Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields

One reviewer said they remembered it all - so do I. And that they now understand what was behind it all. Again, I found that interesting because it affected all women and people of less power.

Another reviewer was unhappy that she didn't name the rapist. I wish she had too, but that's a massive legal problem that she didn't want to take on - and we don't have to pay for. But, I'm betting we all know who it was.

The one question that woke me up and that I am ashamed of myself for not asking is: Where the hell was her father in all of this? Why didn't he take the reins away from mom once in a while and protect her from some of the flagrant missteps of mom?

It's all hindsight, and this was a really good documentary because it seems to have made a lot of us actually think!

I've so disconnected her comfortable present-day persona from the sexualized media sensation she was as a child that I never gave any thought what it took to make such a dramatic life adjustment. Director Lana Wilson and Shields herself don't hold back in sharing personal revelations that include a previously undisclosed rape, postpartum depression (and that public fight with Tom Cruise), her dysfunctional relationship with Andre Agassi, and her largely fictionalized one with Michael Jackson. No surprise that her obsessive mother, a raging alcoholic, takes center stage, but this penetrating two-part 2023 documentary doesn't dwell on Brooke as a victim. Losing her virginity to Dean Cain (before becoming Superman and a fervent Trump supporter) and finding out Laura Linney has been a lifelong friend since childhood were just icing on the cake. There's a great dinner table conversation toward the end where Shields discusses whether her grown daughters with similar aspirations had any interest in seeing their mom's early movies. The answer was a definitive no as they can't reconcile her sexual exploitation as a child. A full circle moment.

Brooke Shields is incredibly impressive with her down to earth honesty in reviewing her life highlights. The documentary is concise for the most part, and while the viewer might want more focus on specific areas, it's enough to convey her often alarming story of unaware exploitation. While there has been personal and media manipulation, the history of female sexual sensationalism is spotlighted. Though she will not think of herself as a victim, what's pointed out repetitively is times have changed, and what the industry did then is not socially acceptable now. What makes this documentary great is her brave perspective and intelligent insight. Hopefully others can learn from her or more about her, if they choose to do so.

Guess I never knew much about Brook Shields. Of course you know the face, but how much more? I remember Blue Lagoon but not much else. I remember hearing the name "Pretty Baby" but I never actually saw the movie. So, I guess I'm probably like a lot of people who really only knew of Brook Shields through her modeling. I did watch Suddenly Susan from time to time also but didn't really like it. I recognized Brook as a talented comedian but again, never really gave her much attention beyond that.

Watching the documentary on Hulu accomplished multiple things for me. First, I realized just how damaged Brook Shields is thanks to the terrible parenting she suffered through as a child. If the 2-part series is to be believed, her Mother Teri basically pimped Brook out to anyone willing to pay. Sure the industry itself can certainly be blamed for taking advantage of a beautiful young girl but the two people who should've been keeping her safe, her parents, completely let her down. So in my mind, the documentary is a sad tale about a kid who was abandoned by one parent and completely abused by the other. I'm truly amazed Brook survived her childhood. So while the documentary is interesting, it's also depressing. Overall, I think it was done well but there was one glaring omission, the Father. He basically escapes the whole process here. I'd like to know how he felt about his Wife pimping out his Daughter?

Brooke Shields was a stranger in her own life...a life she lived for her mother, then subsequently for Agassi. It's clear her mother peddled her in ways that are objectionable and damaging to a young woman's core self. This explains why I have always seen an nearly imperceptible look of panic in Shields' eyes. Look, you will see it. This documentary is eye opening as it exposes the way Brooke was offered up as a youth sex symbol by uncaring and greedy movie producers who birthed the 70's era of child sex symbols in film--something we are smart enough to reject today. But this bought fame and fortune to young Brooke while the price she paid was personality dissociation. She separated her instinct and feelings from her big celebrity ambitions--it was survival. Somehow, I'm not completely buying the victimization of her narrative, particularly when she defends her role in Pretty Baby to her daughters. Give it up, Brooke. Your mother made you do things that you would never ask your daughters to do.

The industry devours the willing for a pot of gold, even when that will is fabricated. The good part is that Shields has survived her wounds and has self-actualized. That's always a good ending.