In many people’s younger years, an ordinary childhood was frequently overlooked for the alluring fantasies of being royalty, heroes, or rich and famous. Watching young actors perform often sparked a mysterious desire for kids to participate. However, for the children who achieved this dream shared by many, the reality is far from charming. Kids are still being exposed to the horrors of working in Hollywood.
Cuties is an award-winning French movie that was featured on Netflix in 2020. The film follows an 11-year-old girl who attempts to find a balance between her strict traditional Muslim home and her dangerous offensive dance group. The movie tried to combat the subject of children sexualizing themselves. Cuties could have been a great educational film about the dangers of children being influenced by adults, especially since Netflix was featuring it. However, it was poorly executed. Unlike many movies that would use adult actors for their graphic scenes; Cuties featured real children. It’s disturbing to see how explicit the scenes are for the young actresses to perform.
Maïmouna Doucouré, the director of Cuties, addressed the backlash she received by explaining in the Washington Post what inspired her to create the film. “I was at a community event in Paris a few years ago when a group of young girls came on the stage dressed and dancing in a very risque way. They were only 11 years old, and their performance was shocking,” Doucouré said. Her curiosity was piqued, so she began interviewing young girls to understand why they were trying to act mature.
“The stories that the girls I spoke to shared with me were remarkably similar. They saw that the sexier a woman is on Instagram or TikTok, the more likes she gets. They tried to imitate that sexuality in the belief that it would make them more popular. Spend an hour on social media and you’ll see preteens — often in makeup — pouting their lips and strutting their stuff as if they were grown women. The problem, of course, is that they are not women, and they don’t realize what they are doing. They construct their self-esteem based on social media likes and the number of followers they have,” said Doucouré. Her statement is moving. There is no doubt that there is a huge issue with girls behaving differently in an attempt to be seen as mature. However, her movie lost all of its purpose as soon as the movie began sexualizing real children. Ultimately, audiences were not moved by the story; instead, they felt uncomfortable. The movie attracted creeps, as many feared. Max Karson, also known as mrgirl on YouTube, described how seeing the young girls behaving made him aroused.
Eyes have been drawn to “Quiet On Set,” a documentary that revealed many devastating facts about the abuse that children experienced while acting for large children’s entertainment companies. The documentary used numerous accounts from those involved to display the intensity of the exploitation and mistreatment caused by those responsible for managing child performers. “A lot of these kids in the entertainment industry are vulnerable. The power balance between a child and an adult is so striking already. And then on top of it, you add that it’s an employment situation,” said one woman.
People have remarked how close Schneider, who is facing allegations of inappropriate behavior, was to young Amanda Bynes. Many felt uncomfortable by the situations that Bynes was found in with Schneider. “There would be times where Amanda would just be missing and a lot of times we would just hear that she would be with Dan – pitching ideas and writing. We were seeing them grow closer to each other on set,” Leon Frierson said, detailing his account.
One of the most questionable positions that Bynes and Schneider were in was during a skit. Amanda Bynes was in a jacuzzi, wearing a bikini, with a fully clothed Dan Schneider. It begins with greeting the audience before describing the authority that Schneider had. “You actually wrote the words that we are saying to each other right now,” Bynes said. That line implied the control that he had over the situation they were in.
Drake Bell was a huge part of Quiet On Set. He courageously came forward with the abuse that he endured at the hands of someone he trusted, Brain Peck, an influential person in the children’s entertainment industry. After being accused of sexually abusing a young Drake Bell lots of influential celebrities wrote letters supporting Peck. Some of the letters denied that Peck could be capable of abuse, “I’ve known Brian for 14 years, and never once did I ever see any sign of him being capable of something like this,” James Marsden wrote. However, other letters acknowledged that the abuse did occur but they did not believe it was solely Peck’s fault. “I have met his family, seen his behavior, and understood that there were problems,” Ron Melendez referenced Drake Bell. “Brian made a large mistake, but it was not his alone,” Melendez said. Peck received 41 letters full of empathy and support for him.
Bell responded to the defenders of Peck, “How dare you. You will forever have the memory of sitting in this courtroom defending this person. And I will forever have the memory of this person you’re defending, violating me and doing unspeakable acts and crimes,” Bell said. Bell’s statement is a powerful reminder of the strength it takes to face your abuser in any setting and witness the support they receive. Despite being convicted, Peck managed to become employed at Disney.
Despite his somber story, in 2021, Bell faced controversy for having inappropriate interactions with a minor. He pleaded guilty to child endangerment and was sentenced. However he still maintains his innocence. “Because I just financially was just devastated, and I’d just had a son, and I didn’t wanna put my family through all of this anymore, so I ended up going through the process the way that I did,” Bell said.
Bell recounts the incident as him being irresponsible and having obscene conversations with her while being unaware of her age. “Then she made all these allegations of things that happened at a concert, but throughout the investigation, there were witnesses who were there the whole time who refuted it, people who weren’t even connected with me that were friends of hers and her family’s that were there the whole time, and so, no a lot of the things that she said about sending inappropriate pictures and things like this, it was able to be investigated and show that none of that existed,” Bell said.
Bell carefully detailed the lasting effect the industry had on him by describing the destructive behaviors he had picked up. “I was lost,” Bell admitted. He was abusing substances, getting DUIs, and being destructive. However, unlike many before him, he began healing. Bell began treatment as an outpatient. “I got to go through a lot of trauma therapy, grief therapy, and be surrounded by people who, for the first time in a long time, wanted to just see me get better,” Bell said emotionally.
Jojo Siwa is a recent victim of a former child star struggling to rebrand. Siwa started out on the 2013 television show, Dance Moms, at the age of nine-years-old. She became an idol to young girls because of her confident attitude and her positive music. As she grew older, her popularity with children began to fade. She constantly displays her desire to be seen as explicit and mature by discussing topics such as drug use and sexuality. She wants to leave a controversial impact similar to Miley Cyrus transitioning out of being a child star. In spite of her eagerness, people find her awkward and egotistical. Siwa boldly stated she was inventing a new genre of music called gay pop. People were infuriated with her dismissiveness of the celebrities that helped improve the reputation of the queer community. Despite Siwa’s efforts to be seen as mature, she hasn’t changed since she originally became famous. In the public’s eye, she will always be that young girl on Dance Moms, constantly being scolded by Abby Lee Miller.
These stories are being swept under the rug constantly. It’s not just Nickelodeon or Disney that lets this occur. It’s the whole industry. Many celebrities are protected from justice because of the amount of control they have over people. It’s not easy to tell a traumatic story about your abuser if they are well-liked and could destroy your career. Harvey Weinstein, P. Diddy, Jay-Z, and Bill Cosby have been known as dangerous predators for decades, yet they had access to numerous opportunities and connections that others didn’t. The stats and reputations of evil people have prevented horrific stories from gaining attention.
Outside of working on a filming set, they are still exposed to horrendous people, such as timers for when they reach the legal age of consent or adults publicly describing graphic fantasies about them. These kids saw and heard horrible things that most adults couldn’t fathom. There is hardly any escape for them; even as adults, they are held to high standards and viewed differently if their behavior changes. It’s a common occurrence for former child stars to wash out and become viewed as trash while those who enabled the abuse are praised because they contributed to producing works of beloved entertainment.
It’s extremely overwhelming looking through the names of children that suffered at the hands of a corrupted industry. It’s impossible to ever find an end to the deep tunnel of abuse against famous children. There is an endless amount of people that have been tormented by Hollywood and the number will only grow until corrupt celebrities are held accountable and punished.
