Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields
Brooke Shields, ’80s icon and household name, was a child model before she came to prominence in Louis Malle’s controversial film "Pretty Baby" at age 12. With a series of provocative Calvin Klein jeans ads and leading roles in 1980s teensploitation hits "The Blue Lagoon" and "Endless Love," Shields’ early career was defined by a sexuality that she could neither claim nor comprehend.
- Released: 2023-01-20
- Runtime: 136 minutes
- Genre: Documentaries
- Stars: Brooke Shields, Greg Butler
- Director: Lana Wilson
Comments
- elicopperman - 12 May 2023
An Insightfully Harsh Look into the Life of Brooke Shields
Actor and model Brooke Shields is often regarded as one of the earliest child models to make it huge in the industry due to her attractive appearance that fit America's problematic view on standards amongst women. In the Hulu original two parter documentary known as Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, the project looks over Shields' early career from childhood in modeling and acting all the way up to the present day where she has long since moved on to better things. When looking at the documentary from the perspective of Shields and many others, it's clear just how traumatic her life was beyond what little the public knew.
As the documentary respectfully points out, there was sadly a time when sexualizing underrage women was permitted in the fields of modeling and film. Many examples include Shields' performances in Louis Malle's Pretty Baby, Randal Kleiser's Blue Lagoon and Franco Zaffirelli's Endless Love, an infamous series of Calvin Klein commercials and an endless amount of borderline predatory covers displayed in magazines. Although there are many other interviewees in the documentary with as much insight on these outdated views of women, let alone teenagers, it's clear the series is shown through Brooke' life of being forced into an industry by bigwigs and her own mother, Teri Shields. On top of using her daughter as a means of being a breadwinner through fame and fortune, Teri was a chronic alcoholic whose emotional disconnect and personal problems would end up being her own downfall. In many ways, Pretty Baby is a critique on how society views women through the male gaze and how certain women function as a result of misogynistic expectations.
That's not to say Brooke's entire life was one big heartbreak after another, as certain significant events such as her attending college and going through marriage and the troubles of pregnancy proved how strong and smart she really was. Considering that the general public might not have considered who Shields wanted to be behind her facade of a career, accomplishments like getting away from abusive executives and going in depth on her postpartum depression showed how influential she really was to people who knew nothing about the horrors of the industry in the first place. One must be reminded that this is the same woman who called out Tom Cruise on his willful lack of knowledge towards what women might go through during pregnancy. In a day and age where people are speaking out a lot more about times they've dealt with identity crises, psychological breakdowns and severe depression, this documentary speaks volumes on how whether you're a famous celebrity or the average Joe, human beings can be relatable in similar ways as far as what we all go through.
So whether or not you are familiar with Brooke Shields as both an entertainer and in real life, Pretty Baby is a heavily insightful look into her scary career and what many women go through in the type of field she was forced into. Unless the subject matter is too much for you to handle, the series is absolutely worth the watch to gain a whole new outlook on the life of a starlet who was thrusted into a life she might not have wanted from the start and the aftermath she faced. In more ways than one, you might not be able to look at any other model / actor's life the same way ever again. - sinnerofcinema - 10 April 2023
Contradicting, yet informative doc -
Love Brooke Shields. Grew up in the 70's and i do remember some of these controversies. However, the doc harps on the enticing and sexualizing of Brooke when she was young yet later on she goes deep into her own devirginizing and sexual experience w Dean Cain? Is Dean Cain aware that pop his sex laundry was exposed like this? Because he's the other half of the equation in this. It just seem very contradictory. It's preaching a morality tale of how awful Hollywood was back then yet her mother kept coming back for more collecting the cash from the "ill-gotten gains"? Putting her in these roles. Where there no kids shows her mother could have put her in... I dunno the Wonderful World of Disney, Sesame Street, other kid shows? Etc. It all seem like the mothers choices were skewed. I'm sure the filmmakers at the time were going for authenticity, but then again they could have cast 18 year olds who look (12) they are out there, if that's what the role required. But then had the filmmakers have gone in that direction, Brooke would not have had this ABC documentary platform to criticize the same people who help make who she was back then - the face of an era 70's/80's. Plus, as others reviewers mentioned, the blame here falls squarely on the mothers shoulders. A drunk or not she should have known better. You open yourself up for all kinds of views when these contradictory messages are all bundle in one doc. Granted the 70's was what it was but obviously Brooke's mother sold her out to the highest bidders certainly not worrying about the moral effects this would have on allowing her minor kid to be in these sexualized movies. I'm not blaming the filmmakers here because they were doing their art. We all have choices in life and ultimately we must live and deal w the consequences. She was under the custody of her mother, the mother is the person to fully blame here. My favorite part of the doc was revisiting that period and the films.
Blue lagoon is one of those iconic films from the 80's. I recently read she rejected a phone call from the director. The only thing I would add here is the opportunity should have been given to someone 18 or over that looks younger and also maybe someone who years later and after maximizing the opportunity may have been grateful and appreciative for what this film did for their career. . It did not have to be a 15 year old, but to complain about the opportunity most actresses at the time would die for 40 years later would have made me as the director regret giving her the opportunity in the first place. But then again it's normal and of human nature to complain now matter how amazing an opportunity may be. It's built in human DNA.
