MILLIE BOBBY BROWN BREAKS HER SILENCE

Child acting is something that’s always been a problem, many children are put on blast and have no protection whatsoever to their personal life. Things are brushed under the rug during the film days that are now just coming out. Many child actors from Nickelodeon and Disney are coming out and giving their stories from when they were on set with Brian Peck and Dan Schneider and how uncomfortable and awful these men are. But recently Millie Bobby Brown, star of Stranger Things came out to talk about her experience with being a child actor and what affected her. 

THE PEOPLE'S OPINIONS ON CHILD ACTING; GRAPHIC BY JAIDYN CALKINS AND JULIETA ORTIZ

Millie Bobby Brown's first big role was in Stranger Things, she played a character named Eleven and this opened up so many opportunities for her. She was only twelve years old when this show started and now she has multiple businesses and is still starring in movies. But there are some downsides that come with being in the light at such a young age. Millie was making a video about her new skincare product on her skincare line “Florence by Mills”. In the video she appears to be washing her face with her products but… the viewers like to agree otherwise. Millie got loads of backlash with this video and made her business go downhill a little because people thought it was fake and staged. Millie came back saying in a tweet on Twitter “I thought doing a quick video replicating my personal process for the night was okay, but that’s not what was conveyed” everyone thought she was fake and just selling products to gain more money. She was young and still learning how to make her way through her not normal life. But this was not the first time Millie was hated on by the public. 

Another problem with child acting is information coming out to the public that doesn’t need to come out. Millie’s salary, address, phone number was put out on the internet and left her in fear because those are personal things to her, many people were angry about Millie’s salary because they didn't think she deserved that money which also led to hate. No matter what, these children can’t win with the public. Millie has said multiple times in interviews “These should have been protected so that they’re not on the record”. The managers and companies that bring in and take care of child actors need to have more access to what is put out on the internet so that these children are protected and not have problems like this happening.

My last problem with the industry is that there really is no filter with the public, they will say anything to or about a child. Parents need to be around on set, controlling their kids' social media, and looking at what's on the media about these kids. Teaching these kids their own boundaries and saying “no” is also something that needs to be taught because there are so many bad people in the industry that will take advantage of them and sell them short. Millie says in an interview “No is a very powerful word. My mom is very knowing and wise, and she advocates for herself. My dad has always been someone who pushes me to stand up for myself and never settle less for anything less than what I deserve.” 

Like many child stars before Millie they get sexualized at such a young age, at thirteen Millie was named “sexier than ever” which for a minor is never okay. This headline struck fear and disgust with the public for the most part, but some individuals agreed and thought it was a great title for a thirteen year old. Even paparazzi were going on set and taking inappropriate photos of Millie and were published to the media the next day. 

Millie even said “I never wanted to be famous, that was never my thing. I just love acting.” These children are growing up in the spotlight and it’s not their fault. They are just trying to have a passion and sadly that passion can kill and harm minors. The child acting industry has to be taken care of before these kids can’t do it anymore.