minority group in our society. by the media, wider processesof they are marginalised and stigmatised ways in which insidious and overt techniques of discrimination may be identified which relate to other fall 'norm' the outside groups which The following section outlines what will be included in the proceeding chapters and how the central questions of the researchwill be addressed. Benedictus Leo quoted in The Guardian Friday Review 28.05.04 II Chapter 2. Literature Review The literature review examinesthe historical antecedentsto the creation of the notion of the (normal' child in Western culture and highlights the arbitrary nature of such a defiruition. The social constructivist approach to studying childhood, emanating from Philippe Ari&s'(1962) seminal work, is evaluated in terms of explaining the invention of the 'child' as a cultural category. Having established the dominance of a shared social definition of childhood, the child star is shown to be 'abnormal' or deviant and therefore a challenge to the ideal category of 'child'. Researchabout other groups of children who fall outside the dominant definition of the ideal child because they are exceptional in some way is in considered an attempt to place the child star in a social context. However, it becomes clear that even though they share a degree of common ground with other disenfranchised children, child stars inhabit a unique category due to their association with precocious sexuality and eroticised innocence - controversial elements which are often evident in their on-screen representations . The paucity of academic research in the area of child stars is noted and the significant gap this leaves in understanding the current status of childhood in our media saturatedculture is identified. Chapter 3. A Social History of Child Stars This chapter aims to contextualise our current construction of the child star as a result of social, political, beyond. last hundred influences the two economic and artistic over years and The history of the perforining child will be described in reference to changing forms from the as child star moved street to ideas about childhood and shifting cultural stage to screen over the twentieth century. The way in which child stars have always been be issues have to to symbolic of wider come and subject adult control and manipulation and fears about the moral order of society will be explored and thus the child star as an be figure established. of cultural significance will enduring 12 Chapter 4. Methodology In order to explore the status of child stars in our society it was decided that a method of analysing cultural documents pertaining to the group in question was appropriate. Given the multitude of stories and articles about child stars in newspapers and magazines it seemed a particularly useful source of secondary data that would not only provide a tellability index as to the status of child stars now, but which could be compared and contrasted to articles from earlier publications allowing an element of historical analysis as well. The analysis is divided into two sections. The first approaches the data using the techniques of discourse analysis as defined by Wetherell and Potter (1987,1992) and works from the assumption that meaning is created through text. Due to the way in which stories about child stars are almost overwhelmingly denigrating, and also due to the lifelong stigma that many former child stars report feeling about their early success,this section of the analysis focuses on the powerlessnessof child stars to control the social defmitions created for them in the wider culture. This powerlessness is related to the powerlessness of children more generally who are bounded and subjectified by cultural and social forces. The second stage of the analysis approaches the same body of data from a broadly structuralist perspective in order to gain a wider understanding of why the child star occupies such a significant position in our cultural landscape, given the challenge such individuals present to our dominant definition of childhood. Using ideas from Kerenyi and Jung (1969), Leach (1963) and Propp (1969) the timeless appeal and power of the child star to elicit emotion and provide hope for the future is explored. This power of the child star is impact to the to on adult sensibilities. also related power of all children The two qualitative approachesemployed to investigate the sociological status of the child data forin basis described the the analysis chapters which of one of above each star as follow. By designing a dual Methodology in order to investigate both the power and the is the to encompassas much of the complexity of the the child star aim powerlessnessof 13 category as possible, whilst still focussing the researchon the specific characteristicsof the child star. Chapter 5. Data Analysis I- The Powerlessnessof Child Stars This chapter of the analysis examines the way in which 'child star' as a social construction both to works subjectify the members of that group and to reinforce collective normative standardsabout children and childhood. Concepts of transgressionand stigma in relation to the child star are identified and techniques of dealing with what Goffman (1990) terms a 'spoiled identity' are considered. Chapter 6. Data Analysis 11- The Power of. Child Stars Drawing on the work of Carl Jung on archetypes and the unconscious, the idea that the child star is a modem day expression of the 'wonder-child' motif is explored and connections between ancient examples of that archetype, such as the Christ child, and day modem representationsand descriptions of child stars are made. The way in which narratives about child stars follow certain mythological and fairy-tale like conventions is identified through a case study of stories about Charlotte Church, and certain universal themes and features are highlighted which suggestthe significance of the child star may go far beyond its current culturally specific construction. Chapter 7. Conclusion The conclusion brings together the strands of analysis in the preceding chapters and in in findings to the the the the relation initial questions posed considers of research introduction. The argument will be made that in order to understand the current complex status of child is important beyond Western to go a purely social constructivist approach culture it stars in to researching childhood, and to draw on wider ideas pertaining to the universality of certain themes and motifs which continue to shape and infon-n our representations of 14 children. The ramifications of the research findings in relation to wider contemporary issues surrounding childhood will be outlined and the techniques of media subjectification which work to stigrnatise child stars will be identified as relevant to future studies of other 'transgressive' children as well as minority social groups in general. The cultural significance of the child star will be highlighted and the sociological value of researching this unique group will be reiterated. Finally, suggestions will be made as to potential further researchin this area. 1.3 Conclusion The overriding aims of this study are therefore twofold: to provide a substantive,sociological account of the child star as it is constructed in Western culture which goes beyond a purely social constructivist reading by encompassingmythological and structuralist elementsof analysis. to contribute to the current debate on the complex status of Western childhood by highlighting the contradictory demands we make on children to be both deferent. symbolically powerful and socially The following chapter reviews literature pertaining to the social construction of a particular brand of 'nonnality' in relation to Western childhood and locates the child star as boundaries the of the category. occupying a position outside conceptual 15 Chapter 2: Literature Review In the next chapter on the Social History of Child Stars I will demonstratethe malleability and tenacity of this unique band of children to be reinvented for every new phaseof cultural production and to provide entertainment in whatever form is required of them by the adults define who and desire them. For such a colourful and curious troupe however, a surprising lack of academic research into their status and cultural significance has been undertaken due in a large part, I would imagine, to the inherent difficulty of conceptualising such a disparate and temporally disjointed set of individuals as a distinct social group. Although as will be seen later in this chapter, there has been much reporting of the individual lives and experiences of such performers and also much textual analysis of film and television roles played by child actors, the consideration of the child star as a social category existing beyond the experiencesof individual children has not been directly addressed. However, in order to provide a theoretical background for the rest of this study, it is important to establish the child star as a sociological and cultural construct as well as a way of describing individual juvenile performers. To this end the following review brings together several strands of researchall of which have a bearing on how the category 'child star' is defined and conceptualisedin our culture. The first section of the review deals chronologically with literature which relates theoretically to the study of children and childhood referring to work by writers such as Mead (1936), Ari&s (1962), Jenks (1996), Cunningham (1995) and James and Prout (1990). There will be specific emphasis on the origin and naturalisation of the modem, Western concept of the 'normal' child and on the ways in which contemporary theorists have attempted to synthesiseapproachesto childhood studies in order to facilitate a shared understanding of the category 'child'. The aim of this section is to demonstrateboth the highlight fears definition 'normal' to the the child and and arbitrary nature of our of definition, those of which child children who challenge such a concerns which surround stars are one example. Having established that the category 'child star' derives meaning through the difference of its members to 'non-nal' children, I go on in Section 2.2 to explore the nature of this 16 difference in reference to writing by and about children involved in the entertainment industry and in relation to empirical studies of other groups of extraordinary children such as child prodigies and geniuses. The work of Higonnet (1998) and Kincaid (1992) on the innocence be images discussed then eroticised of childhood will of in reference to the subversive association of child stars with precocious sexuality and paedophilia -a synergy further which complicates the status of this group. Finally, research into media representations of children on screen will be presented as evidence of the child star's in central role reinforcing and embodying certain idealised versions of childhood. Through the inclusion of literature relating to issues such as the homogenisation of innocence definition the the childhood, social of extraordinary children and politics of intended it is the that this review will show that the child the surrounding child, image of star is a category which connects a -diverse range of research in childhood studies and which can be used to investigate wider cultural processeswhich work to contain and exploit it hoped Indeed, that the proceeding analysis children and childhood more generally. is focus for the the child star as a understandingthe ambiguous chapters reflect usefulnessof in status of childhood our media saturated society, as well going some way towards rectifying the paucity of researchon this specific group of children. The following section then reviews literature relating to the idea of the 'normal' child in Western society, a social construct which has been unquantifably powerful in dictating how in be do is defined to and our culture and what we expect children contemporary childhood both on and off screen. 2.1 The Creation of the 'Normal' Child Although the idea of studying childhood as a valid and important time of life is generally (1962) following Aries' in in interest this seminal work relating the to area surge attributed here it be Ages, Middle in Europe that the 'invention argued will to the after of childhood' from to theoretical anthropological childhood emanate the actual roots of our approach 30s. 1920s from the and studies 17 For example, Ruth Benedict's (1938) comparative study of child rearing, in Native American and European communities identified discontinuities in cultural conditioning. the concept of continuities and Rather than simply observing differences in socialisation techniques, Benedict explored the fundamental differences in how children were conceptualised and the impact that expectations of their skills and abilities had on their behaviour. She found that the 'dominance-submission' power relation of adult/child interaction which is so entrenched and naturalised in Western culture was alien to many Native American communities who were 'especially explicit in rejecting the idea of a child's submissive or obedient behaviour' (Benedict 1938:25). As such communities believed that the attitudes and behaviours in childhood set the pattern for the adult self and that docile obedience was not a desirable characteristic for adults, Benedict explains how independenceand responsibility in young children can be encouragedso that the childhood is self on a continuum to the adult self and not sharply demarcated from it as it is in Western cultures. To illustrate this point she gives the following example of an observed incident while sitting with a group of Papagoelders in Arizona: The man of the house turned to his little three year-old granddaughter and asked her to close the door. The door was heavy and hard to shut. The child tried, but it did not move. Several times the grandfather repeated, 'Yes, close the door.' No-one jumped to the child's assistance. No one took the responsibility away from her It was assumedthat the ... task would not be asked of her unless she could perform it, and, having been asked, the responsibility was hers alone just as if she were a grown (Benedict 23) 1938: woman. When compared to the discontinuity in conditioning as is the norm in Western culture, it becomesapparent that Western childhood is built on a different set of presumptions, beliefs being fact The that and ideals. our concept of a child is of a who is submissive to adult authority, non responsible and an economically non-contributing member of the family doesn't necessarily mean the child embodies these characteristics, but that they are live. fact, him her by in In they the working as a onto or social world which projected between discontinuity far Benedict to that the as suggest childhood went so psychiatrist, lead distress behaviour to severe mental in adulthood when which and adulthood could 18 least irritating becomes to or at used could explain the please others inappropriate and turbulence of adolescence: The -adolescent period of Sturm und Drang with which we are so familiar becomes intelligible in terms of our discontinuous cultural institutions and dogmas rather than in terms of physiological necessity. (Benedict 1938:29) Working at the same time Margaret Mead was studying children and childhood in Bali. She noted that in Bali, children were called 'small human beings' and that the whole of life was seen gas a circular stage on which human beings, born small, as they grow taller, heavier, more skilled, play predeten-nined roles, unchanging in their main outlines, endlessly various and subject to improvisation in detail' (Mead 1936:40). In contrast to the Western conception of the life cycle as sequential and consisting of a series of defined stages related to various ages, it was clear that the experience of childhood in various cultures was fundamentally different and that such differences could be observed,recorded framework the and understood within of researchprocedureswhich were acceptableat that time. In light of such early anthropological research,Ari& assertionthat Western childhood as a invention less seemssomewhat startling and more a separateprotected spacewas a cultural logical next step from previous comparative studies such as the ones mentioned above. Such early studies were already challenging the idea of childhood as a universal, homogenous experience for young human beings and yet because such findings were development (eg into Piaget field the child of psychological research rising competing with 1932, Gesell 1925, Burt 1935) and because they were incompatible with such rigid, 'scientific' definitions of the 'normal' child, they became somewhat peripheral to central debatesabout childhood for the next few decades.The idea that there was certainly nothing fundamentally 'normal' or 'natural' about all children was firmly off the agenda as the 1940s dominated literature 50s. the throughout the and child psycho-medical model of However, the discontinuity of Western childhood from adulthood as identified by such basis biological Mead, Benedict the than this and and cultural rather of as anthropologists 19 separation is a recurring and important theme in the Sociology of Childhood and was picked up again by the social constructivists in the 1980s. 2.1.1 Developmental Psycholoa The Definition 'Normal' Child the of - The pre-cursor to developmentalpsychology proper was intelligence testing which was first by Galton in 'Hereditary Genius' (1867) and was subsequently developed in the proposed UK by Spean-nan(1904,1915) and Burt (1935) and in the USA by Cattell (1936) and Eysenck (1953). The potential dangers of such invasive psychological testing became clear when the arbitrary association of intelligence with virtue (or lack of it) was used to justify sterilization programmes in the USA between 1900 and 1930, during which time more than 8000 people were sterilised for activities as diverse as chicken stealing and car theft as well for as prostitution. H. H. Goddard, a member of the Eugenics movement in America at that time, and a respected educationalist, ensured that the Binet-Simon test (1908) was widely used throughout schools to identify the feeble-minded and went on to publish The Kallikak Family (below) which clearly presented the dangers of the 'feeble-minded' reproducing themselves and served to reinforce stereotypical ideas about certain children being born 'bad' thus justifying their treatment as subhumanor at least as inferior membersof society: 20 MARTIN KALLIKAK v He married a Quakere, 3 worthy He dallied with feeble minded tavern girl she bore seyen upright worthy children She bare a Son known as ' Old Horror who had ten chiiclren'ý'ý I ý V- From thtie sefen worthy children came hundreds of the highest rypes of human beings 1ý from ' Old Horror's ten children come hundreds pi the lowest type3 of human beings k Fig I- The influence of heredity is illustrated by the 'good' and 'bad' Kallikaks in Garrett (1955) The idea that intelligence could and should be used to determine andjustify the life-chances of Mdividuals and that mental capacity was an intnnsic facet of a child which could be I: ) 1= measured, compared against others and which was unchanging and Z:) unchangeable into by politicians who saw an opportunity to justify stratified adulthood was soon poached 21 educational and social systems,on the basis of 'scientific' fact. The fact that the dominant group of educationalists, scientists and policy makers had the power to define those characteristics necessary for entry into certain social positions and educational establishments served to reinforce racist attitudes as well as establishing concepts of normality and thus abnon-nalityamong children. The fragility of such classifications, and the power which is inherent in the way that certain modes of seeing become taken as 'true', has been demonstratedby post-structuralists such as Foucault (1961,1969,1977,1979) in relation to sexuality, criminality and madnessand, later by Rose (1985,1989) who argues that even our subjective lives are moulded and determined by social and political forces. The power of psychological theory to shape lives could not be more clearly exemplified than by the techniques of intelligence testing which were utilised by Piaget in the 1920s. This 'ages and stages' theory of cognitive development was generatedin responseboth to the need to categorise and control the population after World War 1, and to concernsabout the welfare and education of children in general. Piaget's approach to testing, assessing and classifying children's mental and motor abilities formed the basis of the French school system and was soon adopted, with modifications, all over Europe, and indeed still underpins much of the school structure in the Western world today. Whereas the anthropological model of studying childhood had been leading towards acceptance of difference and a respect for diverse cultural traditions, in less than two decadesthe psycho-medical model of the child had led to the institutionalised superiority of a white, middle-class, Christian childhood above all others, which fon-ned the basis of a particularly pervasive standardisedideal of the 'normal' child in Western culture. The drive towards establishing normative standardsof physicality and behaviour reached a hold in USA to the the the when psychology was considered peak in post war years scientific' domain local, to the questions which were previously in answers of female knowledge. 'amateur', therefore and It) predominantly This paved the way for Dr Gesell, Arnold to publish generalisedyet very specific respected psychologists, such as 22 different following behaviour The 'normal' C) the statements about of children at ages. conclusions were drawn by Gesell from his study of just 50 middle class American children in each age group: At 2 years: There is little give-and-take in play, but much physical kicking snatch-and-grab,and and pulling hair. The typical 4-year-old: Quarrelsome; boasts and threatens. The typical 6-year-old: Highly emotional. There is a marked disequilibrium between the child and others. Lack of integration. Tends to go to extremes;oscillates. (Gesell 1946 quoted in Valentine 1956:3 1) Adjunct to such narrow definitions of how children do and should behave, came much how best to discipline and raise one's child (Burt, Isaacs, Winnicott, to expert advice as Klein). One of the most influential practitioners in the 1950s and 1960swas John Bowlby (1953) who wrote of the absolutely crucial relationship of the infant with his/her mother lack behavioural in later to the and attributed many psychological and problems childhood it). bond (maternal depravation Bowlby termed of a proper mother/child as at an early age By putting the responsibility for happy, healthy children squarely on the mother's family ideal Bowlby the the as the only suitable closed nuclear shoulders, reinforced of home bring The to environment was unquestionably the environment in which up a child. only way to provide children protection from the outside world. The concept of children as facet dependant of this construction of the malleable, and vulnerable was clearly a central (eg Europe America by informing throughout and child and was researchand policy now The Children's Act in Britain in 1948 and the Children and Young Person's Act 1969). Although the classify and control approach to social and educational policy was born out of developmental for desire the tenets to psychology is on which children, protect and care a based have been widely discredited. For example, Burman (1994) objects to the way in draws which tools of measurementproduce research objects and research subjects and developmental by descriptions in provided which normative attention to the way She sees psychological investigation as psychologists slip into naturalised prescriptions. ignores the theme psychological context which which of regulation wider reflecting a individuals inhabit, and views developmental psychology as constructed within social than area of enquiry. an as independent rather agenda, political a with and practices 4 23 Burman, along with other theorists such as the Stamton- Rogers (1992), finds the overriding aim of developmental psychology, that is, arguably, to define the 'normal' child, as an unacceptableand pointless exercise: The normal child, the ideal type, distilled from the comparative scoresof age-graded populations, is... a fiction or myth It is an abstraction, a ... fantasy, a production of the testing apparatus that incorporates, that constructs the child, by virtue of its gaze.'