Pretty Baby (1978)
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Historical
Lilith — 6 years ago(September 13, 2019 01:11 AM)
It's a lot like Lolita in the fact that it involves the sexualization of a child, except in this case, a young Brooke Shields is being auctioned off for her young virginity. She's the daughter of a prostitute, growing up in that environment.
Of interest is that her mother helped her to get this role. For the sex scenes, to get emotion from her, her mother was in the room (as required by law) and pinched her toes to get her to "moan" and "wince" etc. I find that rather incredible when it comes to a mother encouraging this particular role for her young daughter.
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
Lilith — 6 years ago(September 13, 2019 01:21 AM)
To be honest, I see similarities even with Toddlers and Tiaras. Sexualizing these little girls… It's been done forever, and truth is it's never really stopped. Girls are groomed from a young age to focus on their appearance, and how to dress and appear to please men, to be sexy.
I feel like our kids have lost their childhood and are growing up so fast, and I also think that social media is exacerbating this as very young "influencers" are pushing the very same agendas. Let our children grow up…
"Your emotional state is not my responsibility." – Warren Smith -
PlutoTheFriendly — 6 years ago(September 13, 2019 01:19 AM)
WOW!
You really know how to pick the good but obscure movies.
I really found this to be a very charming movie even though the themes were so dark and uncomfortable. For some reason one thing I remember is the lingering shot of the black man straightening up his suit before leaving the brothel for good.
I also very much loved the irony of the photographer dressing Brookes' character up like a sweet heart which completely goes against her character. Then later the same photographer is photographing her completely naked, which was a bit of a shock for me but the intentions of the filmmaker was very clear!
YOU CAN DO IT! -
Alpha Raven Andromeda — 6 years ago(September 13, 2019 01:21 AM)
I'm not judging parents as much as I used to, because it's not fair. I do remember feeling appalled at a scene in the reboot of The Magnificent Seven with Denzel Washington. In the big shoot out scene near the end, there was a close up shot of a toddler screaming for her mommy. It looked way too real. She didn't look like she was acting terrified. She really seemed terrified for her life.
-
geewizzz — 6 years ago(September 13, 2019 01:55 AM)
I never really thought much of Brooke in a sexual context - the nudity isn't sexual and there were only 2 scenes with Brooke partially nude that made it to the film. And the media made it very clear at the time that Brooke was wearing a nylon body stocking in the scene where Keith Carradine is arguing with her.
The other shots were closed sets with only her Mother and Malle present.
The story and screenplay were written by Polly Platt, ex-wife of director Peter Bogdanovich (he left her for Cybill Shepherd)
So it's a character study written from a female perspective (which reminds me of something like
Little Women
) and based on Al Rose's book, "Storyville, New Orleans: Being an Authentic, Illustrated Account of the Notorious Red Light District"
Carradine's character, E.J. Bellocq, was a real person who photographed prostitutes in the Red Light District of New Orleans, and the photos that appear in the book are what the poses in the film depict.
Malle, being French, probably saw the subject matter as something natural rather than exploitive, so showing Brooke's character in the same pose as the model in the book wasn't perverse.
Malle was more interested in Susan Sarandon - the two became involved romantically while making the film and stayed together for a few years.
I do think Polly Platt originally written this with a mental image of her husband (Bogdanovich) directing it, being that he was doing many period pieces during the 70s (
Paper Moon, Daisy Miller, Nickelodeon, At Long Last Love
) and the idea for this sprung from Platt working as a costume designer and consoling young Tatum O'Neal on the set of
Paper Moon
when Tatum was crying about not wanting to wear boy's clothes in the film and being embarrassed by her friends seeing her looking so ugly on screen - she told them she was gonna be in a movie and wanted to look "Pretty"
So Platt tells her if she wears the boy clothes in this movie, she promises to write a screenplay for Tatum that she'll get to wear pretty clothes in.
So came the concept of Pretty Baby and Tatum was first choice for the role as Violet, but Tatum's Dad, Ryan O'Neal objected to his daughter in that role and refused to let her do the film.
Had Bogdanovich directed the film, it probably would've been a different film than it became.
I can even picture him casting his usual actors in some of the roles -
Tatum O'Neal as Violet
Either Madeline Kahn or Cybill Shepherd as Hattie
Or Madeline Kahn as Fanny
Either Eileen Brennan or Cloris Leachman as Madam Nell
Barry Brown or even Ryan O'Neal as Bellocq
As for Ryan not allowing Tatum to take the role of Violet, was more likely that he didn't want Tatum becoming more famous than him
According to Tatum's book, A Paper Life, Ryan was already pissed that Tatum won an Oscar and he got overlooked for a nomination.
And Bad News Bears was a box office hit while Barry Lyndon was a box office flop.
He also said no to Andy Warhol, who asked if he could photograph 12 year old Tatum nude for his Interview Mag
But Ryan allowed his 12 year old daughter to travel Europe alone and take in a porn film with Roman Polanski and allowed 16 year old Tatum to go topless in
Circle Of Two
, cos he read the script first and decided "Here…you can do this - it's a piece of sh!t"
A film like this would've been a big deal for Tatum…though I think Brooke had a more appealing look than Tatum at that age.
Many other young hopefuls jumped at the opportunity to do the film, even actresses that were much too old for the role auditioned.
Mariel Hemingway was offered the part but had conflicts with her older sister, Margaux…since the Hollywood community was embracing Mariel and shunning Margaux ever since film critics blast her for her role in
Lipstick
Anissa Jones, was offered the part but died before the auditions began.
Jennifer Jason Leigh, at the time unknown to the public, very much wanted the part and auditioned, but her dad, Vic Morrow, didn't approve.
Diane Lane, whose Mom was a former Playboy centerfold, was a contender and might've gotten the part if Brooke bailed out. Even though she became uncomfortable with nudity in her later teens, she had said in interviews that she was used to going topless on stage playing boy roles, and didn't mind it since she was built like a boy (that would change soon enough)
Ally Sheedy, Rosanna Arquette, Meg Tilly, Dana Plato, Bridget Fonda were among the many who auditioned.
Jodie Foster was among the few who turned down the part - Though Foster was a fan of Louis Malle and praised his film,
Lacombe, Lucien
, she said in an interview that she didn't want to be typecast as a prostitute and already had a commitment with Disney Pictures, so wouldn't be available.
She already had done a number of films at that point that were a bit more taboo IMO than Pretty Baby - At age 13, doing a sex scene in
The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane
(the nudity was finally restored for DVD releases but was cut for U.S. theaters when it was originally r
