Having been in show business myself, I watched this documentary about kids coming out to LA to be stars with interest.
I do believe a couple of the parents were sincere about wanting a different life for their child, and I do believe that some of the kids were interested in acting. There is also the delusional group, and the kids who probably don't want it as much as their parents.
I can understand -- I really can -- getting an enormous opportunity like a feature film or a series or a tour of a show and having to be separated from your family in order to take advantage of it. I can understand maybe auditioning for a month and then going back home. I can understand feeling like, well, at least you can say you came out here and tried, you'll never be able to say, I should have tried it.
But I can't understand coming out to Hollywood on a wing and prayer and shelling out $5000 a month for months so your kid can do auditions in a vastly overcrowded and competitive market and, frankly, be scammed by agents and their photographer husbands and discounted acting classes. We saw a lot of that in this documentary.
To me the parents were naive, and Los Angeles isn't where you come to make it; you make it first and then come to LA or NY. You do local theater, local modeling, local commercials, build a portfolio and then give the big cities a go. There is no point in going if you don't do your research - who are the bad agents, who are the scam artists, what should you avoid.
Show business today is about agents and casting directors. Gone are the days when you actually met with a producer. Everybody has a class, a school - it's one thing if you're an adult and want to put up with all that heartache, it's another if you're a kid. There's more to life.
There is nothing wrong with a dream - and in going through the cast list on IMDb, some of these kids did end up doing commercials, TV, and film, and good for them. Hey, Hillary Swank and her mother lived in a car; Jim Carrey and his entire family lived in a van.
One actor talked about friends of his who have been in the business for years saying, "It's going to happen." His attitude is, "No, it isn't." The question is, what do they want to happen? Stardom? A chance to work every so often? Can they be happy NOW with whatever they're doing? Can they be happy doing showcases and extra work? It's up to the individual.
I was troubled watching this documentary because I kept asking myself when you know it's time to quit. In this case, that was up to the parents, and most didn't have realistic notions.
A child, a teen, has to grow up and decide if they want to make these sacrifices for themselves. When it's left in other hands, that can be a problem.