(Bunnan 1994:17) The Marxist educationalist David Ingleby has similar concerns regarding child psychology and extends the account of the child as regulated and controlled to the moment of its birth before: and even I start from the belief that practically every act in relation to a child ... reflects constraints dictated by that child's place in the political system... In psychology, however, this determination is not simply ignored, but the evidence about it is suppressedby the very methodology of the profession. (Ingleby 1976:153) That there is nothing neutral about scienceand scientific practices is now widely accepted', and yet the concept of the child as passing through set stages as he or she progresses towards adulthood and of the dangers of either missing a stage, transgressing the boundaries of a given stage or not being provided with what he or she needs at a certain stage continue to inform and characteriseour understandingof childhood. Even if we accept that there are some universal biological and psychological needsthat are common to all children, Woodhead suggests that what are often taken as 'fundamental ' (1996: 91) contextual needs. needsare actually about socially constructed, It was largely in responseto this construction of the child as passive subject of their own field began by defined that to a new of study adult experts socialisation, controlled and 80s 970s I the and which placed the child in the centre of their own social world and grow in For example Latour and Woolgar's (1979) analysis of the social construction of scientific knowledge. Cý 24 which started to listen to the child's voice and to reconstruct childhood in terms of children's agency. 2.1.2 Social Constructivism The publication of Ari&(l 962) Cenmries of Childhood openedup a new way of theorising about childhood by challenging the very concept of there being a universal, 'natural' state for children to inhabit and experienceas they grow up. The central argument of Ariýs' work, (which was based on French culture but which has been generalisedto encompassthe rest of the Western world) is that up to and including the Middle Ages there was no concept of childhood as we think of it, and that children were not perceived.as being tangibly different from anyone else: In medieval society the idea of childhood did not exist; this is not to suggest that children were neglected, forsaken or despised. The idea of childhood is not to be confused with affection for children: it corresponds to an awarenessof the particular nature of childhood, that particular nature which distinguishes the child from the adult, even the young adult. In medieval society this awarenesswas lacking. That is why, as soon as the child could live without the constant solicitude of his mother, his nanny or his cradle rocker, he belonged to adult society. (Ari6s 1962:125) Although Ariýs doesn't give a clear reason as to why children were not treated as special or distinct at this time he does assert that such neglect most likely stemmed from a certain barrenness lack terms to cultural of attributing in meaning childhood and a of value placed on education, rather than Erom incompetence or incapacity on the part of adults. As he baldly explains; 'there was no place for childhood in the medieval world. ' However, theorists such as Pollock (1983) and Bel Geddes (1997) have challenged Ari& thesis on the grounds of primary material such as diaries and letters which demonstrate between during Middle Ages and before, which the affection and care parents and children they claim prove that children were Prized and treasured as special and different people even then. Whether such evidence can substantiate the argument that childhood existed 25 then or simply confirms the obvious fact that children existed then and were subject to a degree of special treatment and care due to physical necessity is debatable. What gives Ari6s' thesis a weight which his critics perhaps lack is the way in which his interpretation located in is of what childhood a wider social and cultural context than simply on a is review of common practices within the family. The way in which Ariýs achieved this broad perspective on attitudes towards children and He from in look Middle Ages this the the to period. at cultural artefacts childhood was baby (although the the even mother and child noted that, with the exception of the motif of Jesusappearedas a small shrunken man rather than as a rounded cherubic figure) children were largely absent from twelfth century art: Medieval art until about the twelfth century did not know childhood or did not attempt to portray it. (Ari&s 1962:3 1) and that this suggestedwider truths about the absenceof childhood as a separate,special 2 period at that time. Ari&s' work is accredited with stimulating a new paradigm about childhood, which moved from biological to cultural definitions of the early period of life, and which was to form the basis of a huge body of research in the new field of Childhood Studies. Allison James describesthe paradigm like this: be regarded as that childhood and children's experiences cannot determined simply by their biological development. Instead....children and young people's experiencesof growing up are mediated significantly by culture, which produces a diversity, rather than a commonality of time both through and cross-culturally childhoods and that within this paradigm; the kind of childhood in tellability state about index of some that represent Aries - idea cultural artefacts disappearance debates in the has is about subsequent weight gained which one societies and various cultures Cý Meyoritz (1994) Postman (1998), Higonnet (1998), Giroux of childhood and children and consumerism eg Cý Cý (1985) - all works which will be considered in a later section. 26 the term childhood became used as a conceptual classification open to interpretation, and thus variation, rather than a simple and unproblematic description of a universal developmental phase. (James2004:28) Although the malleable character of childhood had already been identified by writers such as Jenks (1982) who described childhood as a state of being within cultures rather than as a 4natural' state, Hoyles (1979) who argued that childhood is a 'social convention' and Kessen (1979) who identified the American child as a 'cultural invention', this awareness of the socially constructed nature of childhood was made explicit in James and Prout's (1990) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood. This edited collection brought together, for the first time, researchfrom a variety of disciplines which centred on the ways in which the child is a constructed subject and which rendered the child and childhood valid topics of social, and especially ethnographical, enquiry in their own right. Historical (eg Hendricks 1990), anthropological (eg Glauser 1990) and sociological (Qvortrup 1990) strands came together in this new interdisciplinary approach to childhood which aimed to overcome the separatistthinking about the area which had characterisedprevious research. Within Childhood Studies a main element of concern which has dominated the field of has been the desire to make children's voices heard and to presenttheir experiences enquiry of constructing their own social worlds in terms of their agency. Studies such as Smith and Barker's (2000) investigation into children's experiencesof out of school care demonstrate the child centred focus of the approach. In this study the children were involved at every from being the stage of research, consulted about suitable researchmethods to being asked if they agreedwith the inferences drawn from content analysis of the gathereddata. This careful two-way researchprocess works to empower children and to challenge narrow ideas of what childhood is and how it is experienced, and ties in with another key concern (eg Archard 1993, Murray and Hallett the that of of children's rights new paradigm 2000). Archard argues that concepts of age-linked competence are arbitrary and that individual rights should be granted in accordancewith maturity and social context. In his for indicator huge the of age and significance children young people as an of what view they should be allowed to do and when is a further example of their domination and 27 it this, oppression by adults and that in order to justify 1 the interests of the powerful group to ensure that by its very definition childhood is inferior to adulthood: Childhood is defined as that which lacks the capacities, skills and powers of adulthood. (Archard 1993:30) Such concerns as to the political nature of the boundaries placed around childhood relate to a wider set of arguments around the very definition of a child which have been debatedfor decades. Neil Postman (1994), writing in responseto concernsabout the negative influence of television on American children in the 1960s claimed that childhood had disappearedas the necessity of leaming to be literate in order to have accessto the adult world had become defunct thanks to television's immediate accessibility. His fear was that children were being transported back to medieval times where the boundaries between childhood and adulthood were fluid or non-existent and where there was no educational apprenticeshipto be served as a rite of passagebetween the two statesof being. However, Cunningham points out that Postman's 'vision of a good childhood is not one in is freedom the which essence and happiness; rather it is good behaviour, a deference to adults, and a commitment to learning skills essentialfor the adult world. ' (1995: 180) This idea that children need to be contained and obedient first, and happy second, reflects an underlying fear of children in Western culture which Jenks (1996) attributes to a certain from 'little concept of children as savages'which originated early nineteenth century ideas into being human being be born than the to socialised rather as as such. of child needing Indeed, harsh Victorian child-rearing methods can be attributed to this perceived need to break the child's will and thus allow the civilised individual to emerge. Analogies between beliefs 'savages' far that time to at relating primitive in such practices and wider social identify. difficult to away places are not However, Jenks does not accept the placement of the 'savage' child as purely historical, but for that are always alive and vying supremacy as one of several constructions of childhood 'Dionysian' For 'rests the child on the contexts. example, which in various cultural 28 assumption of an initial evil or corruption within the child' (1996:70) competes with the image of the 'Apollonian' child who is 'angelic, innocent and untainted by the world' (1996:73) Jenks' analysis of media stories and reports following the tragic murder of Jamie Bulger in Liverpool in 1993 by two ten year old boys brought to light the complicated, contradictory ideas and beliefs about childhood which make up our shared definition of the category. The main problem of classification was as follows: If children are by definition innocent then they can't be murderers,and vice versa, so what are they? The way to solve the problem was through 'conceptual eviction'. In effect, the children who committed that dreadful crime were removed from the category 'child' altogether and were referred to in the media as 'freaks', (monsters', 'demons' and such like. In order to preserve the category 'child' the transgressorswere denied acceptancewithin it, thereby reaffirming to the public the essenceof what a child is - that is; not evil, not an adult and a hope for the future and/or nostalgia for good times past. symbol of Jenks' analysis of media reactions to the murderers of JamesBulger reaffirms the strength four the tenets on which the dominant Western ideal of childhood is based as identified of by Hockey and James in their historical account of the emergence of contemporary conceptions of childhood. They are: 1. That the child is set apart temporally as different, through the calculation of age 2. That the child is deemedto have a special nature, determinedby nature 3. That the child is innocent and 4. therefore vulnerably dependent (Hockey and James 1993) However, radical theorists such as Edelman (2002) consider such romantic definitions of but to to also childhood, render of other versions only repress not childhood and children 29 the 'child' as a signifier of values which preclude any deviance from middle-class right wing edicts of 'nonnality': The Child marks the fetishistic fixation of heteronon-nativity: an ... in investment the rigid samenessof identity that is erotically charged central to the compulsory narrative of reproductive futurism. And so, as the radical right maintains, the battle against queers is a life-and-death struggle for the future of a Child whose ruin is pursued by feminists, queers and those who support the legal availability of abortion. (Edelman 2002:2 1) That the 'child' in its current construction has such a profound status in the justification and reinforcement of a conservative social order is testament to the strength of the concept of the 'normal' child and also indicates the urgent need for the dominance of such 'normality' to be challenged. The next section begins by examining literature which deals with children who fall outside our constructed definition of 'normal' childhoods in one way or another due to unusual gifts, talents or experiences, and considers research which has attempted to locate these transgressionsin a cultural rather than individual context. 2.2: Exceptional Children and Child Stars In light of the literature reviewed in the previous section it seemsreasonableto assert that child stars are not 'normal' children in our society. The very fact that they work in a professional capacity negates their dependence on adults and challenges the modem concept of the 'emotionally priceless yet economically uselesschild' (Zelitzer 1985). The is in status of child stars as children contemporary society also challenged by entrenched is dangers It too the of precocity and of growing up soon. not surprising then ideas about that writing about child stars tends to cast them a'svictims of adult greed and cruelty, in Erom 'conceptual the category of 'child' altogether. to their order perhaps avoid eviction' Literature directly concerning child stars of the stage and screen falls into two main biographies former follow The tend to and autobiographies. categories a 'Whatever 30 happened to 'shocking' lives the about adult style expose of child stars (for example; Lamparski 1967, Yallop 1976, McNeil 1996), whilst the latter are usually preoccupied with telling the 'true' story of the behind the scenestears which under laid the terminally cheerful performances of the tormented star (e.g. Coleman 1981, Barry 1999, Cary 1997, Rooney 1965). The most successful of this genre was undoubtedly, Child Star: An Autobiography (1989) written by Shirley Temple Black when she was 61 years old and which was on the bestseller list for months as the public greedily devoured the 'shocking details' of her seemingly perfect early life. As the blurb states: All was not always sugar-sweetaboard the Good Ship Lollipop: she was made to perform in exploitative movies by unscrupulous studio bosses; there were numerous kidnap threats and even a murder attempt against her; she made a disastrous teenage marriage to an incorrigible womaniser... Zierold (1965) also lifted the lid on many Hollywood scandals in The Child Stars which reported in full the trials and tribulations of performers such as Jackie Coogan, Judy Garland, Freddie Bartholomew and Jackie Cooper. Putting paid to any doubt as to the detrimental effect of early stardom on young actors Zierold quotes forlorn former child stars at length such as Bobby Driscoll who won an Academy award as the best child actor of 1949 and then fell into obscurity: I really feared people. The other kids didn't accept me I tried ... desperately to be one of the gang. When they rejected me, I fought back, becamebelligerent and cocky and was afraid all the time I have ... found that memories are not very useful. I was carried on a silver cushion and then dropped into the garbage can. (Quoted in Zierold 1965:246) Whilst the neglect of the education and well-being of many professionally performing during in Hollywood those the child star era, is children, particularly who worked does have become it that incontestable, seem something of writings about such experiences a stylised genre with a standardrags to riches (to rags) narrative and a cast of ghastly pushy parents and Taganesque' agents and directors. Indeed even children who worked in the later decades of the twentieth century seem presumably much more enlightened 31 be desperate to by part pen-nanentlyscarred the experience that so many were, and still are, of. For example, Drew Barrymore's autobiography Little Girl Lost (1990), written when she was just fourteen years old and also a bestseller, identifies her dysfunctional family and her drug and alcohol addiction as the causeand effect of her need to act and be the centre of attention on a film set. Similarly, Angela Darvi's Pretty Babies (1983) describes her own and her contemporaries' experiencesas child stars in the 1960s and 70s as exploitative and mercenary, even though she admits that the thrill and enjoyment of the lifestyle for those few that were successful made it worth all the stress and sacrifice - until, of course, one became too old or too big for the roles. To illustrate this point, Darvi quotes a diary entry she wrote when she was fifteen to convey the pain of being a has-beenwhen still a child: I have reached an in-between stage - too old for a child, too young for an adult. Acting was my outlet, my distinctiveness from others, my joy and emotional expressiveness. Now I'm just like everybody else, and I can't bear it. I'm dying! (Darvi 1967 quoted in 1983:165) The genre of writing by or about former child stars clearly works to reinforces the dramatic long impact term that child stardom has on an individual's life and tends to depict and becoming famous as a youngster as a dangerousexperience. Interestingly, this idea that exceptional children are destined for unhappiness is not a new be kinds to to the the twentieth the one and subject child stars of century seem same of concerns which permeated writing two centuries ago about the perils of pushing children before their time. into adulthood For example, the eighteenth century enlightenment thinker Rousseauheld strong views on the importance of ensuring children did not mature too quickly: Nature wants children to be children before they are men. If we deliberately pervert this order, we shall get premature fruits which are decay has childhood neither ripe nor well-flavoured, and which soon ... be itself, feeling to thinking peculiar nothing can and ways of seeing, for (Rousseau foolish theirs. that to quoted in substitute our ways more Jenks 1996:3) 32 Furthermore, in his appraisal of Victorian manuals on pedagogy and child-rearing, Kincaid (1992) notes that any kind of precocity was viewed as dangerousto the future health and moral well-being of the child and experts issued the severest of warnings to parents and educators,for example; Children who are prodigies in learning, music and other pursuits, are generally destroyed by premature disease in the brain. (Quoted in Kincaid 1992:121) Given the prevalence of such spurious medical opinion it is no wonder the prodigious child feared by some of the more conservative and religious sectors of Victorian was reviled and society who needed to believe and have confirmed the 'naturalness' of the rightful place of the child - below and behind adults in every possible way. Kincaid argues that the Victorian distaste for the precocious child emanatedfrom a fear of sexual precocity more than anything else, a fear which he claims is still alive today in our: knowing to the strong even if sneaking aversion self-assured, child, the brat. (Kincaid 1992:123) In a rare attempt to analysecurrent hostile public reactions to child stars Joal Ryan (2000) explores the issue of why child stars are so often conceptualised as being cursed by their early success and why their attempts at adult careers are met with mocking disdain or indifference and their trials and tribulations with glee. The title of her book; Former Child Stars: The Story of America's Least Wanted captures the irony and the tragedy of the into mutated versions of their perfect childlike selves and adored child stars who grow up become publicly reviled for their inability to stay (cute' and 'natural'. For example, Gary Coleman, aka 'The Nation's Favourite Kid' who was the terminally tiny younger brother on the huOrelypopular US sitcom Diff'rent Strokes in the 1980slost all hope of an adult career he 1999 Working 1986. assaulteda as a security guard in when the series was cancelled in laughing became him 'washed-up a national stock via child star' and a woman who called his lived having His from to the trial. the publicity childhood potential and up pain at not 33 his inability to disassociatehis adult self from his childhood personahas clearly become his personal cross to bear: I long for days where I'm not recognised. I look forward to days when I'm not recognised. But since I've been on TV in practically every ... country in the world there's really no place that doesn't know in (Coleman Ryan 2000: 3) me. quoted Despite many accounts of child stars who have grown up to lead successful, or at least comfortable adult lives (such as Jodie Foster and Ron Howard), Ryan explains our fascination with stories about child stars 'gone bad' as a rather sinister way of reaffirming that we don't need them anymore, that their time has come and gone and that without us, without our support and adoration they are nothing. Whilst there is undoubtedly an element of schadenfreude, perhaps infused with jealousy, about the way in which scandalousmedia stories about child stars are presented,Ryan's theory cannot account for the way such stories become powerful tools of control in naturalising certain versions of childhood and criminalising others, and also does not explain how these stories work in relation to wider power structures which define and uphold the boundaries between childhood and adulthood. Following on from the literature reviewed in the previous section, this concept of what is in is fundamental definition to the normal childhood experience clearly and creation of the category of exceptional children in general, and of child stars in particular. After all without a benchmark of what is 'normal' how are we to know when to label someone as literature, However, the and almost all peer reviewed studies, exceptional? most of existing on gifted children are about the academically, sporting or musically talented rather than interests fields firmly located the the of of child actors or singers, and are within research developmental Psychology. educational and This body of work is enormous, (much of it published in specialist journals such as Gifted Child Quarterly) and ranges from advising parents and professionals how to identify a child ), be how (Adams 1985 1988) (Grinder to to to advice on encourage a child a genius genius to analysis of differences between gifted and nongifted children (Alexander 1985), to 34 longitudinal studies on the subsequent lives and careers of child prodigies (Bamberger 1982) to the provision of specialised education for the gifted child (O'Brien (1985) and concerns over the psychological and emotional well-being of gifted children who may be 'hothoused' (Gallagher and Sigel 1987). Unsurprisingly, given the centrality of the nature-nurture polemic in developmental and educational research, one of the major issues of debate in the psychological literature on child prodigies is whether geniuses are made or born, and what kind of hereditary or environmental factors may influence the gifted child. Howe (1988), for example, contests the idea that 'natural' genius will flourish in any conditions and argues for the importance of intellectually stimulating home and school environments in engenderingspecial abilities, whereas celebrated stories about child prodigies from earlier eras, including those about Mozart (1756-1791) who played the harpsichord at three and publicly performed his own compositions at age five, have tended to rely on the 'genius from nowhere' explanation which explains the prodigious child's talents as a mysterious gift from the divine Radford's (1990) Child Prodigies and Exceptional Early Achievers, although dealing largely with the psychological causes and consequencesof early achievement and the bafflingly