From Jackie Coogan to Michael Jackson

Abstract

The death of former child star Michael Jackson in 2009 reignited public debates around the potential dangers of early fame. This article explores the ways in which the status of child stars has changed over the course of the twentieth century in line with shifting attitudes toward childhood in general and with the proliferation and diversification of media formats. Starting with the Hollywood “Child Star” era and moving on to child stars of television and more recent films, the connection between the kind of children audiences have demanded to see on screen, and wider ideologies of childhood, will be explored. It will be demonstrated how representations of childhood innocence and naturalness have often been at odds with the “real life” experiences of child stars, and the continuing practice of allowing children to become media celebrities is questioned.

Keywords:

• celebrity
• childhood
• child star
• Jackie Coogan
• Harry Potter
• Macaulay Culkin
• Michael Jackson
• representations
• Shirley Temple
• social construction

Notes

1. Graham Greene (1904–1991) was a hugely successful and influential English author, playwright, and literary critic.

2. WASP is an acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant.