At first I thought the little darlings were cute but my heart sunk, feeling like some old pervert who had money had taken advantage of innocence and the poor. Then I found it to be of great value to me. We are a spoiled society in a time when we have so much and appreciate so little. These films were made during the great depression
very harsh times when people were starving, broken, lost everything and the films are a peek into what life was like. The comments say a great deal about that time in history, and although it seems distasteful at first, you still can't help but appreciate how talented Shirley Temple was at such an early age!
Why would anyone even allow someone to depict the little ones in such a way? Child porn, incest and other abuses were handled differently then and usually considered nobody's business as well. We didn't have the laws we presently have and I think we should be appreciative of the lessons that show us just how far we have come in both our technology and our laws of humanity in less than a century. We should also be grateful to those who pioneered the whole process, both the victims and the heroes. A picture speaks a thousand words and I see these little films as a valuable piece of our history.
The time that most of us know Shirley Temple best for was during World War II when she gave us all hope (Such as "The Little Princess"). Shirley Temple gave us what we needed most in a time when we had so many devastating losses. She was America's Little Sweetheart who later became an ambassador to the United States since she had spent her life knowing how to deal with dignitaries from foreign countries. We owe her respect and a thank you in a big way and these early films show us that her successes and contributions were not from easy beginnings or for free!