inconsistent adult lives of so-called child prodigies, also includes some limited sociological insights into the function and role of such children in society and places the slippery, social nature of 'genius' at the centre of his study: Genius shows itself as the capacity to do something much better than it is defined by human beings can do. This thus most other people; what in turn is not fixed but constantly changesas we continually change our environment. (Radford 1990:34) Even given the changing parameters of what is defined as exceptional talent, the key be the to the demonstration of aptitudes and abilities which element of gifted child seems are considered unusually good for a child of a particular age in comparison with other In be in being then, that this terms age. can children of sense child prodigies understood of developmental being to the tenets the of psychology, with stigma of abnormal according 35 extraordinary deriving from the modernist urge to uniformity which characterises contemporary educational policies. However, as Radford points out, there seems to be a much more emotional investment in the exceptional child than such a narrow scientific definition would allow and the notion that certain, special children have supernatural powers or are 'sent' to earth to teach us something about the mysteries of life has persisted for centuries and surprisingly continues to hold currency even in our secular, scientific age. For example, Feldman's (1986) study of six child prodigies concentrates more on the why questions about exceptional early achievers than the hows, and concludes that high IQ alone is not a sufficient reason to explain such 'distinctive and revealing phenomenon: I believe that the prodigy has something special to tell us about the psychological purpose of human development - in effect, how potential' is fulfilled The prodigy gives us a hint about why we are here and ... ... what we are trying to make of ourselves. (Feldman 1986 in Radford 1990:28) Furthermore, a child does not have to be extraordinary in an academic sensein order to generate this kind of reaction. Indeed as Michael Newton (2002) describesin his study of feral children, the 'savage' child who is found living at one with nature becomes at once fascinating and frightening for what he/she can tell us about what it really means to be human and the negligible robustnessof what we consider to be our essential selves. Tying in Jungle fictional (eg feral Mowgli Book) Romulus Remus, the true and in and stories of children such as Kaspar Hauser and the Wolf-Children of Mindapore, Newton demonstrates how such narratives cross the line between art and life again and again as the protagonists become vehicles for debate about profound spiritual matters rather than being treated as in become, They a sense,more than simply children- a potential which actual, real people. boundaries break the through of childhood seemto possess. accepted all children who From the existing literature then it appearsthat exceptional children can be exceptional in defies long different that which is considered their experience somehow as ways, as many 36 'normal', and the very fact that they stand apart from the crowd seemsto ignite all sorts of speculation and interest as to the implications of their wonderful 'gift'. However, even though the child star is usually exceptional in terms of his/her talent for performance there seemsto be a certain hostility in our attitudes towards such youngsters that is not evident in public attitudes towards, for example, young chess champions, footballers or mathematicians. This is also implicit in the notable absenceof any academic studies relating directly to the psychological and social characteristics of child stars, suggesting that as a focus for researchthey have been overlooked for some reason and are be to taken seriously. To all intents and purposes they are all but invisible in the not literature academic on gifted children, as if they are not real people but simply charactersin the stories they act out and whose own lives become nothing more than stories themselves, to be published in biographies and autobiographies and discussedon talk shows, but never collated or analysed as documentsof cultural or social importance. However, far from being irrelevant to discussions about children and childhood I think the child star sits at the centre of, and potentially connects, several fields of researchrelating to our understanding of childhood in contemporary culture. For example, the contradictory responses of adoration and suspicion which seem to complicate and stigmatise the be being, having been, experience of a child star can seen as symptomatic of wider or of haunted have the concerns about commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood which the entertainment industry since the explosion of electronic media and with it the proliferation of images of the child, in the mid twentieth century. The next section considers literature which relates to images of children, paedophilia and the politics of fraught discourses how innocence the to these construction of are connected and childhood the child star in late modem society. 2.2.1 The Politics ofInnocence In Pictures of Innocence (1998) Anne Higonnet reviews the changing symbolic value of the innocence both history the through as construction of childhood and sees image of the child individualism. family As the to and about a commercial and social reaction modem ideas 37 with Ari&s, Higonnet identifies the mid eighteenth century as a time of major transformation regarding the status and corresponding visual history of childhood. Before this time she notes that children were portrayed, in appearanceand behaviour, simply as small adults indicating their future social status,be they Kings or beggars. The image of childhood innocence, she claims, first appearedin the work of British portrait Gainsborough, Reynolds and Raeburn who created visual representations painters such as Romantic of a childhood (the most famous piece of work being Gainsborough's Blue Boy 1770) for the elite, which later became immensely popular as prints and c. as commissions adverts due to the burgeoning massmarket of industrially produced illustration. In contrast to the stem faced small adults of earlier paintings, pictures of the Romantic child told no story about ftiture adult life, with its cherubic subjects languishing in a wholly carefree, beautiful, innocent and, of course, completely fictional, world of childhood. Such images were so successful, according to Higonnet because they embodied the following new life: to attitudes crucial modem block building family the of society a private, nurturing middle-class nuclear as domestic feminine between spheres a capitalist opposition masculine public and in belief in innate the the a political individual which was also reflected worth of literature of the time, most famously in Rousseau's Emile (1762) ferninised longings because the and idyllic versions of childhood such of nostalgic and also engendered: The modem child is always the sign of a bygone era, of a past which is distinct, being the so sheltered, so past of adults, yet which, necessarily lost inevitably is innocent, past, and therefore understood a also so through the kind of memory we call nostalgia. (Higonnet 1998:27) Higonnet explains how the modem conception of the child is built on such mythic how images such eighteenth century values of childhood innocence and naturalism and buying by feminine 'norm' became the of practices consumer reinforced as proliferated and delighted innocent Clearly the the and continues child image of prints of romantic children. 38 to delight adults -a fact that advertising agencies have capitallsed on for many years. Higonnet also considers the ubiquitous Kodak moment snapshots of happy, healthy, smiling children found in every Western household as modem day reflections of the qualities embodied in paintings of Romantic children. In effect, she argues, we take the fulfil shots which our expectations of what childhood should be and the image of the child invented in eighteenth Century Romantic art has become the standardised norm and inherited ideal on which we base our own visual culture. Higonnet observesthat the way in which images of Romantic children firmly differentiate the child from the adult and place them in a separate, wonderful, mythical world of childhood createsa desire for the child and for childhood based on the innocence which is portrayed. Romantic children don't 'know' adults and are also unconscious of adult desires, rendering it possible for adults to project whatever they need and want to see onto the image of the child. However, Higonnet claims that the last decadehas seennew images of children appearing in the media which are much more physical and challenging than the Romantic ones and in which portray children a certain knowingness of their 'innocent' appeal. Controversial in pictures of children smoking cigarettes and posing provocatively, such as the work of Sally Mann, flaunt the very sexual innocence that was at the core of the Romantic child ideal and, to a lesser degree of controversy but with a higher degree of exposure, many hinge to on the sexual appeal of children. advertising campaigns and popular images seem Higonnet concludes her study by identifying the legacy that the cult of childhood innocence has left us with and voices her concerns about the consequencesto the child when that inverted is as a slick marketing ploy: and innocence exploited th Century has run its course, 18 The image of childhood created in the The by being another way of picturing childhood ... replaced and is now image of childhood innocence is now in jeopardy not just becauseit is being violated, but becauseit was seriously flawed all along... innocence ideal The be highly to to turns out of the susceptible commercialisation. into has the concept of too turned easily all child as object of adoration the child as object, and then into the marketing of the child as 194) 1998: (Higonnet commodity. 39 In contrast to Higonnet's view that cultural representations of children have transcended into new territories, Marina Warner (1994) considers that the nostalgic worship of childhood innocence is more marked today than it has ever been becauseof our 'nagging, yearning desire to work back to a pristine state of goodness'. Warner explains how the difference between the child and the adult has become a dominant theme in contemporary due to children's 'observable, active fantasy life, their fluid make believe play' mythology and their supposedpreternatural wisdom. In effect, she arguesthat children provide us with certain sentimentsand feelings of hopefulnesswhich we can't find elsewhereand which we desperately need in an increasingly commercialised, fragmented and secular society. However, she warns,that the consecration of childhood to such an extent renders ordinary children failures becausethey can't live up to such exacting standards: Children aren't separatefrom adults they can't live innocent lives on ... behalf of adults Nor can individuals who happen to be young act as the ... living embodimentsof adults inner goodness,however, much adults may it in little. Children (Warner 1994:48) wish .... are our copy, Warner warns how the reification of childhood purity and innocence in our culture because, as she so paradoxically puts children more at risk of sexual abuseand exploitation describes forbidden like in it; 'pornography to the the aptly clusters sacredand wasps' nests chimneys' (ibid: 46). Kincaid (1992) also views the artificial separation of children from adults as central to the between how divisions in He adults and explains our culture. eroticisation of children ignorance binary distinctions built and such as innocence and experience, children are on knowledge and incapacity and competence, arbitrary divisions which all derive strength from the culturally defined sexual differences between the two groups: the division between adult and child ... has been for at least the last 200 free heavily that the of sexual specieswhich is child is eroticised: years feeling or response;the adult is that specieswhich has crossedover into insists it discourse base is definitional The on erotic and our sexuality. by loudly denying its importance. (Kincaid 1992:7) 4:) 40 Kincaid considers that without such a disassociation our position and identity as adults is seriously threatened and thus we continue to turn a blind eye to the way in which our instead 'evil to thus eroticises children, preferring vilify paedophiles as monsters' -culture turning attention away from complex issueswhich challenge our family structure and social system at large. Kincaid argues that paedophilia is a necessarycultural position conjured up as the perverted 'other' against which 'we' can judge ourselves as 'normal'. The paedophile then is the logical extension of our child-loving culture which not only presents innocent and pure qualities as being embodied in the child, but also forbids desiring the child sexually: The child has been made desirable, and we must blame someone, namely the paedophile, as much a necessarycultural construction as a real-life criminal. (Kincaid 1992:184) Kincaid draws attention to the huge amount of chattering about paedophiles and paedophilia in newspapers,magazines, novels, TV dramas, films and news programmes which, he claims, suggests an obsession with child-love about which there is only one acceptableopinion - it is evil and its perpetrators are heinous. Whilst in no way condoning the activities of paedophilesKincaid makes an important point here about why it is that the between inherent in power structures children and adults which are our society create the need for certain images of children as naIve, innocent and cute on one hand and why we seem to have an insatiable desire for information about abused, abducted and mistreated children on the other. With such uncomfortable contradictions in our cultural and it is little feel the need to shift all psychological relationship with children wonder we blame and responsibility onto a few monsters from whom our children need to be protected. Henry Giroux (1998) also questions the helpfulness of locating the site of child sexual looking 'evil than the of perverts' rather minority abuse within realms of a marginalised in general and at our projections onto and representationsof more carefully at our culture beauty in he US in In the to the of child pageants popularity reference children particular. highlights the growing tendency to conflate childlike beauty with adult beauty. Giroux desire, hold to that and then castigate those who respond children up as objects of suggests firmly for to that abuse with the perpetrator without stimulus places responsibility sexually 41 in creating, reproducing or also sharing that responsibility among all who are involved enjoying images which present children as innocently beautiful. Giroux considers the myth of childhood innocence to be disempowering and dangerousto children as it: not only erases the complexities of childhood ... but it also offers an for excuse adults to evade responsibility for how children are firmly by to the social and cultural institutions run connected and shaped largely by adults. Innocence in this instance makes children invisible except as projections of adult fantasies.(Giroux 1998: 3 1) This idea of the child as a blank canvas or empty vessel, powerless in the face of adult is control central to Kincaid's extreme constructivist understanding of the 'child' as a mere textual category which can be filled with or assignedany meaning which suits adult society and sentiments at the time. In such a figuration then, the child; is not, in itself, anything but a cultural formation and an object of adult desire, a ftinction necessaryto our psychic and cultural life. (Kincaid 1992:5) Given the potential emptiness of the category 'child', it becomes fascinating to see what kind of appearances,behaviours and qualities children are imbued with in popular cultural films TV and advertising campaigns as such representations products such as programmes, may be extremely telling as to our collective definition of the meanings which we ascribeto childhood and children. Indeed the child on stage or screen is surely the emptiest of them into its by design the and speaking only words put mouth all, consisting entirely of adult key following The research studies on media representations adults. section reviews some of children. 2.2.2 Media Representations of Children It is important to make the distinction here between research on children as media focuses in that on representations which of children the media. consumers and 42 Contrary to early fears about the adverse effects that watching television may have on in development, that children are, children's moral and social contemporary studies suggest fact, able to clearly separatefantasy from reality at a very young age and that they are For Buckingham's television. than extensive example, active, rather passive consumersof in has (1987,1993,1999) this shown that children construct mearuingas they work area becomes that television talking watch, and about a way of reinforcing their social identities distancing from, themselves themselves and of aligning with, or peer groups. Oswell (1998) also challenges the concepts of the child-as-victim and the child-in-danger in in internet his In to the technologies. study of reference media place of childhood he in is figured discursively as a problem, and the regulation opposes way which childhood by limiting interests that their access argues protection can actually work against children's to the 'world' outside the domestic bubble. However, studies on representationsof children in the visual media suggest that the 'real' is home 'ideal' the the child sitting at child whose image projected as part of audience and in demonstrates linked, Research this area on screen,although conceptually are poles apart. that the manipulation of the image of the child in the media appearsto be both predictably for in is little the actual experiencesof, or consequencesto, that there concern mercenary, (real' children, and surprisingly uniform, as children tend to be used to fulfil the samekind of emotional and psychosocial needsin various cultures. For example, Valerie Walkerdine (1997) studied portrayals of little girls in a variety of did history. found She in in USA Britain that the not only certain periods of media and fantasies fulfil Orphan Annie Little the self-made underdog about adult characters such as Annie 'deeply but dream, American to the that were the ascribed qualities achieving Instead (p84). traditional the to the of embodying child' of model normative resistant female qualities such as gentleness,vulnerability and domesticity, Annie was essentially a big tough the a savvy, with the edges, smart and child with mind of an adult, rough round heart, totally without family, education or social status and yet utterly incorruptible. In Little her the to social and psychological conditions which produced question as answer to Orphan Annie, Walkerdine concludes that the emotional appeal of the character lies in her is: that and she autonomy and moral strength 43 The apotheosis of a particular version of American-ness, the one which know takes immigrants and children of immigrants who may no longer Z-) their own histories, but who can create their life opportunities through guts and hard work even in the toughest of situations. (Walkerdine 1997:89) Roland Marchand (1985) in his study of the role of children in the still advertisements which appearedin the USA in the 1920s and 1930s also found that the i-mageof the child can be used to reaffirm desirable social attitudes: Of the supporting actors and actressesin the social tableaux, few were more stereotyped than the children. Two children invariably meant a boy and a girl, never two girls or two boys. Virtually never were children described or depicted in such a way as to suggest distinctly individual personalities. Except when the selling messagespecifically dictated otherwise, children were healthy, fastidiously groomed and attired and impeccable in behaviour. (Marchand 1985: 191) Unsurprisingly, as Marchand points out, these scenesdepicting the family circle had more to do with the public's need for a sense of stability and security in a rapidly changing society than with the social reality of childhood or family life: In an age of anxieties about family relationships and centrifugal social forces, this visual clich6 was no social mirror; rather it was a reassuring pictorial convention. (Marchand 1985:254) That images of children are laden with social significance is also recognised by Wolfenstein (1954) in her analysis of the image of the child in film and literature. Through comparing representations of children from several European countries and the USA she concludes that specific cultural ideals are reflected in child characters: Children as they appear in art, literature, drama or films embody a complex mixture of fantasy and reality. They represent memories and dreams of adults about their own lost childhoods, as well as feelings beings, (Wolfenstein those their about mysterious own children. 1954:277) 44 For example, Huckleberry Finn expressesan American ideal of the 'good, strong, 4-:) selfindependent, Dickens's Oliver Twist is sufficient child' who and whereas resourceful representsa noble if vulnerable and weak child in need of protection and gentlenesswhich Wolfenstein suggests corresponds to a major theme in British culture- that of the worthiness of the adult in comparison to the pure nature of the child. In Italian literature film there is a recurring image of the child as a saviour, reflecting strong associations and between the redemptive power of the Christ-child and the potential of all children to bear the cross of mankind and show adults the power of love, whereas in French films the sad and yearning child whose dreams of love are bound to be disappointed standsin contrast to the adult characters who already know this disappointment but are given renewed hope through contact with the nalve child. However, even given the differences in nuance in the representationsof children in these due literary to cultures varying religious, and historical traditions, Wolfenstein identifies a common thread in the portrayals: Children in the films of the four cultures considered here all have something in common. They are noble characters, usually nobler than the adults around them in one way or another, they represent moral ... demandsand ideals. (Wolfenstein 1954:291) Kenway and Bullen (200 1) in their study Consuming Children also found that certain stock images of children as embodiments of fundamental values and purity abound in popular in (1990,1992 Home 1997), Alone They the that, typified and culture. movies explain as the particular niche which children occupy in film and TV shows is often one of the quickimmoral irresponsible, foolish or adults, witted, wise and moral child who easily outwits thus exposing the artifice and/or corruption of the social order. This role of the child as is fairy-tales in the to a staple of and clever and good contrast greedy or wicked adult innocent ideals literature the wisdom of childhood and the about classic and reinforces inherent differences between children and adults. Ironically however, as Kenway and Bullen explain, changes M the ways contemporary between differences that child and childhood is marketed, experiencedand consumed mean 45 adult culture may now be much less tangible than in the past. They point out that the image of the child as selfless, honest and morally above adults: is not always the case in the particular world of children's consumer culture of which the Home Alone films are representative. Young It) people today are offered identities as pleasure-seeking,self-indulgent, tD decision autonomous, rational makers. They are more often precocious than innocent. (Kenway and Bullen 2001:86) The idea that the very cultural images which reinforced the constructeddifferences between children and adults and helped perpetuate the cult of childhood innocence may now be responsible for its collapse is taken up by Kinder (1995). In her analysis of American televisual culture,, Kinder describes the way in which the illusory empowerment of the infantilised is in the precocious child and adult reflected consumerist culture which works to encouragechildren to illicitly indulge in adult culture and to provide the meansfor adults to retain their youth by both keeping up with pop culture's latest fads and by buying into products which evoke a sense of nostalgia about lost childhoods. In a similar vein to Postman's (1962) argument about the disappearanceof childhood referred to earlier in this identified blurring (1985) has Meyrowitz this of the states of childhood and also review, demystifies the adult authority and media which adulthood as a consequenceof electronic both knowledge. He that as a result adult claims wisdom and provides children with adult ' 'middle-region, towards all-age role. a and child roles shift In their conclusion to Consuming Children Kenway and Bullen agree that childhood is in that changing and we are entering a new stage the construction and reconstruction of between demarcation the education, entertaim-nentand advertising childhood and youth as blur boundaries trans and shift: generational collapse and lives has forms in its the transformed of various consumer-media culture family institutions the the the the and, ultimately, school and of children, 'nature' of childhood. (Kenway and Bullen 2001:9) Although Kenway and Bullen's theory that the young are no longer constructed simply as knowing but to themselves for seems consumers and as powerful adult pleasure, sites 46 describe current social changeson one level, it could be argued that it underestimatesthe strength of the myth of childhood innocence which is inherent in the cultural and political institutions of our society and which is blatantly manifested in representationsof children in the media. Indeed, as Kincaid's (1992) analysis of media images of children demonstrates,the form in take children popular culture is startlingly homogenousand blatantly erotic, with icons of childhood generally being, 'big-eyed, kissy-lipped blonde figures'. He notes that Jackie Coogan, Shirley Temple, Ricky Schroeder,Drew Barrymore, River Phoenix and Macaulay Culkin all epitomised this Western version of the idealised child, with the white skin/blonde hair combination signifying the ultimate in innocence. Kincaid arguesthat by highlighting the very aspectsof children which appeal to paedophiles (such as their purity and 'beautifully empty' look) this recurring image of the child in popular culture clearly fulfils erotic longings for the child which are largely unremarkedupon. Kincaid documents how the eroticisation of certain body parts of such children, the bottom in particular, is included in many films which have gratuitous swimming, bathing or un-dressing for bed scenesas well as scenesof spankingsor beatings: the image of the cute, huggable, beatable child is likely so powerful that we not only cannot do without it but cannot even recognise our own has become It need. secondnature, this desire... in our minds and in our art and in our lives. When somebody brings it to our attention therefore, it seemsabsurd. (Kincaid 1992:375) In his analysis of the appeal of Shirley Temple in the 1920s and 1930s, Bret Wood (1994) also describes as peculiar the way in which a tiny child imbued with qualities of both sensual precociousness and childish na1vet6 in her film roles was considered utterly acceptable to the movie-going public. In the infamous Baby Burlesques three year old Temple stood in her panties winking, smiling and shaking her shoulders and at the age of five she played a professional seductress dressed in black lace lingerie in Polly Tix in Washington (1933). 'ý> Embodying wifely 4D devotion, affection, generosity and virtues of feminised became Woods Temple that the argues vulnerability ultimate movie star, rescued 47 from poverty by handsome sugar daddies in her films time and again and yet innocent enough to be totally unthreatening: Temple's. popularity was a distinct backlash against the gold-diggers played by Mae West and Jean Harlow ... Such women were too intimidating to the conservative, upper-middle-c lass male, so Temple in, stepped a stunted figure of feminine sexuality in an era of economy (Wood 1994:34) and restriction. This use of the performing child to represent that which is missing or lost in adult society has also been recorded in a quite different social context by Steedman(1995) in her study of child acrobats and actors in Victorian England. According to Steedman,the individual and personal history that a child embodied came to be used to representhui-naninteriority and the unconscious in this period. The 'strange dislocations' of the child acrobat in drew performing public spaces attention to debates around the proper treatment of in did. However, factory the the children much children sameway as chimney sweeps and fact that the acrobats were performing for the pleasure of adults complicated such for felt The an audience and the sentiments. pity at seeing children perform contortions desire of the audience to see such performances is identified by Steedmanas illustrative of the inherent paradox of childhood which has so complicated the relationship between adults and children since the eighteenthcentury: desires both the and social repositories of adults' children were .... beings, who lived in social worlds and networks of social and economic imagination. (Steedman 1995: 97) in the adult relationships, as well as This duality of childhood as both a lived experience and an idea to be used by adults to fulfil deep-seatedlongings seems as relevant to today's child stars as it did to the little has Steedinan Indeed, London. the Victorian observes, performing child as acrobats of long had, and probably will always have, profound meaningsprojected onto it: The search is for the self, and the past that is lost and gone; and... since th has lost 18 the come to assumethe shape the end of the object century, 174) 1995: (Steedman form of a child. and 48 2.3 Conclusion The literature reviewed in this chapter has explained how our concept of the 'normal' child has been built upon a conceptual and material separation of adults and children over the last two hundred years, and how the ideal of childhood innocence has been and continues to be division. to this central The second section examined the implications of tl-iis arbitrary separation to those children who fall outside the socially constructed boundaries of by being childhood exceptional in some way, and reviewed related researchconcerning the sexualisation and commercialisation of the image of the child. By focussing on a cross section of researchon gifted and precociously able children, paedophilia, consumerism and media representations of children it has been shown that a multitude of competing discourses underpin our current construction of the category 'child star'. This complex range of influences renders such individuals objects of concern, desire, revulsion, fascination, envy or pity depending on the angle of the lens through which we gaze at them have by I it is is 'emptiness' their that to this and shown represent whatever required very audiencethat most comprehensively determinesand defines the child star. It has been demonstrated that autobiographical and biographical literature pertaining to in has been but the that there child stars is abundant,, way which no academic researchon the category 'child star' is constructed in the media and how such categorisationmay carry fill. It to that the this current researchis intended significant meaning in our culture. is gap This chapter has contextualised the child star within existing theoretical understandings of 'normal' and 'extraordinary' children. It has demonstrated that the child star derives its different from being both 'normal' from children and meaning and cultural significance different from other 'extraordinary' children such as academic geniuses and feral children. The next chapter considers the contemporary child star as a product of both its own fame ideas and entertainment. childhood, about changes in genealogy and wider Z-: ) The Social History of the Child Star demonstratesthe universality and cultural specificity of figures hall the to the child star in main young performers and also provides a useful guide fame. of 49 Chapter 3: A Social History of Child Stars The previous chapter identified child stars as 'abnormal' in relation to the constructed ideal tenets of Western childhood due both to their unusual childhood experiences and their association with precocious sexuality and the commerclalisation of childhood. This chapter aims to explore the specific history of the child star in more detail by tracing the social, cultural and economic influences which contributed to the emergence of the group as a distinct and culturally significant phenomenon in the twentieth century. Although the child star in our modem understanding of the term was a product of the wider Hollywood star system in the 1920s and 30s, the concept of certain children as deserving ZD is recognition and adoration an ancient and universal one. Indeed, one could argue that in Western culture at least, the Christ child was the very first child star. Certainly the overwhelming popularity of the 'Virgin and Child' and the 'Adoration of the Kings' as artistic subject matter from the twelfth century onwards pays testamentto the fundamental importance and endurance of the image of the reified, beautiful child as a symbol of preternatural wisdom and redemption. The association of the purity and hope represented by the baby Jesus with the adorable child performer was one which Hollywood clearly seized upon with their troop of angelic starlets such as Shirley Temple and Jackie Coogan. The impact of mythical and symbolic influences on the creation and recreation of the child star is explored in depth in a later chapter which examines the universal significance of the 'wonder-child' archetype. For the present however, this chapter is concerned with the material rather than figurative antecedents of today's child stars, namely the child actors and performers who have degrees of success and recognition, since antiquity. recurred, with varying Whilst a instances history is throughout of child performers comprehensive account of all recorded beyond the scope of this study, what follows is a series of snapshotsof key periods when due in important, became to often changes modes of particularly visible or child perfori-ners demand. cultural production or public 50 The metamorphosis of the child performer into the child star will be shown to be a process involving a gradual shift in emphasisfrom what a child can do as well as an adult, to what a child can do which encapsulates the romantic ideal of that which is charinIng and 'childlike'. That this shift from the functional to the allegorical coincided with wider in changes the status of children over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries illustrates both the socially constructed nature of the child star and the usefulness of analysing attitudes towards child performers in order to gaugebroader opinions about childhood in general. What I hope to demonstrateis the extent to which the performing child has never been a neutral category and that attitudes towards children in general, the theatre in particular and wider economic, religious and social issues have all played a part in their construction and reconstruction over time. The culmination of this has been the modem image of the child star, a cultural stereotypewhich has become enshrined in the collective consciousnessas a peculiar mix of precocious talent, synthetic charm and unhappy misfortune. 3.1 Early Child Actors Putting aside the myriad forgotten and unrecorded amateur child street performers who have doubtless danced, tumbled and begged their way through all the marketplaces of history, the first tenuous evidence of children performing professionally on stage comes from ancient Greece. Griffiths (1997) claims, from a textual analysis of Greek extant tragedy, that child parts were cued in differently and more explicitly than adult parts and indeed by that characters child child were played concludes, somewhat inconclusively, individuals be biographies the can only speculated of such actors, although social status and upon. It is not until Elizabethan England that child actors are well documented both on and off boys played the parts of women and sometimes old men, as well as stage, when young Shakespeare's Several in Shakespearian plays capitalise on the effect of of plays. children, boys acting women, who then take on disguise as boys and the use of child actors was an to that appear on stage at as women not allowed productions were of such part intrinsic time. The Puritans, needless to say, disapproved of the theatre in general and were 51 particularly scandalized by boys cross-dressing as women. However, regardless of religious indignation, the young actors proved so popular that two whole acting companies were created in London with solely child performers - the Children of the Chapel Royal and the Paul's Boys. These boys' companies consisted of eight to twelve boys of various ages and types, some of whom seemedto have been pressed into service against their will due to their appealing looks and voice. There is evidence even from this time that certain child actors had 'star' quality and were lauded for their individual talents. In 1603 Ben Jonson wrote a moving epitaph of one such actor, Solomon Pavy, who had performed in many of his plays. Pavy was pressed into service in 1600 at the age of 10 and died three years later. Jonson's moving epitaph suggests that the child acted old age too well and laments the cruelty of fate in taking him so young: Yearshe numberedscarce -thirteen Whenfates turnd cruel, Yet threefill'd zodiacs had he been The stage'Sjewel.And did act, what now we moan, Old men so duly, As, sooth, the Parcae [the three Fates] thought him one, He play'd so truly (Jonson 1603 quoted on www. ise.uvic. ca/Library/SLTnoframes/stage/childactors.html) The boys' companies gradually fell out of favour as they were involved in various scandals in the late sixteenth and early seventeenthcentury culminating in a disastrousperformance by Eastward Ho Jonson, Marston and Chapman in 1605 by the Children of the Chapel. of The play contained a passageabout Scots which offended King James so much that the Children lost their royal patronage and the authors were briefly imprisoned. Apart from a froml637-42, interest Beeston's Boys the the time of the short resurgenceof company with later have children's companies was over - stage children of periods would never such a respectedstatus again. The shift from the use of children as actors to freshen up ensemble pieces to the idea of a from being to the realisation of worthy of special attention seemed arise particular -child as the potential entertainment and fiscal value of an individual child who was in some way in form This the came of the eighteenth century musical prodigy, revelation extraordinary. 52 the most famous of this impressive and precociously talented group being Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) who began to play the harpsichord at three and at five his first Allegro', 'Andante composed an giving public performance at that age to gasps and it Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47) In the of wonden-nent. was next century who most impressed, giving his first concert as a professional pianist at nine and composing 'truly remarkable' pieces at the ages of ten and eleven. Others in this illustrious category included Paganini, Liszt and Beethoven, although the link between 'natural genius' and indulgent has be The to and wealthy parents yet explained psychologically. popularity and peculiarity of such child prodigies is apparent from the following excerpt of a letter to the Royal Society of Music describing an eye witness account of one of Mozart's early performances: If I was to send you a well attested account of a boy who measured it he feet in height, than eight years of age, seven was no more when Society. be Royal the the notice of might considered as not undeserving The instance which I now desire you will communicate to that learned body, of as early an exertion of most extraordinary musical talents, (Mozart) I to their to a attention...... carried seemsperhaps equally claim by English duet, gentleman to some which was composed an manuscript favourite words in Metastasio's opera of Demosoonte. My intention in have to this an manuscript composition was carrying with me irrefragable proof of his abilities, as a player at sight, it being absolutely impossible that he could have ever seenthe music before. The score was in he began desk, his the to than symphony a play no sooner put upon most masterly manner, as well as in the time and stile which I intention the the mention this of composer. corresponded with in fail because these the particulars often masters greatest circumstance, I His first trial..... extemporary compositions also, of which was on the been have invention his to most genius and a witness, prove astonishing... (Account of a very remarkable young Musician. In a Letter from the Honourable Daines Barrington, F.R.S. to Mathew Maty, M. C. Sec. R. S. Received November 28,1769 net) published on www. open-mozart. There was evidently a place for prodigious children in- popular entertainment and the The in is identifying this discovering way piece. palpable wonders young or of excitement 'extraordinary' 'astonishing' 'genius', described Mozart clearly put and as a is in which 53 him on a different plane to 'normal' children and such dramatic language set the tone for the construction of the Victorian 'infant phenomenon' which is explored in the next section. 3.2 The Infant Phenomenon Clearly, the public's appetite for remarkable children had been identified and it was arguably the musical prodigies of the eighteenth century who paved the way for the explosion of all manner of child performers in Victorian England, who consisted not only but 'prodigies' of also acrobats, singers, dancersand actors. Waters (1996), in her study of child performers in the early and mid-Victorian theatre notes three salient features of the stage child which still seem relevant today, namely; 'the emphasis on the marvellous, the publicity mongering and the parental shrewdness in exploiting a child's talent.' (Waters 1996:78). Certainly all three elements apply to Master William performer Henry West Betty, the first child to really take London and the provinces by stonn and who apparently engendered mass hysteria among his audiences. Although his career only lasted three years from his debut in Belfast in 1803 to his last in London in 1806 'Betty mania' provided fodder do for the the time, much now. There was press of much as stories about child stars even one famous occasion when the Prime Minister, Pitt, apparently adjourned the House boy Commons be in Betty's Hamlet. The to that time star was of see so members might his (Playfair On have 1967). Bonaparte' 'divided there the to one side was said world with him 'Infant Rosclus' by the the and, on masses who named royal patronage and idolisation the other a more sceptical assessment of his talents by professional actors and actresses him described Mrs Siddons the witheringly who such as indomitable 'a as: very clever, 79). Waters 1996: (1874 boy, but quoted in pretty nothing more' In Betty's wake came a host of 'young wonders' or 'Infant prodigies' including the Infant Hercules, whose gift seemsclear from his name, and the more obscure Infant Candlesnuffer like however, One be attracted audiences element guessedat. whose special talent can only image the the 'naturalness', of child romantic characterised which an attribute no other - 54 which was gaining currency at this time through the work of poets and artists such as Wordsworth and Blake: As far as one can judge, what attracted audiences to child performers was the apparentspontaneity of their performances; from Betty onwards, the searchwas for untaught, natural genius. (Waters 1996:86) Ironically however, such 'natural genius', especially in the arenasof acrobatics and dance, was often the result of fierce rearing and training techniques. As Steedman(1995) notes in her study of Victorian street and stagechild acrobatsand contortionists: The child-acrobat was used to articulate ideas about child nurture and ... cruel and improper parental treatment of children in the same way as chimney sweepsand factory children were. (Steedman1995:16) The harsh training techniques employed by parents or the stereotypically heartless showmen who bought children from their families were recorded in detail and immortalised in literature, fixing forever the image of the abusedand exploited performing in child the collective psyche: (he) beat her when she would not dance the rope, and starved her when did her to she growth. prevent (Sir Walter Scott, Peveril of the Peak 1820 quoted in Steedman1995:16) Lee: this here is my boy Johnny, and he's going to do a spring and jump double then turn somersaulton the ground a onto my shoulder, and Crowd: And what are you going to do with yourselfT Lee: Why, take the money! (G.R Sims, Master and Man. Play 1889 quoted in Steedman1995:16) The mistreatment of such children also brought up difficult, and to this day still body the the the the of parent over and rights child's of ownership contentious, issues about Or do belong they Did to the to wished? the child with as the rights of the child. parent had to individual the to protert'? a responsibility state the whom rights with was child an The shift towards the latter viewpoint had already begun in Victonan society with the for (1876) Act Education which rendered schooling compulsory establishment of the 55 children under 10 and the Factory Act (1833) which limited child labour. Lord Shaftesbury's last campaign to rescue child workers was the 'Children's Dangerous PerformancesAct of 1879' which outlawed putting a child under 14 through a performance that was likely to endangerlife or limb. However, the image of cruel parents submitting their underfed children to hours of torturous training in order to line their own pockets persisted even though the training of a in child a family craft was generally regarded as 'the epitome of symbiosis, trust and responsibility' in Victorian society (Steedman 1995:102). To be a performer was somehow being already cast as incongruous with being a 'proper' child with 'proper' parents. Another common sight on Victorian streets were the Italian child street musicians whose Neapolitan families were paid a fixed sum for the services of their child by 'Padroni' poor with the assurance that their offspring would be clothed, fed and taught a musical instrument. These 'little slaves of the harp' (Zucchi 1999) were the subject of much scandal all over Europe and America, associatedas they were with child prostitution and the white slave trade, and the evil Padrone 'was to become the stock-type of socio-fiction and campaigning melodrama.' (Steedman 1995:106). As far as the social reformers were concerned then the messagewas clear: child performers had to be protected from adults for their own safety. And it was not only children who performed on the street who were objects of concern. Back in the theatre, a particularly successful infant prodigy was Jean Davenport whose father launched her career in the mid 1830s and who ensured she successfully appearedas incredible different feat in the six same production - an of stamina and characters her have is Charles it Dickens thought confidence which may seen perform (Waters 1996:81). Indeed it seems certain that Dickens' seminal depiction of the 'Infant is kept forever little in Nickleby, Crummles Nicholas Ninetta who on a diet phenomenon' Crummles based is Davenport. Dickens' tragic portrait of as quoted of gin and water, on below, very much fed into subsequentsocial concerns about the welfare of performing image to the emerging villainous of the evil stageparent: children, as well as contributing 56 'This, sir, ' said Mr Vincent Crummles, bringing the maiden forward, 'this is the infant phenomenon- Miss Ninetta Crummles'... 'May I ask how old she is?' inquired Nicholas, 'You may, sir, ' replied Mr Crummles ten she is years of age, ....... sir ........ 