Are Child Actors Children for Life?

The stunning and extremely talented Dakota Fanning was recently in a Marc Jacobs ad campaign for the perfume Oh Lola! which received four complaints from British soil and believe it or not, the campaign has been banned!

Seems a bit drastic, and yes I believe it is! When you actually see the full picture (not just the cropped one (above) from The Guardian that makes her look even more provocative, in my opinion) she doesn't look that bad. Yes, the perfume bottle is rested on top of her upper thighs and yes, she is wearing a short, girly looking dress, but to me, it looks perfectly fine; and I studied Media Studies which delves deeply into the interpretation and analysis of ad campaigns!

The thing that annoys me the most (and probably Dakota too) is that she is 17 years old, and turns 18 in February! Now I know she is still classed as a child but at this age, girls all over the UK and USA start experimenting with how they look and start to feel a bit sexy. Yes that sounds a bit bad, but it's true. Especially when you look at the 16 year old school girls, hitching up their skirts and unbuttoning their shirts a bit too low. 

You could argue that the reason girls do this nowadays is the sexualisation of media. More and more people (whether actress or model) dress with minimal clothing, accentuating their 'assets'. But it will still happen. Everything in life seems censored so much, and really, the only place that doesn't get censored is the theatre! Maybe, this is because theatre has been censored so much in the past that people gave up on the regulations because they were so stupid, I don't know, but that's what it feels like with Media.

Child actors like Dakota Fanning, Miley Cyrus and Taylor Momsen have all been in the media over provocative clothing and looking sexy. I say lighten up people! They are young ladies feeling like they should look beautiful and sexy, and if you've got it, flaunt it (appropriately). Are they always going to be the ten year old girls we saw on television and in the movies looking all cute and innocent, no! They want to grow up in the same way as every girl in the world! Being who they want to be, experimenting with their style, having a bit of a rebel to modern society; it's all part of growing up! They'll tone it down when they realise they've grown up!

Here is the quote from the ASA:

The ASA said that the way the perfume bottle rested in Fanning's lap was "sexually provocative" and considered that the actress actually looked to be under the age of 16.

"We considered that the length of her dress, her leg and position of the perfume bottle drew attention to her sexuality," the ASA said.

"Because of that, along with her appearance, we considered the ad could be seen to sexualise a child. We therefore concluded that the ad was irresponsible and was likely to cause serious offence."

- (Mark Sweney, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 9 November 2011)

I think we need to relax. The picture doesn't look that bad and I think the only reason why we think it looks bad is because we have seen Dakota grow up. She has been a child star from a very early age and we don't realise how old she is now! The girl will be 18 years old in February, will the ban be lifted then? 

I want to hear your ideas on this one because it's a toughy. I want to say yes, this girl should be allowed to pose in anyway she wants to because she is old enough to make her own decisions, but then I want to be mature and say no, she's still underage and she shouldn't be interpreted like this. The picture should not have been banned, that's just ridiculous, but whether or not we want to see girls of this age looking like this is another matter. Please leave feedback!

:D

Model Looks

One of the things that has always frustrated me in life is the need to look beautiful. What I mean by this is the obsession we have as a society to look trim, sexy and drop-dead gorgeous, like the girls in fashion magazines. I think the only time I see models that look healthy rather than skeletal is when you look in catalogues for women's clothing sizes 16-22, and the models are still on the small side then. 

In British theatre and film, however, this doesn't seem to be a problem. Notice I said British. Time and time again you see healthy looking actors and actresses perform on stage and film looking as they do, not much trimming down and looking rather confident with themselves, yet across the water, this seems to be forgotten about. I feel there is more of a pressure on young actors and actresses to look a certain way, rather than looking healthy. Take the programme F.R.I.E.N.D.S for example; even though the characters in that show are relatable and lovable, all the actors are still stick thin! If that show was produced in the UK, however, I could almost guarantee there being a slightly chubby character who ends up having a problem with the way they look, but then blossoming out of this feeling and loving who they are (OK that's probably a very shortened version of what would happen, but you catch my drift).

I love seeing curvy, healthy girls on television and thinking "that could be me!" because there doesn't seem to be a lot of pressure in that area, but then if I think about the possibility of being on American television I instantly feel a weight of pressure to look good and look skinny. I've always had a bit of a problem with the way I look (just like so many other women in this world), but seeing curvy actresses on screen actually inspires me more to become an actress and makes me feel good, rather than the stick-thin actresses who are supposed to be there to aspire towards. 

I wish I could get this message across the water to tell people that you don't need plastic surgery to look good! So many models, actors and actresses have completely RUINED their iconic looks and beauty for vanity and the pressure to constantly look beautiful. 

What doesn't help is the new craze of 'reality' television with bimbos and air-headed 'studs' apparently looking "reem" (whatever the **** that means) and saying they're "real" when they obviously are a creation of silicone and liposuction. In my opinion, we need to stop this type of programming getting through to the public, wipe off all that foundation and fake-tan and have a good look at ourselves in the mirror and LOVE what we see. 

Performance is life. You can't get away from it. Why constantly try to be something you're not if your life is one big stage? You are the character of your own little play. Yes, you can mould yourself to be whoever you want to be, but when you start inching away what is part of you, and start feeling the pressure of the need to be skinny and "beautiful", you're just becoming a puppet of social convention. 

As you can see I feel very strongly about this issue, but I want to hear your ideas too. What do you find beautiful? Is there a need to be skinny on stage and film, or can we deal with being curvaceous and lovely? Leave me comments, I would love to hear your thoughts on this!

:D