'Dear me! ' said Nicholas, 'it's very extraordinary.' It was; for the infant phenomenon, though of short stature, had a comparatively aged countenance, and had moreover been precisely the same age - not perhaps to the full extent of the memory of the oldest inhabitant, but certainly for five good years. But she had been kept up late every night, and put upon an unlimited allowance of gin-and-water infancy, to prevent her growing tall, and perhaps this system of since training had produced in the infant phenomenon these additional phenomena. (Dickens Nicholas Nickleby 1838) However, the earnest concerns of largely middle-class social reformers over the safety of child performers were somewhat overshadowed by the boom in the number of licensed theatres and the popularity of public entertainment in the mid-Victorian era. A large dancing theatres this time, number of children worked in at particularly in pantomimes, and displays. It seemsthat the pitiless treatment of child performers as recorded and gymnastic in literature, had become romanticised, perhaps even eroticised at this time. Indeed, a resonant stereotype of the child perfon-ner to emerge from this era was that of the 'tears behind the make-up', embodying the theatrical tradition that the show must go on, despite in A disparities between the suffering. reviewer any professional public image and private the Pall Mall Gazettereported the pathetic back-stagesight of: the young gentleman in pink tights and spangles... his sallow cheeks 30 March Gazette 1885) (Pall Mall ' smearedwith rouge. fairies becomes 'what the the when of elves and and another asked: ... 1885) 9 Gazette February (Pall Mall performance is over? Fears began to surface about the ftitures of these children that are still being voiced in reference to child performers today: do they these that not get ruined the evidence is unfortunates, if industrial down to occupation. any entirely ... never settle (Bradlaugh 1889 quoted in Steedman1995:106) 457 The reformers were clear as to their purpose; theatrical children had to be 'rescued' just as children working in factories and up chimneys had been. Ironically the stageperformances dressed fairies, as of children up elves or endearingly cute, vulnerable and 'childlike' contributed to the wider process of the sacralisation of children in the late nineteenth fuelled century which reformers' idealist visions of children and childhood, whereby as Zelitzer has described 'having become economically useless to their families, children became emotionally priceless.' (1981: 1036). This confusion between the actual qualities has 'ideal' the the qualities required of of children and child representedon stage/screen long been, and continues to be, an underlying tension in relation to child performers. Far from the 'unnatural' contortions of the street acrobats,the pantomime elves and fairies ideal innocence, to the time vulnerability of childhood as a of romantic were much closer looking to they of at children and a new way closeness nature and as such represented and 'natural' As the with on-going obsession mentioned above, conceptualising childhood. Little A be by this time. traced to reviewer of a production of performances children can Lord Fauntleroy in 1889 makesthis priority clear: We must accord our tribute of praise to Miss Vera Beringer for the most London (The Playgoer, have ever seen. natural child performance we May 1889) in 1888: Minnie Terry describing the performance of and another free from little the this charmingly artless maiden was conspicuously be derived to the that pleasure usually mar precocious airs and graces from juvenile performers. (The Era 12 May 1888) In tandem with this valuing of the natural qualities of children came worries as to the life themes the influence training of entertainment, world theatrical in and of corrupting t:) Such the to was child performers. contemporary relevant which again, are very much investigate the 'terrible to Parliamentary degreeof concern that a report was commissioned knowingness' of stage children which was euphemistically aligned to child sexuality and prostitution: 58 (child actors are taught) to accompany every word by studied gesture look to practise the various expressions of passions and made and ... love, hatred, pride, contempt, pleasure, etc - until each can be assumed at command. (British Parliamentary Papers,Third Report 1887 vol 30) It was further claimed that all stage children had an 'insatiable thirst for admiration' and were used to being watched and seeing themselves 'as objects of someone else's contemplation.' (ibid all quoted in Steedman1995:136)) However, an illuminating article in The Playgoer from 1889 entitled 'Children on the Stage' presents a different point of view, claiming that the life of a stage child was preferable to alternative ways of making money thus comprehensively locating 'child performer' as a working class occupation. The description of poor children as 'creatures' 'infest' the streets stands in stark contrast here to the 'angels' and 'fairies' of who theatreland. Few who knew anything of the lives of children engaged in theatrical performances will speak against it, for it is infinitely better that these little creaturesshould be put in the way of earning an honest livelihood, be and placed under the supervision of trustworthy people, than that they should spend their lives playing in the gutters of our wretched slums... Stage children are well paid, and their salaries must make a beneficial difference home to the most economy... it would be a blessed thing if all the poor little ones who infest our streets could obtain theatrical engagements.(L. S in The Playgoer, May 1889) However, L. S moves on to less philanthropic ground and makes no attempt to disguise his contempt for the 'unnatural' stagechild, when he assertsthat: The employment of children on the stage is excellent for children but ... how about the audience? a chorus sung by children, how shrill, ... tuneless and unpleasing, and last, but by no means least - in fact, by far the greatestinfliction of all - the child actor or actress-Every attitude is the result of laborious study and practice.... It is not the children on that it is doomed that the to playgoers need our sympathy... unfortunate stage deserving these of commiseration. sit out pigmy efforts who are really (ibid) 59 This association of child performers as low-grade, unsophisticated entertainment for the massesgoes some way to explaining the decline in popularity of child wonders in the latter part of the nineteenth century. As standards of production, performance and -dramatic composition rose so did the cultural influence of the middle-class audience and the cheap home-made spectacleof the infant prodigy was no longer either impressive or entertaining. For example, in the late 1850s, the critic Morley wrote a scathing account of the laboured meticulousnessof the performancesof Kate and Helen Bateman, aged six and eight: (Who are) both pretty and clever, but whose appearance is a nuisanceby ... no means proportioned to the size of its perpetrators'. And he describes the 'wearisome absurdity of such big words in such small mouths. (Quoted in Waters 1996:90) Marie Bancroft, who herself had been a child performer who remembered, 'only work and responsibility from a very tender age' wrote jubilantly, if not somewhat prematurely, in 1886 that the fashion for child prodigies was finally over, declaring portentously; 'Fortunate children, fortunate public! ' (quoted in Waters 1996:89). That she was so very demonstrates the seemingly insatiable public desire to be entertained by wrong 'marvellous' children, coupled with a growing dissent for the practice of allowing children to perform in such a way - an uneasydichotomy which has endured in relation to children who work in the entertainment industry. From this account of child performers in the Victorian era then, several salient themes can be identified which still seem relevant to today's child stars and which indicate the dominant discourse to the the incongruity of category on childhood as a prolonged period of protected innocence which was emerging at the time. These are; * tensions surrounding ownership of the child (does a child 'belong' to its parents,to the state or to itseIP) * the negative image of the parents/guardiansof performing children (as cruel, selfseeking, greedy and so-on) o 4-:) a performing child with being a 'normal' child (in much the incongruity of being the same way as factory children were not 'normal' children) 60 the perception of performing children as objects of pity and ridicule the perception of performing children as objects of hope and nostalgia 9 the fundamental importance to the audience of a child's performance being Z-: ý 4natural' the uncomfortable association of performing children with child sexuality concernsover the moral welfare and future lives of performingt: ) children 9 the identification of being a child perforiner as a working classprofession These conflicting views and attitudes towards child performers, and the cultural stereotypes of such children and the adults who were connected with them carried through into the twentieth century as child performers moved from the stage and street to the big screenand then onto television. 3.3 American Vaudeville If English theatre had become, temporarily at least, somewhat too sophisticated for the child performer to reach the levels of successprodigies such as Betty and Davenport had previously achieved, it was a different story in America where cheap, sentimental, travelling entertainment was very much in demand. In the mid nineteenth century male dominated audiences at remote gold rush camps were reduced to tears (and generous financial gestures of appreciation) by all-singing, all-dancing dolls or 'fairy stars' who reminded them of the families they had left behind. One famous such 'fairy star' was Lotta Crabtree (born 1847), the child of a miner and a very ambitious mother who saw in her tiny, copper haired daughter a way out of the isolation and privation of life in the remote town of Rabbit Creek. Encouraged by the way in which miners in the street would reach out just to touch the little girl's hand, 'drinking in the presence of this child who symbolised the home and family forsaken in their lonely devised for (Cary her dance ' 1997: Mary Ann 5), quest mother a song and gold, routine for Lotta which made the most of her childish exuberance and angelic appearance. Lotta's act Z:) by locals Mary Lotta Ann the that such adoration set with off with was received on a mule 61 wagon around America to take the show to the outermost camps where small communities of men 'starved for diversion and loaded with gold', welcomed them with open arms. Not surprisingly overwhelmed by the frightening strangenessof her surroundings Lotta often became deeply despondentjust before a show and Mary Ann would apparently cajole and boost up the child by any means possible to ensure Lotta would perfonn well so that there be would plenty of coins thrown on stage at the end which Mary Ann could collect up in her apron. The perilous journeys involved in reaching outpost camps added to the young girl's senseof disorientation and anxiety and she told years later of 'waking one night as her mule picked his way along a thread of canyon trail to see, far ahead, a lone horse and rider plunge soundlesslyover the edge into the purple mists below. ' (Cary 1997:15) Lotta went on to appear at 'bit' theatres, road shows and in melodeons (an early form of before becoming in her early teens 'Miss Lotta, the San Francisco Favourite', vaudeville) irresistible innocence by devised Mary Ann with which she won an confection of wicked large audiencesin Boston and Chicago. In classic melodramatic fashion, Lotta still looked and acted like a child on stage at the age of thirty-five and her mother never let go of the her dependent fully had Lotta her daughter's life that on remained iron grip she on ensuring without a husband or close friends. It is easy to see how Mary Ann became as famous for being the archetypal pushy parent as Lotta did for being the original fairy star of the gold rush camps. Ma Crabtree became a legend amongst American would be stage mothers and many admired her forthright determination in managing her daughter's career. Although the image of the stage mother has become a monstrous stereotyped inversion of the 'normal' parent/child relationship financial fulfil be to their the to the own and emotional child using whereby parent is seen had be fierce in doubt Crabtree like Mary Ann is to that no women worth noting needs, it in their to such a rough and ready environment as pioneering children order protect American theatre, especially as their livelihoods dependedon their prot6g6esremaining, or 'natural'. least and at appearing, na*fve Clearly the concept of the child as the property of his or her parents to be directed and to the taking actually wished child or not consideration whether into manipulated without 62 be a perfon-ner, was the dominant attitude towards such children at the time. It is for immigrants life harsh that the poor understandable in nineteenth century reality of given America a somewhat hard attitude to child rearing was part of the culture and that exploiting potential sources of income overrode the ideal of protecting children and childhood from the economic, adult world. Perhaps it is becauseit has always been the have in became being the that children of poor who worked any capacity a child performer being from distanced so associated with a working class profession and as such was burgeoning middle class ideals about the 'normal' role and place for children in their own separateworld of childhood. However, the next generation of child performers in American Vaudeville continued to ideal living life far from the exploit sentimental of childhood whilst a which was removed the sensibilities of the delicate children they represented. Performers such as Baby Gladys Smith (who later becameMary Pickford) and little Elsie Joneswrung all available emotion busied love loss their out of audiences with maudlin songs about and whilst mothers themselves ensuring their prodigy's success. Elsie Jones rememberedthe day in 1898 that from $125 by Buffalo that then on theatre she was offered a salary of owner and a week a her cold mother found a new dedication to her child: Mother marched head up, eyes front my hand in hers, her life in mine. Men meant nothing to her unless they were interested in me, and if they (Quoted for I them, in as was ever present. were not, it was unfortunate Cary 1997:24) The widespread misery causedby childhood death due to epidemics of scarlet fever and diphtheria in American cities at this time was also used to dramatic advantageon stagein a featuring Cabin Uncle Tom's inspired Dickens' the child ubiquitous plays and multitude of dying By Howard. Cordelia Gish Lillian children as presenting and actresses such as innocent babes, who were transformed into 'angel children, powerful intercessorsbefore ' (Cary brothers tears, for this heavenly vale of the throne and sisters still caught in parents, 1997:9), the performances of the child actors comforted and reassured their audiences. Uncle death Tom's Eva's Little Cary, Indeed, according to the redemptive nature of in American towns: Cabin altered the very position that theatre occupied in many god-fearincr 1:) 63 (the) play also qualified as a genuine religious drama, thereby breaking the long-standing preacher's ban on 'Satan's Palace', as the faithful referred to the theatre. Attending a performance of Uncle Tom's Cabin became an obligation of conscience for thousands of devout Christians who had formerly shunned the proscenium as the very gate of Hell. (Cary 1997:10) This power of the child performer to bring people together by symbolising hope and eliciting emotion was seized upon by the Hollywood movie makers in the early twentieth began to realise the fortunes that could be made by presenting the public with century who the right kinds of 'star'. The popularity of Vaudeville entertainment in the early 1900sprovided fertile ground for a huge variety of singing, dancing, contortionist and comedy acts to hone their skills all over America. Variety magazine which started in 1905 is an interesting source of information on such acts, yet children do not feature heavily in their reviews as regulations passedby the children's society at the turn of the century prevented many from performing at all. Indeed such was their scarcity on stagethat the pull of one advert for a seasonalpantomime greal, live was children, real, live monkeys' (Primary 23 advert Variety, Dec 1906). Perhaps this lack of 'real' children explains the appeal of the 'childlike' Eva Tanguay, arguably the most successfulperformer in vaudeville history: 'I want so much to be understood!' That little plea sums up all the childlike sincerity of Eva Tanguay. She likes, dislikes, is pleased and happy; her heart is by flashes touched, the made with acute sensibilities of a child .... It is this childlike appeal that has made Miss Tanguay nationally popular. The gleefulness, the half impudent is distinctly Her humour the assurance, childlike. - each quality but be but they costumes might easily startling never seem anything delightftilly comic. Miss Tanguay is a sort of girl-who-wouldn't-growis in life. 30 She Peter Pan (Variety, Jan 1915) up. real However, some child performers did slip though the net and travelled round the country as family) it from limited initial (usually that the this vaudeville acts, and was pool part of films days Interestingly, the early of cinema acting in in child cinema actors were selected. by boards did the treading the those as poor performers relation of and who was considered 64 act on camera were certainly not proud of it. For example, Mary Pickford, who went on to be America's first real movie star, initially only went looking for studio work becauseroles Broadway in her 1909 had for fourteen, dried the on and, at age of up she had outgrown her incarnation baby Gladys Vaudeville the previous on as circuit. Cary describes Pickford's success as due to her ability to connect with a wide audience and represent the allAmerican values which were beginning to characterisethe era; Mary personified youthful America on the threshold of a century of promise, peace and scientific progress. She was a spunky girl, someone that the immigrant, the country folk and the self-made man could all believe in. Obviously America and the girl who became America's sweetheartwere born to win. (Cary 1997:35) However, Pickford was also among the first to discover the lifelong repercussionsof being known a well child actor on film,, commenting when she finally retired that: The little girl made me. I wasn't waiting for the little girl to kill me, I'd already beenpigeonholed. (Quoted in Thomson 1995:585) 3.4 The HollMood Child Star Era Although, as demonstrated earlier, occasionally particularly talented or popular child performers had been recognised throughout the nineteenth century, the concept of the (child star' in our modem understandingof the term was not viable until the age of cinema. Previous to this time the height of fame for a child (or any) performer would be to be featured in an article in a review publication such as Interlude in the UK or Variety in America. Such publicity would ensure a full house for the next perfon-nanceand perhaps guaranteea run of bookings for the coming season. From the available evidence it appears that the quality of the perfon-nance was all that mattered - nobody was particularly fascinated with the actual child and his/her offstage life. The child as a 'star' was something altogether different - an invention of the film industry, had been delight Once to the audiences. created,packaged and presentedin order potential film for those qualities of childhood which were perceived as capturing on established 65 particularly endearing in the early twentieth century, all that was necessarywas to find the children who embodied, or mimicked, such qualities more than most. The seminal performance that sparked not just the beginning of the most successful child actor's career of all time, but which also started the phenomenon of the Child Star Era as characterisedby personalised and obsessionaltributes to an individual performer, was that of the six year old Jackie Coogan as a charming ragamuffin in The Kid (1919). Coogan was discovered by Charlie Chaplin, who was himself a former child performer in British vaudeville, and Cary describes the significant and symbolic moment when four year old Coogan, who had fallen asleep while Chaplin and his father discussed the terms of his contract, woke up to find himself. in another world, where he, the hoofer's son, had been transformed into a veritable angel child, complete with luminous spirituality and truly awesomeredemptive powers. (Cary 1997:55) The height of fame to which Coogan shot was unprecedented,indicating perhaps that American audienceswere more than ready to embracechildren (the cuter the better) as the new stars of the cinema: Jack Coogan has achieved cinemagraphic fame more suddenly and at a ... younger age, probably than any other screenplayer. (New York Times February 1921 quoted in Ryan 2000: 17) Coogan supported his entire family with the fortune he made Eromappearingin a dozen or more films and they lived a privileged lifestyle splitting their time between a ranch in California and a house in Hollywood. In a 1923 deal with Metro, Coogan received 64% of the profits from his films making him one of the highest earnersin the US. However, with the onset of puberty Coogan's appeal diminished and although he made some films in his teens and early twenties they weren't very well received. Believing that a large portion of the money he had earned was in a trust fund to be accessedon his 2l't birthday, Coogan $1000. He discover the the time that to was actually sum just came was shocked when took his mother and her husband (his manager) to court and sued them for $4 million. His had before he Coogan had to that she was entitled everything earned mother claimed 66 become an adult. He quoted his mother as saying: 'It's all mine and Arthur's and so far as we are concerned you'll never get a cent.' (quoted in Ryan 2000:24) Eventually Coogan received just $126000, and in 1939, his wife Betty Grable left him saying that they 'hoped to return to each other when his financial troubles were (quoted in ' Ryan 2000:25). Later that year what was to becomeknown as straightenedout. 'Coogan's Law' was approved which stated that in future a child's earnings should belong to the child in order to protect young performers against parasitic parents or guardians. Even though Coogan went on to have a fairly successful and long television career, rehave marry and even a reconciliation of sorts with his mother, he is still presented as a failure and a tragic figure in contemporary retrospectives: (his) tragedy was that, throughout his life, he was defined by a part he he played when was just six years old. His only other career high point came in the 1960s when he played Uncle Fester in the cult TV show 'The Addams Family'. He once said: "I used to be the most beautiful in hideous I'm the child world and now a monster". (The Herald 22.11.02) Coogan's unfortunate relationship with his parents and the subsequentwell publicised legal battles that ensued may go some way to explaining why being a successfulchild (even an extraordinarily successful one) is automatically assumedto be a negative experience. The for his in the troubles the reporting of precedent reporting press and gossip columns set impact because in former the to such stones carry, of scandal relation child stars family life both 'normal' do they and childhoods and the confounding as expectations of image of perfection which the actor representedon screenas a child. inspired However, the huge successof The Kid and Coogan's 4-:) immense childhood wealth fame for-tune. families American to their and children as potential sources of many view Many legendary child stars originated in this era, including Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, Freddie Bartholomew and Judy Garland. Diana Serra Cary, a former child star during 1920s Baby Peggy, famous became thus: the the situation explained as who 67 Although the child star business was a very new line to be in it opened , up a wide choice of jobs for many otherwise unskilled workers, and it grew with remarkable speed. Speedwas, in fact, the name of the game. Parents, agents, producers, business managers, and a host of lesser hangers-on were all engaged in a desperaterace to keep ahead of their meal ticket's inexorable march from cuddly infant to graceless adolescent. (Cary quoted in Price 2002:2) The child had become a commodity again in an otherwise financially unproductive period life. of For the possibility of wealth and fame it seems it was acceptable to disregard , social conventions regarding education and schooling, the privacy of childhood and the place of the child as a dependentwho is protected by the family. This is in stark contrast to the vision of 'the century of the child' which attracted reformers for most of the first half of the twentieth century. As Cunningham describes: Their overriding aim was to map out a territory called 'childhood', and in put place frontier posts which would prevent too early escape from what was seen as desirably a garden of delight. Within this garden children would be cared for and would acquire the 'habit of happiness.' (Cunningham 1995:164) Given this, the question then arises as to how the Hollywood machine was able to counteract the unsavoury image of buying and selling the cutest children to the highest bidder to work in an industry which had ostensibly no honour, tradition or responsibility. The answer appears to be by creating an image of the child star as totally unlike other children - as gifted, wise, with almost magical qualities - children who were 'too good' for a normal life, whose purpose was to bring joy and happinessto audiences(for example, 6 year old Margaret O'Brien was described in a 1943 Photoplay feature article as 'this amazing piece of humanity. '). Such children were 'angels' on screen and off, the child actor became the child on screen and vice versa, the removal of the child star from the category of 'normal' children had begun in earnest,and the greatestscreenangel of all time was undoubtedly Shirley Temple. The Great Depression was a boom time for the American film industry, representing Z-: ) as it did a form of escapism from the harsh realities of the daily lives of the audiences. Shirley Temple was the top box office attraction from 1935-38 and represented, for many, the 68 epitome of childhood goodnessand sentiment, a beacon of hope for the future of America and the physical embodiment of the perfect child: Her bouncing, blond curls, effervescence and impeccable charrn were the basis for a Depression-era phenomenon. Portraying a doll-like model daughter, she helped ease the pain of audiences the world over. (Baseline Encyclopaedia of Film quoted in Price 2002:2) Throughout her career, Temple always played the part of the redemptive child in films, providing comfort to flawed and corrupt, usually male, adults with her charm and naive For wisdom. example in Dimples (1936), Temple plays a rough diamond in a cyano, of street urchins who takes the blame for a theft that was actually carried out by a wealthy, elderly Professor. His revelation of the 'true meaning' of goodness as taught him by Temple's selfless act is facilitated through her undemanding, simple demeanour and unconditional love for the old man. He calls her his 'little angel' and a 'remarkable child' and rescuesher from the street to come and live with him in his opulent mansion. Temple is thus rewarded for her natural goodness and the old man has become a better person through his association with this 'angel child'. The sexual undertones of Temple's films which often included her sitting on men's laps, touching their faces and being the object of their adoration and fascination make . uncomfortable viewing today. However, they can be read as symptomatic of the way in which Temple was idolised at the time and elevated beyond the 'normal' parametersof childhood, whereby acceptable adult/child relations no longer applied. In effect within that construction of Temple as a perfect doll child, it was acceptableto seemen fondle her becauseshe was. 'Shirley Temple' who belonged to everyone, whose role was simply to make people happy and whose distinctness from 'normal' children was part and parcel of her appeal. Indeed the strength of Temple's performances emanated from her ability to elicit emotional reactions from her audience who were content to sit through similar plots 1930s. throughout the 4-=ý acted out again and again in various scenarios Interestingly Graham Greene, recently returned from Mexico, and watching Temple's films with fresh eyes, was less than impressed by her saccharine, studied performance. 69 Alleging in a review of Wee Willie Winkie (1937) that she was an 'adult impersonating a child' (quoted in Thomson 1995:743) Greene threatened the very fantasy of the real yet ideal child that Temple representedand the subsequentlitigation bankrupted the magazine I his which carried article. Clearly, in relation to child stars, only one kind of article was acceptableto the extremely powerful studio bosses- the kind which reinforced the image of the child which was presentedon screen. Photoplay magazine was one of several publications who were happy to bolster the manufacturedprofiles of all Hollywood stars, including children. In a feature article about 'The Little Rascals' (also referred to as 'Our Gang', a popular fictional group of scruffy yet endearing children who appearedin many films in the 1920s and 30s) it is clear that there is to be no division between where the child actor ends and the character he/she plays begins with Jackie Condon being presentedas identical to the 'rough' characterhe played: Jackie Condon of "Our Gang" is the tousled hair youngster who is always tagging along after any neighbourhood gang. He's a sympathetic character and is always serious. A few months ago Warren Doane, general manager of the Hal Roach studios, was leaving for New York on business trip: a "What shall I bring you Jackie?" he asked. "Bring me a rabbit, a little live rabbit," Jackie answered and then after some thought, added: "And bring me a gun to shoot it with. " (Photoplay, May 1925) The pressureon child actors to maintain the image created for them by the studios proved too much for many to bear. Judy Garland is a classic example of someone who in in happier than reality. After all how could Dorothy experienceda much childhood print from The Wizard of Oz (1939) be anything but carefree and innocent? Who would have believed she was desperately unhappy, addicted to the diet pills and amphetamines have denied her by to the the which education may access supplied provided studio and with some senseof self worth? Freddie Bartholomew (born 1924) is another example of a child star whose real life film his to persona, most critically poised and graceful experienceswere in stark contrast 70 in by his Fauntleroy 1936. Lord Havmig been he Little acclaimed when abandoned played looked he by his Aunt MyllIcent who toddler and after over-burdened mother when was a later took him to America, Freddie went on to achieve an outstandingly successful and lucrative career as a child star. The subsequentreappearanceof his long lost parents and the battles over money and ownership of the child which followed must have been utterly bewildering for the young actor. The mercenary Mrs Bartholomew debarkedat New York her love her found interest in due that to and that she solely motherly new son was claiming bond financial the truly gain such a close might engender: unconcernedwith was My visit here is not actuated from a monetary standpoint, nor do I wish to deprive his Aunt Myllicent of any of the rightful and proper benefits desire do his I her to to not success. a of accrue as result which may love his boy's but feel that and affection should career, embarrassmy th 8 (Lillian Mae Bartholomew from his be parents. weaned -away not April 1936 quoted in Zierold 1965:181) Unfortunately for Freddie however, it seemedthat motherly love did come at a price and by the time he was fifteen he had been in and out of court an average of twice a month having fees lawyers' had in Having in 1934. America to and pay so many since arriving had to share out his earnings amongst his aunt, mother, father, grandparentsand even his brother, juvenile believed their initially had the that movie star was not even sisters who Freddie ended up with little to show for his early film successand was certainly not living in depicted he life as on screenand the privileged of an upper class youth as was so often the media. The conflation of fantasy and reality regarding the lives of actors and actresseswhich was (and to some extent still is) perpetratedby the Hollywood film industry in order to create between further in the the star and child 'star separation the vital ingredient a was system' horror However, in stones when the early to mid twentieth century. the 'normal' child became knowledge, became a Bartholomew's stars child Garland's public and such as Hollywood them wanted ever the machine than star much more complicated phenomenon had living being embodiments of perfect children, child stars to be. Rather than simply become cultural icons of both hope and sadness. They were the stars who represented be their terms appearance and to on-screen of their in children everything people wanted 71 behaviour, and yet nothing they wanted their children to be, at the sametime. Once again the tensions surrounding child performers emanating from Victorian times seemedto be in evidence as issues of ownership, 'normality' and concerns over the moral welfare of the child came into play, along with the ubiquitous stereotype of the pushy parent of the crowd-pleasing child who is both adored and pitied. 3.5 Child Stars on Television The studio system, and with it the classic Child Star Era, began to crumble in the 1940s improbability the when of a child like Shirley Temple solving adult problems no longer seemedacceptableto a war hardened audience. Coupled with the growing popularity and affordability of television and the post war focus on domestic life and consumerism, the scenewas set for a new kind of child star who was more kid next door than angel, and by the 1950s child actors had become part of the cultural landscapeonce again in America. This time they were part of solidly middle class, two parent nuclear families in sitcoms such as Leave it to Beaver and Ozzie and Harriet. The stereotypical gender roles of mom dad (often and comically inverted) and the 'cute but cheeky' kids reinforced old-fashioned family values of cohesion and togetherness which characterised post-war American idealism: They were wholesome, clean-cut, Wonder Bread kids who were living the American dream as much as they were creating it, week in and week out, on their beyond reproach TV series. (Ryan 2000:55) A different set of criteria was used in their selection, and a new context was provided for their perfon-riances,and yet once again the overriding demand was for child actors who be 'natural': could to be a successful kid star of TV's Golden Era you had to look and days lines Even Even were were scripted. if your sound natural. if your be but. had You if lives Even to natural. your were anything produced. Naturally. (Ryan 2000:39) 72 Andrea Darvi, herself a child star of the 1960s describes the ruthless casting and audition from hopefuls, the the many, many were chosen processeswhich ensured right children, for the right parts on TV shows and adverts in America. She explains how most agencies 4D due 'in ten' to the superior selling power of children in to the at adhered at six, out motto that age range who are generally old enough to read scripts and yet are still far away from the dreaded adolescence. However, what was even more important than chronological age being being follow directions to small, able was and fitting the physical specification of the WASPy blond but Mexican which was a all-American role, usually child, sometimes a waif or a 'street-wise' kid from the ghetto Whatever the appearanceof the child though the 'type' had to be the same: fresh, innocent, the inexperienced kid untainted by overexposure, either by success or failure... [Directors] say "Send us a real kid, not a Hollywood kid. " (Darvi 1983:79) Ironically however, the behaviour demandedof such 'real' kids was of a truly professional it: Iris As Burton, that time of put standard. a powerful children's agent You have to give them today's kid, one who can get out, put in eight hours of work, know his lines, not be restlesson the set, and behave like in 1983: 73) (Quoted Darvi a professional. Even if a child fulfilled all of the casting directors conflicting criteria and landed a coveted longevity drama, in TV the ticking the of on clock was always well-paid part a sit-com or their suitability for the role. Darvi describes how painful it was when her acting career came to an end at the relatively advancedage of sixteen: My specialness faded as quickly and inexplicably as it had arrived. I believe been led had I total than the to of my sum more was nothing fragments became they of an ever-distant past, my present roles, and as became ever more inconsequential. My life seemed as empty and has last blank the television rolled credit screen after meaningless as a by. (Darvi 1983:197) 73 Although the majority of former child stars from the 1960s managed to find alternative careers as adults often within the entertainment industry as agents or directors themselves, and a few were even able to continue acting, others found it extremely hard to accept that the most successfuland lucrative period of their life was very probably behind them. This may explain why many golden child stars of 1950s and 60s American television involved in drugs and crime in later life, further contributing to the shows ended up received wisdom that 'too much too young' is never a good thing and providing evidence for the enduring myth that somehow child stars are 'cursed'. For example, Tommy Reltig had been the original dog's best friend in Lassie for several years (until he was who by replaced a younger actor) ended up making headlines in 1975 as he was sent to prison for five years for dealing cocaine: LASSIE'S FIRST MASTER ACCUSED OF COCAINE (Village Voice 1975 quoted in Ryan 2000: 85) KARMA A few other examples (although there are many more) are Danny Bonaduce from The Partridge Family who was arrested and charged for drugs related offences several times throughout the 1980s,Mackenzie Phillips, star of One Day at a Time who nearly died twice from overdosesand Anissa Jones, 'Little Buffy' in Family Affair, who was found dead in a friend's pool house in 1976 aged 18 from 'one of the most severe casesof drug overdose ever seen in San Diego County' (Coroner Creason quoted in Ryan 2000:77). Trent Lehman the '100% real boy' from Nanny and the Professor, a show which one TV guide had described as a 'half hour bit of fluff, hanging himself leather belt ended up with a from a chain mail fence in 1982 aged 20 after failing to find work after he was let go from the show for getting too big. As his agent commentedpragmatically: SometiMes the older kids have trouble finding work. The little kids are in 90) (Quoted Ryan 2000: cuter. For example Ron Howard (born 1954) who as a child and teenager starred in the long running US comedy Happy Days for nearly a decade and went on as an adult to direct many successful films. 74 Similarly, Rusty Hamer who became a huge star when he was seven in Make Room for Daddy and was described by an adult co-star as, 'the best boy actor I ever saw in my life,, died In 1966 he, failed it to at age nineteen after also nearly make as an adult actor. he 42 in killing himself himself in then the at age succeeded shooting with a stomach and 357 Magnum. . The child stars of TV shows in the 1970s and 80s didn't seem to fare much better and the juicy for 'child star turned bad' story seemedto be insatiable. The most a public appetite famous troubled kids were the stars of the inter-racial American sit-com 'Diff rent Strokes', Gary Coleman, Dana Plato and Todd Bridges who ended up respectively as a laughing dead national stock, of a drugs overdose and in prison for selling crack cocaine. In the UK as well the child star became a popular TV curiosity, with the singers Lena Zavaroni and Bonnie Langford having their own prime time show in the 1970safter having body it big Huey Green's Opportunity Knocks. Zavaroni's adolescent emaciated made on dressedup in little girl bows and frills makes extraordinarily uncomfortable viewing in her in 1998 her death from as yet renders anorexia nervosa retrospect, and premature in doesn't It 'curse' the tragic always end of child star. another casualty of the supposed tears of course. For example, Aled Jonesthe choir boy with the beautiful voice who shot to fame in 1983 with Walking, in the Air has gone on to have a successful career as a television presenter and simply regards his early fame as an amusing and slightly 2 embarrassingexperience. The music industry in America too has produced its fair share of child stars since the 1960s,,the most infamous being Michael Jackson who was born in 1958 and had his first hit with his brothers (The Jackson Five) in 1969 with I Want You Back. Jackson's solo into he in began 1972 adulthood with albums such and enjoyed stratospheric success career 50 (1982) Thriller than million more as selling life his However, and personal copies. bizarre became over the years, culminating in a well publicised more and more appearance later found he 2005 innocent of, sexually abusing was accused, and in which court case in 2CharlotteChurchis anotherUK singerwho becamefamousasa child andwhowill be discussed at lengthin a laterchapter. 75 the young boys who he often had to stay over at his Neverland ranch. Jacksonjustified his unusual lifestyle by claiming he preferred the company of children to adults and that he considered himself to be a Peter Pan character - the boy who never grew up. The temptation to connect Jackson's 'idiosyncrasies' with his early stardom, which seems to have been driven by a particularly abusive style of parenting, is difficult to resist and the overriding consensus on Jackson's oddness is that it is due to him not having had a 'non-nal' childhood. The link between early successin the entertainment world and future unhappinessas an had been adult well and truly establishedby the press by the 1970s and the thrilling shock value of such stories of despair and disappointment has ensured their continuing presence as a stock newspapernarrative ever since. The reconstruction of the child star as an object of pity and ridicule in the late twentieth century can be seento have its antecedentsboth in the depiction of poor Victorian stagechildren and street performers with pushy parents and unscrupulous managers, and in the casting of adorable child actors as objects of poetic misery and suffering (who always somehow pull through due to their ability to melt adults' hearts) in Hollywood movies of the Child Star Era. That there is an erotic element to the 4punishment' of the 'naughty' child star who has not been as good as gold or, perversely, has tried too hard to please, appearsto be a plausible explanation for the enduranceof this image and the fact that child stars occupy a position which has a cultural significance beyond their performances seemscertain. 3.6 Later Child Stars of the Cinema Whereas the children on the small screen were designed to embody wholesome family values and deliver cute 'kids' wisdom', those on the big screen seemedto be fulfilling a different role entirely. The popularity of films in the 1970s featuring 'demonic' children has been interpreted as a reaction to the wholesome image of TV kids Eromthe 1950sand 60s as well as an expression of fears about the breakdown of the nuclear family and permissive styles of parenting (Hogan 1997). Films such as The Exorcist (1973), The Omen (1976) and Poltergeist (1982), all dealt with murderously possessedchildren who Child in the the actors saccharine sweet child stars of earlier eras. completely inverted 76 1970s also became associatedwith something even more horrifying than violence - sex. Brooke Shields and Jodie Foster causeda moral outrage in middle America by playing teen (1978) Taxi Driver (1976) Baby in, Pretty Tatum O'Neal and prostitutes and respectively shocked audiences by exhibiting sexual awarenessand swearing in The Bad News Bears (1976) and Little Darlings (1980). However, the very fact that children acting out scenes fascinated of violence and sex were greeted with such awe and controversy only served to for behaviour boundaries the to shared public consensus as reinforce appropriate and heralding from Far a new era of emancipatedchildren such films children and childhood. inverted simply expectations of children on screenfor the shock value. Later films such as Kids (1995) and City of God (2002) which focused on the harsh reality of the lives of 'real' have living lives due breakdown the to the often of social order children chaotic and violent failed to achieve the same levels of mainstream commercial success,suggesting that the in of children role cinema is to reinforce certain images of childhood and not others. However, even though the image of the innocent child star had apparently passedits sell by date by the 1970s, the 1980s and 1990s brought a new wave of wonder children who knowing bring to the to cinema, albeit in a more an air of purity and goodness continued 30s. from 1920s than the the and style starlets For example, Drew Barrymore's role as the wide-eyed, adorable Gertie in Spielberg's E. T (198 1) at the age of six, catapulted her to child stardom, and she later describedmaking the film as the best time of her life. Unfortunately, the rest of Barrymore's childhood descendedinto chaos as she becameheavily involved in alcohol and drugs until at thirteen Her the at written was to which autobiography a rehabilitation centre. she was admitted honest be) is the (as fourteen confusion of account a painfully only a child star's can age of being between disparity felt the comforting experience of part of a she as a child and the 'family' on film sets, only to be an outsider in her own dysfunctional family and a stranger to her peers at school. As sheputs it: I've always grappled with the clash of image versus reality. The public I Barrymore, Drew quite myself viewed star, while movie saw me as differently - as a sad, lonely and unattractive girl with not much to her 77 advantage...I wanted to shout "Hey, I didn't want to be famous. I just want to be loved." (Barrymore 1990:6) Barrymore's complicated relationship with her parents surely didn't help this low selfesteemas her mother, a failed actress,was determined to have her moment in the spotlight 4-n back Drew's the on of successeven if that meant taking her child to nightclubs and parties from the age of seven, and her father, the actor John Barrymore, himself an alcoholicaddict, would appearperiodically in Drew's life demanding money. Given these elements of neglect and self-destruction, Barrymore's story fitted neatly into the tradition of 'child star gone bad' media expos6swhich started in the 1960sand 70s, and yet also resonateswith the pathos of Victorian depictions of child perfon-nerswhose value is seenas solely economic and whose personal happinessis of no particular concern to the adults around them. That Drew managed to recover from her addictions and went on to have a successfuladult career in film is testament to her ability as an actressand the clever , in way which she reinvented herself as an adult version of her childhood screenpersonaby playing kooky comedic parts in light-weight 'feel-good' movies. However, the most famous child star of the 1980s was Macaulay Culkin, the nine year old star of the Home Alone movies, who was the very incarnation of the superior, redemptive child. His 'natural goodness' stood in sharp relief to the greed and ignorance of the criminal adults he managed to outwit in the films, having been literally (if accidentally) behind by his disordered family life Culkin's The abandoned and private miseries parents. trademark boyish grin were not to become public until the inevitable fall from grace of the dried film he became the roles up. young actor as an awkward adolescent and The fact that in 2005 Culkin was called as both a witness for the defence and the prosecution in the Michael Jackson child abuse court case goes some way to indicate the strangenessof Culkin's childhood and his subsequentlife, let alone those of Jacksonhimself. At the time of writing, two of the most successful child stars in America are Haley Joel Osment and Dakota Fanning both of whom with their frail fair bodies and huge, innocent foils to the corruption of adults in a the as children goodness of supernatural eyes, represent 78 Culkin had done a decadeearlier. Osment (born 1988) than much more sophisticated way has been described as the best young actor of his generation due to his sensitive portrayals in films such as The Sixth Sense(1999) in which he played a child with the gift of being his in I (2001) dead A. he taught to see able which people and was the robot child who human mother the 'real' meaning of love. Clearly mindful of the time limit of his appeal had he Osment future the one eye on when commentedthat: as redemptive child on screen, For me it's most important to find the films that will last.... choice is the because be important I'm to thing an adult actor pretty soon. going most So I've got to be choosing the right roles now so that by the time I ZP cretto in 2002 (Osment be that age there will quoted wide options available. Haley Joel Osment biography www. lmdb.com) Dakota Fanning (born 1994) whose extensive credits include playing a troubled alien in (200 1) Sam in I Am daughter (2002) a Taken of a mentally retarded man and the for be became, to for the nominated youngest person ever eight, at she which performance being dangers is Guild Award, the Actors Screen stigmatised of of aware evidently also a as a child star, claiming; in 2005 (Fanning love just kid, I to act. I'm just a normal quoted really. Dakota Fanning biography www. lmdb. com) her her level her as However, the fact that the portray consistently success of and roles her somewhat child but 'normal' extraordinary as an identity early make may anything hard to escape. in Potter Harry 1989) (bom Radcliffe have Daniel starring as And currently in the UK we the filmic versions In by J. K. Rowling. of the phenomenally successful children's novels due to heroic to is Harry adults superior truly and naturally the best wonder-child tradition his innate senseof right and wrong, his loyalty to his friends, common sense,courage and individualistic increasingly in materialistic and duty secular, an attributes real senseof in brought Harry and unloving fictional cruel a up Even the was though society. destiny, that are you Vvhat you the is of he concept reflecting caring and good, envirom-nent Harry In deserve. this sense, love you the encouragement and are with or without 79 represents the romantic ideal of the natural goodness of the child, born without sin to be tested and tempted by the cruel world of adults. Again and again it seems,despitepolitical and social changes,films starring children carry the messagethat the child makes a better adult and the child star can't help but be caught up in the expectation of perfection. As for the actors in the Harry Potter films, time will tell whether or not they will live to regret their early successor be grateful for it. Either way, it will almost certainly have been a life, identity, and altering experience Recent years have also seen the emergence of a new breed of ch-ild star; the media-savvy 'child-adults' who seem unconcerned about the potential pitfalls of early success due to the control they have over their professional and financial lives. The most extreme example of this is the incredible success of the Olsen Twins (born 1986) who have been appearing in US sitcoms, kids shows and films since they were babies and who were titled 'executive producers' of their own entertainment company, Dualstar Inc, at the age of seven. By the time they were thirteen Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen had earned more than Macaulay Culkin and Shirley Temple combined and had saved and invested prudently with the help of their parents and a trusted circle of lawyers and managers. Having launched a huge range of products on the back of their TV personas including internet sites, dolls, DVDs, CD-ROMs, books, posters, clothing, make-up and accessories the girls' appeal seemed to lie both Juritheir familiarity (they had after all grown up on television) and their innocent prettiness which made them acceptable role models for pre-teens the world over. The being quirkiness of identical twins also gave them novelty value and especially appealed to the common little girl fantasy of always having a best friend to play with and confide in. Michael Stone, the chairman of the company which produced the girls' clothing line sums up their continuing success in starkly clinical terms, encapsulating the way in which child how 'natural' being their to to matter a commodity no stars always seem reduced end up Z_: ý appeal seemsto be: For an entertainment property to be successful over the long term, we believe it has to consistently deliver a fantasy to the core audience. Mary-Kate and Ashley fulfil for girls the fantasy. Girls want to be like Mary-Kate and Ashley. (Stone quoted in LA Times 30.01.00) 80 A Journalist writing in 2000 when the girls were thirteen cominented that despite their impressive confidence and success 'Mary-Kate and Ashley probably won't understand fame's impact on their lives until they're adults' (Ramsay LA Times 30.01.00) and given the tone of Stone's assessmentof the twins as an 'entertairurnentproperty' it does seem unlikely that, even if they wanted to, they would ever be able to disassociatethemselves brand-name the they have become. with At the time of writing the twins are eighteen and have continued to deliver, on screen at least, the fantasy image of perfection that made them so popular with young girls, and in 2005 they took full control of their billion dollar media empire. However, Mary-Kate's battle well-publicised with anorexia and alcohol over the last few years has somewhat sullied the wholesome girls-next-door image which was so fundamental to their initial appeal. It seemsthat the pressure of having to live up to early successis one element of child stardom which no amount of media-savviness, protective parenting or prudent financial investment can avoid,, and that the thought of growing up and away from a has defined that childhood image you can be a very frightening prospect indeed. The fact that the Olsen twins were packaged and marketed to appeal to children rather than grown-ups sets them rather apart from other child stars whose main audience has traditionally been the amusedor moved indulgent adult. That children are now a consumer group in their own right with money to spend on merchandisewhich connects them to the products and people they like (or at least the pester power to get their parents to buy it for them) probably explains the new breed of child star who is in effect 'from the children, for the children'. However, this shift in audience demographic for some child stars is more an it. their than of extension of a reduction appeal Child stars will always be required be image idealised for is to there of childhood representedon screen, an whenever a need ideal be like be that or a child's of what whether an adult's ideal of what children should they aspire to be like. 81 3.7 Always Different, Always the Same This chapter has traced the history of children in the entertaim-nentbusiness Erom the in to antiquity, through street, stage and screen earliest recorded references child actors performers, up to today's multi-media, globally marketed child stars of film and television. I have described how social concerns over children working as acrobats and actors in Victorian times coupled with a growing literary tradition of depicting such children as tragic characters and the adults responsible for them as monsters, set in place stereotypes in day. Hollywood The to this endure way which redefined the child performer as which the child star in the early twentieth century by drawing on romantic ideals of special in be having demonstrated the theme to an enduring angelic qualities was also children contemporary appeal of children on screen. The connection between Elizabethan boy actors, Victorian infant prodigies and level, but film the similarities are also tenuous on one contemporary child actors may seem importance The of pleasing an audience, the coercion of some staggering. overwhelming being the to the a child of experience concern of others all seem characterise adults and derives 'child have done. The the term star' controversial nature of performer and always from this very polarity of opinion regarding the acceptability of putting a child in front of both be judgements their performance and their moral to on made an audience and allowing character. Even given these similarities though, it is undeniable that the role of the child performer from twentieth small the centuries nineteenth and changed profoundly over the course of from bom the thus The seemingly perfect to was star classic child actor screen angel. Hollywood dolls fairy Vaudeville the infant Victorian star with prodigies and marriage of for for television the age, again system. The way the child star was reconstructed again for lucrative children, role models more recent cinematic roles and yet again to provide for demand demonstratesthe malleability of the subject and the on-going child perfon-ners in a variety of guises. 82 The inherent 'differentness' of the performing child from the majority of children, both in terms the with precocious sexuality and with especially contradictory association of highlights the extreme reactions which child stars innocence and naturalness,underpins and seemto elicit. 3.8 Conclusion As emphasisedat the start of this chapter, the child star, or even simply the child performer, has never been a neutral category and the frequent oscillations between adoration and denigration in public attitudes towards them seem to be inconsistent and unpredictable. What does appear to be consistent, however, is the constant objectification and manipulation of the perfon-ning child to fulfil adult desires. The consumer of the child defines the child - as true now as it was in Ancient Greeceand Elizabethan England. The following chapter outlines the Methodology for the analysis which follows in which both the constructed nature of the child star and its universal appeal are explored. 83 Chapter 4: Methodolou 4.1 Backaround to the PresentStud The original intention for this research was not that it would be about child stars. My idea preliminary was that I would explore the relationship between popular culture and the way that children construct their identities by, for example, talking about television, incorporating cartoon characters into their play and stories, copying the behaviour and language of pop stars and how they may or may not use shared culture to enhance alignment with their peer groups. As a primary school teacher I had become interested in how important popular culture seemedto be in the talk of children and their acceptanceinto certain friendship groups and wanted to try to analyse the processesby which this occurred. With these general objectives in mind, I conducted a focus group pilot study with a group of young girls (seven to eight years) in which we watched a popular children's programme together and I asked them their opinion of it. We then had an informal discussion whereby I askedthem about their favourite shows and what kind of gamesthey played and what they enjoyed doing both at school and in their free time. When analysing the transcribed tape it became apparent to me that although some interesting themes arose and the interaction between the girls was fascinating, it would be impossible to draw any theoretical conclusions about which cultural products almost influenced which elements of the identity of which individual. The project was just too ambitious and given the nebulous nature of 'culture' almost impossible to define. I also found that children as research subjects bring their own challenges too. For example, children don't just watch children's programmes, children sometimespretend to have seen things that perhaps they haven't, some children say what they think an adult wants them to in being deliberately to try say and others shock and most children aren't at all interested have done. they consistent or reflecting on what seenor Although I don't think the problems were insurmountable and that a narrowing down of the have been for data the collection may well research question or a more naturalised setting 4n 84 the way forward, my feeling was that the project wasn't going to work in the way that I had I Going back focus had I to the that to wanted achieve. envisaged and what over rethink in data interested behaviour became I the responses group and of one of the particularly children in the group who was certainly the dominant, if not the oldest, participant. This child was very interested in performing and frequently mentioned that she attended drama school on Sundays and in the school holidays where she learned singing, dancing and acting. Her confidence and attention seeking tactics renderedher the focus of the other in her. Whether this child's pretentious persona children who seemed somewhat awe of her drama it her disposition training was a consequenceof school or whether was natural her hard discern to to which made so suited performance activities was and yet there was a definite difference between her and the other girls. Her confidence in herself and her abilities made me think about the children who actually appearon television and who make their careers in show business and consider questions such as; What is so special about does being impact What to them perform? certain children which makes others want watch do How friendships? have 'normal' and childhood activities and a child performer on justify become to their public property? parents allowing children It became apparent that taking the child star as the object of enquiry for my project would not only condensethe field of researchto a more manageablesize, it would also provide an from to theory a study of a specific, unique group of children opportunity generate Furthermore, the fact that such children are mere images to their audience and exist in the the them the as potentially renders actually media of public sphere only as products identity between and popular culture which childhood ultimate example of the relationship I was initially interested in. With this in mind I started to think about ways in which I image taking the the also into star whilst the child of of nature could explore constructed have. likely identity to individual's which child stardom was account the impact on an The more I found out through reading biographies and autobiographies and searching became, I for the not oril y" in more intrigued stories about child stars, newspaper archives history but former the of social also in child stars the experiences of child stars and 85 performing children, the controversy which has always surrounded them and the way in which they have always seemedto signify something larger than their small selves could justify. I also realised that rather than simply serving as background reading to a project that might involve some in-depth interviews with former child stars or focus groups of children who attend stage school, the texts I was reading about child stars were actually valuable data in themselves. It became clear that it was within the press that the child star was created and destroyedand it was in the autobiographies and interviews that former child stars struggled to justify their experiencesand re-claim their authenticity as adults. Not only would textual analysis of secondary data allow me access to more subjects than I could ever hope to contact personally, but given accessto newspaper archives it was also possible to add a historical element to the analysis which would allow a tracing of attitudes towards and discourses surrounding child stars and popular culture which would be invaluable in contextualising our current construction of the child star. Before embarking on the current project my knowledge of and curiosity about child stars like was, most people's, extremely limited. I had a vague recollection of child actors on shows I had liked as a child such as Diff'rent Strokes, and had heard a few shocking stories about the fates of former child stars such as River Phoenix and Lena Zavoroni who met untimely, grisly ends but gave them no more thought than that. In pop culture, it seems, child stars are the ultimate bubble gum product - used, enjoyed and spat out when they lose their flavour. Forever replaceable, eminently forgettable and ultimately irrelevant to their audiences' lives and concerns. Child stars seem to have always occupied a position just below the eye-line of reality, as soon as they are focused on they are gone, grown up and away into awkward adolescence. However for performers who merely flit in and out of our popular culture they seem to both in their as children and as adults which experiences generateenon-nouspress interest When I disproportionate to the to their world. entertainment contribution seemssomewhat became former for looking stars child it started newspaper stones about child stars and know to to that this about, to gloat apparent was a group who people wanted read about, 86 It deviant. to seemed that the child star carried a slooficance over and often castigate as that went beyond the career of the individual, and that the juxtaposition of the child in the industry dominated interesting opened up a whole adult network avenues of entertainment of exploration relating to attitudes towards childhood and children which may otherwise be too oblique to analyse. That these children occupy a position in public life and are well known outside of their own families and communities renders them if not unique, then a I key group and one would argue, challenge very select which, certain assumptionsthat we take for granted regarding the proper place and position of children in our society. As noted in the literature review there have been no published academic studies of child in the annals of social and cultural research -a stardom be can state of affairs which hand On both the to the one current study. a positive and a negative in relation viewed as investigation of virgin sociological territory gives rather free rein to the methodological hand it but less happily, by the this rendersthe on other researchproject, approachadopted inquiry fruitless false avenuesof starts and study vulnerable to all the errors of judgement, that are possible to be made. Indeed, the child star as an object of enquiry is potentially open to as many different For there example, one could collect are unanswered questions. research approaches as in have former how data find show to an adult career child stars many out statistical business, or conduct an ethnomethodological study of child actors on a film set to assess their social competence, or run focus groups of children who attend stage school and compare their self representations to children who attend regular school, or conduct a be to based work in allowed should children or not attitude survey on whether questionnaire the entertainment industry - the list of potential avenues of sociological enquiry seems into the let limitless, of child effects the investigations psychological myriad alone almost be family individual's and peer relationships which could undertaken. stardom on an None of the above approaches,however, would have been appropriate for examining the between the identities and the childhood relationship and role of the media in constructing in interested I exploring. themes particularly was which media more generally, 87 Therefore, the methodology was designed to address the following three objectives which constitute the central themesof the project: 1. To understand why our society demands and produces child stars and to explore the historical antecedentsto our current construction of the child star. 2. To understandwhy child stars are presented in a particular way in the press and to relate this to a wider consideration of how all children whose experiences fall outside of the (nonnal' sphereare dealt with on a cultural level. 3. To challenge the limitations of the social constructivist paradigm of research which dominates Sociology Childhood the currently of and to explore the usefulness of a in to the structuralist approach contextualising and explaining status of children our society with particular referenceto the child star. All three aims emanated from observations of the strangenessof public reactions to the famous incongruity in the the the of working, child star in press and popular culture and of life. In dominant time to an age of child our ideals about childhood as a protected, sacred both homogeneity in our construction of and expectations of children and of supposed be highly little to this an anomaly which merited attention group seemed childhood visible demanded and explanation. The next section explains the Methodology for this study in light of the objectives outlined above. 4.2 A Dual Approach to Data Analysis As noted above, one of the central aims of this project is to demonstrate the potential limitations of a purely social constructivist approach to understanding how childhood is literature in discussed As the review, social constructivism given meaning in our culture. has been the dominant paradigm in the sociology of childhood for the past two decadesand has been invaluable in demonstrating the culturally defted nature of childhood. Focussing 88 institutional the than on experience of the child, rather on and professional voices which for the child, the movement has sought to understand how children are active speak participants in creating their own social worlds. Using methodologies such as ethnomethodology and conversation analysis many studies have demonstratedthe way that children achieve social competence (e.g. Hutchby and Moran-Ellis 1998). Another methodology employed by social constructivism has been discourse analysis which has illuminated the way in which a certain Western discourse on childhood whereby the child is joyful, innocent, under adult control and inhabits a separate sphere of childhood, has become dominant over the last two hundred years (e.g. Hendrick 1990). This discoursecan be understood as emanating from the fields of developmental psychology, educational reform and social welfare which characterisedprogress in the twentieth century, as well as inheriting a specific romantic image of the child as possessingpreternatural wisdom and beauty from the artists and writers of the eighteenth century. That 'the child' is a socially constructed category is not under debate in this research. Indeed, discourse analysis is an unparalleled method of understanding the way in which disparate social groups become homogenoussubjects and therefore will be used as a method of deconstructing the category of the 'child star' in the proceeding analysis. However, it also became apparent through re-readings of the data that a purely social constructivist approach was not going to be sufficient to tell the whole story of the child star. The way that the stories in the data set were structured and the languageused in their beyond discourses informed to the them. The similarity of presentation seemed go which some of the narratives to fairytales and the characterisation of the child star as an otherwordly being were themes that could not satisfactorily be explained by referenceto the text alone. It seemed possible that there was another dimension to the significance of child stars, and perhaps to childhood in general, which was universal rather than socially specific: and which referred to a greater shared system of meaning than a social constructivist reading would allow. Therefore in order to explore the child star as a product of the duality of childhood as both , divided into data two the and a universal phenomenon a socially specific analysis is discourse first how to the social category of 'child the analysis uses investigate chapters; 89 for functions it how to the members of this star' is constructed and create subject positions group, and the second employs a broadly stiructuralist perspective in order to address the way that media stories about child stars are structured to create meaning and to explore how they relate to narrative themesemanating from myths and fairytales. Although these two approachesare not mutually exclusive and there is necessarily some in findings, it is hoped that looking at the data from both these angles the overlap illuminates the child star more comprehensively than a narrower research focus would allow. The following two sections take each of these approachesto the data in turn and explain the behind the choice of researchmethods in relation to the aims of the study and the rationale data the nature of available, as well as describing how the data analysis was carried out. 4.3 Discourse Analysis 4.3.1 A Theoretical Backaround The idea that the aim of any research in the natural or social sciences is to uncover the 'truth' and find the essential underlying order to the world which characterisedthe project of modernity has been comprehensively dismantled by the postmodern thinkers of the late twentieth century (eg Lyotard, 1984, Baudrillard 1983, Lash 2001). Rather than moving in towards steadily postmodern rationality and centralised power, society is understood terms as fragmented with a decentring of power and many competing accounts of 'reality' by for is One dominance vying of in a social order which reproduced and constituted sips. the overriding postmodern methodological shifts in sociology has been the rejection of findings in favour deconstructive to texts whereby one's empirical research of a approach can only ever be described as one interpretation amongst many possible others. One particularly influential theorist on the tenacious status of power and knowledge is Michel Foucault. Better described as a post-structuralist than a postmodemist, Foucault history be identified that to the an underlying order can idea and recorded, and rejects 90 instead focuses his attention on the discursive formations which constitute our social historians have He the to Cý worlds. way in which attempted to categorise particularity objects and synthesiseevents into a chronological series: it is that one and the same form of historicity operatesupon supposed ... institutions economic structures, social and customs, the inertia of mental attitudes, technological practices, political behaviour and subjects them all to the sametype of transformation. (Foucault 2002: 11) Foucault opposes structuralism's use of 'the categories of cultural totalities' to impose history order on and instead presents an alternative way of understanding the social which he describesas an 'archaeology of knowledge'. Within this framework, meaning is seento from discourse, but to actually be constitutive of it. not only emanate The analysis of discourse in this context then asks, 'how is it that one particular statementappearedrather than another?' with the understanding of a text as a 'node within a network' containing a 'network of references' specific to its genre, aims and author. The aim of analysing discourseis, according to Foucault, not simply to understandthe intention of the author, but be 'to rather able to grasp other forms of regularity and relations' such as relations between between between statements,relations groups of statements and relations statementsand is discourse find The 'use' to to wider political and social events. out about aim also not something, but to study the discourse itself, and 'make it emergein its own complexity'. In this sense, Foucault treats discourse as practices that systematically form the objects of which they speak and which can be investigated by asking questions such as; Who is discourse What from What the the and comes? speaking? sites which are institutional discourse? in to the subject positions are occupied relation Foucault also emphasisesthe importance of contextualising discourse in relation to other discourse be discourses the which may related complex nature of and of appreciating hidden beneatha 'smooth' exterior: the rich uncertainty of disorder lays behind the visible faýade of the in density but immense 'life an as yet uncaptured state' of an system not ities, 2002: 84) (Foucault tight a group of multiple relations. systematic 91 Although, traditionally, analysis of discourse has attempted to show how texts refer to one historically specific meanings, another, converge with institutions and practices and carry Foucault rejects this homogenousapproach and instead wishes 'to deten-ninethe principle according to which only the 'signifying' groups that were enunciated could appear... to (ibid: Based law 134). ' on the assumption that everything is never said establish a of rarity. Foucault's approach aims to weigh the value of statements, 'a value that is not defined by their truth ... but which characterisestheir place, their capacity for circulation and exchange, their possibility of transformation' (ibid: 136). Foucault conceptualises statements and determined by his exteriority and analysis of statements operates without utterances as is Foucault 'a to therefore opposed to structuralist theories which search cogito'. reference for totalities and secrets of origin and describes himself as a positivist who is interested in be described: only what can Archaeology tries to define not the thoughts, representations, images, themes, preoccupationsthat are concealed or revealed in discourses;but those discourses themselves, those discourses as practices obeying certain rules. (Foucault 2002: 155) The importance of recognising the complexity of discursive formations and not simply is Foucault's identify to to paramount a unifying principle of cohesion attempting knowledge: archaeology of A discursive formation is not an ideal, continuous smooth text that ... in beneath them the the and resolves of contradictions, multiplicity runs is rather a space of multiple calm unity of coherent thought-It dissensions;a set of different oppositions whose levels and roles must be described. (ibid: 173) Although Foucault's argument for the precedenceof discourse as an object of study in itself forms the theoretical basis for this section of the study, it is necessaryto refer elsewherefor in involved techniques such a methodological a more practical explanation of the analytic Potter focuses following the For and of on work this reason, the sub-section approach. Wetherell (1987,1992) who are particularly eloquent in their explanations of the slippery business of actually doing discourse analysis. 92 The following section describes their be data to the the discourse how applied will analysis of on approach and explains analysis child stars in the present study. 4.3.2 Doing Discourse Analysis The art of discourse analysis has been described by Wetherell and Potter as: Charting themes and ideologies, exploring the heterogeneous and layered texture of practices, arguments and representationswhich make for in the taken up granted a particular society. (1992: 1) Wetherell and Potter make clear that although there is no definable method to discourse in broad it the traditional, the' theoretical analysis experimental sense of word, provides a framework for understanding and interpreting the role of discourse in social life and is flexible enough to examine a subject from a number of angles. Furthermore, as emphasised by Foucault, discourse analysis is not seeking to uncover an underlying, external reality or truth, but treats discourse as a reality in itself which is constructed and reconstructed through social acts and languageevery day: Participants' discourse or social texts are approachedin their own right 6 Discourse 'beyond' text the to things is and not as a secondary route ... treated as a potent, action-orientated medium, not a transparent 160) 1987: (Potter Wetherell and infori-nation channel. In their study of the legitimation of exploitation in the language of racism, Potter and Wetherell (1992) identified three main aims of the discourseanalysis employed: discourse locate historical thus within some to contemporary and analysis perform changing, social, economic and political context ideology to the and justification as of rationalisation power examine - - identity how types and subject of to examine ideologies actively construct and create new positions. 93 In relation to the aims of this study then, discourse analysis provides a way of exploring how the labels 'child star' and 'former child star' have been formed and applied, the origin both the terms and the 'common-sense' principles on which of negative connotations of they are based, and the creation and internalisation of subject positions for those individuals fall into As Potter Wetherell discourse is category. and who either explain, analysis in both the social and cultural mechanismsand processes particularly useful understanding in the construction of subjects and the complicit nature of the subjects themselves at work in internalising and reinforcing sharedsocial norms. Potter and Wetherell argue that the power of ideology is forceful, effective, has visible results and is embodied in ideological state apparatusessuch as schools, churches and the mass media; 'all places where people are subjected and trained to recognise themselvesin particular ways.' (1992:29). From this perspective the category 'child star' can be seen as define belief discourses to on children and childhood which and related wider systems and ideologies justified, Such then control what childhood means. are rationalised and shared Therefore, through, the analysing media naturalised mass media. among other channels, ideals dominant, in how is to collective stories about child stars one way which ascertain fabric become in in the to of part of relating children general and child stars particular social life and ceaseto be questionedor challenged. As Miles (1982) observes in his analysis of racism, certain explanations, although purely be have 'practical basis having to acceptedas adequacy' enough anecdotaland no scientific is their thus taking unrelated to the reality of a own which common sense, on a power of situation. Similarly, the way in which certain accepted truisms about child stars and their in be have kind this addressed the analysis. parents of currency will According to Hamilton and Trolier (1986) our inherent and inevitable need to impose (and indeed in our order to simplify and control our environment categories on the world minds) underlies the creation and reinforcement of stereotypesin society: 94 for baggage focus become an associated a of social categories quickly beliefs, thoughts and value judgements about the people within the Potter Wetherell 1992: 38) Trolier (Hamilton quoted in and category. and By looking at child stars and former child stars as social categories it is clear that certain traits and types of behaviour are both attributed to and expected of the members of these identification Discourse the analysis allows of the constructed nature of these groups. illuminate define how beliefs the to such shared assumptions and can serve position and subject. The question of why child stars are presented in certain ways and not others will be addressedin the analysis, along with the psychological impact of such presentationson the individuals concerned.As Potter and Wetherell assert,discourseis 'actively constitutive between both (1992: it is 59) this social and psychological processes' and connection of dominant collective beliefs and the individual's construction of identity which renders discourse for analysis of so appropriate researchingthe phenomenonof child stars. The crucial aspect is whose story will be acceptedand becomepart of ... the general currency of explanation, whose version of events, whose 62) 1992: (Potter Wetherell things the and account of way are? As Foucault argues in his genealogical approach to social history as described above, the defmlng discourse develops 'normalization', through through what is usual and power of habitual and to be expected as opposed to the deviant and exceptional, and people become discourse. identities kinds the through assumedin of subjectedand regulated Attempting to ascertain how one version of the 'truth' becomesestablishedand alternatives data historical by the to is same relating time analysing only possible undermined over from the includes As of child stars this and reviews on articles subject. study such, Victorian era to the present day. It is hoped that this historical perspectivewill allow some back be to to traced stars child the about themes of and ideas which inform current stories distinction With indisputably this for contemporary. their origins and others to stand out as it should be possible to identify the way in which discursive categoriesbecome constructed in different social contexts and how some versions of 'reality' become established and by fall the 'truth' time wayside. others whilst over acceptedas 95 4.3.3 Styges ofData Analysis Much of the work of discourse analysis is a craft skill, somethinerlike bicycle riding or chicken sexing that is not easy to render or describe in (Potter Wetherell 1992: 10 1) and an explicit or codified manner. As implied in the above quote, the analysis of discourse doesn't involve a 'cookbook' style has described being been However, than as more of an art methodology and a science. Potter and Wetherell (1987) have identified the main stages in the analysis of discourse interchangeable phasesthan clear sequential steps,provided a useful which, although more for data for for The this analysis were: the this analysis of study. relevant stages guide documents, and coding and of records research question, sample selection, collection be discussed below. and each stage analysis will The researchcmestion The broad question asked in all discourse analysis is 'how is discourse put together and For is by ' to this the the this question central study of purposes what gained construction? be addressedwas how and why certain stereotypesof the categories 'child star' and 'former become how be time part of to such subject positions and child star' came naturalised over an individual's constructed identity. Sampleselection and collection of documents The data for this study is textual and from secondary sourcesand representsa wide range of broadsheet diverse tabloid from press, and sources such as a variety of writing and pictures internet books news and gossip sites. and magazines, The selection of material for the study was as inclusive as possible and all articles or interviews about incorporated the in were collected to were which child stars or relating Strauss Glaser by Following and the made suggestions coding. of preliminary stages t:P it being data collected when (1968) in their description of 'Grounded Theory' only stopped is That had to coding new no when say 'theoretical felt occurred. that saturation' was 96 categories occurred, no new properties could be added to the existing coding categoriesand when there also seemedto be enough instancesto constitute a pattern. Although emanating from a huge variety of diverse publications the data comprises two main sets. The first is made up of newspaperstories about child stars and former child stars and the second is made up of newspaper and magazine interviews with child stars and former child stars (although there is an overlap with some categories). of the pieces falling into both Much of the data is contemporary and was collected over the period September2002 to September2003, although using internet searchesit was also possible to collect newspaper articles from archives of British national papers from the last 5 years, as well as from American and Australian publications. However, even after the main phaseof data collection had been completed I found it impossible to ignore relevant articles I daily papers and magazinesand frequently added new items to the datasetwhich saw in generally complementedthe data already collected, but sometimes involved revisions to the coding or new themes being included in the analysis. Therefore there is also some data from 2004 2005. There is also a substantialamount of data from newspapersand magazinesfrom and the 1880sto the 1950swhich mainly takes the form of interviews with child stars or former child stars but which also includes some editorial material. The inclusion of the historical data is intended to allow a separationof themes which can be classedas consistent in the framing and presentation of child stars by the media and those which seemto be specific to our culture at this time. The historical articles on child stars from Victorian publications such as Interlude and later from issuesof magazines such as Photoplay from the 1940sand 1950swere found at Colindale Newspaper Library in North London which holds archives ' of such publications on microfilm. As well as the data from newspapers and magazines I also used autobiographies and biographies of child stars which were useful on two counts. Firstly, they often contained from in to the quotes star question which could then newspaperarticles and reviews relating be used as part of the analysis of how the child star is constructed by the media. Secondly, I References made to child actors before that time, such as the Elizabethan boy actors described in the Social History chapter, are from historical studies which have already been carried out and do not constitute part of the data set used for the analysis. Unfortunately, it was not possible to find ofiginal data referring to child performers before the Victorian era. ZD 97 they also allowed analysis both of the narrative conventions at play in stories about child stars and the pattern of techniques used by former child stars to justify and explain their experiences. In this sensethe autobiographical and biographical data served to complement the newspaper and magazine articles and also allowed the exploration of a more sustained version of story telling by the child stars themselves. Before analysing the stories which were published in the print media it was important to recognise that, of course, as in all areas of media publication a careful editorial selection processtakes place as to what is and is not 'news' and so the stories about child stars in the public realm are automatically those which are the most sensationalist,shocking or bizarre. There are plenty of child stars who have gone on to have either a successfulacting career or a 'normal' life and who never became an addict, a criminal or a serial 'wedder', and are no more news worthy than anyone else. However, what was interesting for the purposesof this analysis was why the exploits of child stars are framed and structured in the way they are and how these stories reinforce conventional normative standards of behaviour for children, and parents, with no referenceto the wider responsibility of the society which has createdthe need for such children in the first place. Indeed, what is chosen as news and how it is reported has a significant impact on the news how it is read and this in itself can be seen as contributing to a new version of itself, and creality', as so deftly describedbelow: Journalism not only reports on the operation of appearances,and on realities underlying appearances,but also creates appearancesor the (Bensman appearance of realities. and Lilienfield 1973 quoted in Chaney 1979:33) That the media creates an 'appearanceof reality' is indisputable, but understanding why certain 'realities' are created and not others is the key to identifying the dominant discourseswhich inform cultural exchangesof a society at any given point in time. It is for this reason that documentary data is so valuable as it is the tangible manifestation of the discursive formations through which meaning is constructed and shared with the shifting wider society. 98 The use of documentary data for the analysis was therefore felt to be appropriate becauseof the way that such secondary resources allow the researcher to stand outside the data and develop theories about the social world without being directly involved with the subjects of the researchand without creating an artificial situation from which the data emanates. As Potter and Wetherell observe; 'one of the most important advantages of collecting naturalistic records and documents is the almost complete absenceof researcherinfluence data' (1987: 162). the on Although of course describing newspaper texts as 'naturalistic' is a rather misleading nomenclature - as Chaney (1979) wisely observes, 'in all media there are no accidental features'. Another possible data collection technique for this study would have been to interview child stars and /or former child stars directly and then code and analyse the transcripts according to the themes of the research. However, for the reasonsgiven above, plus the difficulties practical of accessing the relevant subjects, this method was rejected. Furthermore, having read many interviews with child stars and former child stars it was felt that certain stock responsesand modes of justification and explanation were so common as to be predictable, suggesting that little could have been added to the findings from by In directly the essence, unless the subject was a interviews researcher. collected have interview friend, that with a social researcher would an personal it was unlikely 'public to that the the than of questions and standard range replies elicited anything other face' of the individual would have remained in place. In any case, what was being discourse in to the the create subjects and works itself which investigated was way meaning, not a psychological study on the child stars themselves. Codine Codes were identified by searching through the material for recurring themes. Although framework it from distinct the of issues which the coding was analysis itself, provided a 99 later focussed on in detail. The main themes which presentedthemselvesat this stage were included; reasonsfor becoming a child performer, how the career started,parental attitudes, the importance of being a natural performer, the stigma of being a child star and the experience of growing up as a former child star. The coding process was cyclical, and as the understanding of a particular theme developed it was frequently necessaryto go back through the documents and refine the categories or include instances that had before irrelevant. seemed The process was also flexible as themes would sometimes merge together, disappear or split into distinct categories and new themes would also often becomeapparentwith re-readings of the material or with the addition of new material. The subjective nature of coding and of making decisions as to what is and is not important or relevant to a particular study is perhaps an indefensible weaknessof this approach to data analysis and yet it seemsan unavoidable problem. Although it renders verification of by results repetition of the study an extremely tenuous method of validation, it is hoped that the inclusion of a multitude of representativeexamples in the analysis chaptersthemselves will serveto corroborate the interpretations made. Analysis As noted previously, the analysis of data for this study is two-fold, with the first data analysis chapter approaching the texts using discourse analysis and the second analysing the data from a structuralist perspective. Although the data collection and coding stagesof the researchwere common to both approaches,there was obviously divergencein the actual analysis of the texts due to the different theoretical aims of each technique. Therefore, this data in first discourse the to the analysis chapter. An section refers only analysis employed be included in in the next the the techniques structuralist analysis will explication of used section along with a consideration of some of the underlying theories of structuralism. The analysis of the coded material was based on the search for patterns in the data - either in terms of shared features or differences in the stories and interviews. The overall goal dominant deconstruct 'taken-for-grantedness' the the the to of child star in reading of was in by identifying frequently This themes and used words, phrases was achieved our culture. 100 the stories about child stars in the press which constituted them as a subject in a particular way, and then to contextualise the stories in relation to wider themes and discourses concerning childhood, celebrity, success,transgression and stigma. Having described the social construction of the child star as transgressiveand deviant, the aim then was to identify common methods of justification, rationalisation or interpretation by of experience the child stars themselvesas evident in the interviews and autobiographies that formed part of the data set. In order to develop hypotheses about the function and consequenceof the patterns of language evident in the material it was useful to draw on theorists as diverse as Mary Douglas (1966) and Erving Goffman (1963) on the themesof transgressionand stigma. Goffman's analysis of the social taboo of stigma provided a particularly helpful theoretical scaffold for the interpretation of the interview and autobiographical data. By conceptualising child stardom as a stigma it was possible to read the interview responses and narratives of former child stars as attempts to display 'authenticity' and to realign themselves with the social norms which had been transgressed-a pattern of justification that could be read as a direct responseto the negative way in which they are constructedby the mass media. It was this reading of the data as indicative of the child star as helplessly decision led by definitions the to that to constructed and constrained cultural and social focus this section of the analysis on the powerlessnessof the child star, and by default, on the powerlessnessof children in our society more generally to escapethe expectationsand
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