How Hollywood devoured Hayden Child stars often fall

I enjoyed reading Noel Streatfield’s beloved children’s classic Ballet Shoes recently, with my primary-age daughter. But revisiting the text as an adult, the ending landed less pleasantly than I remembered from my childhood reading.

The story recounts the story of the “Fossil sisters”, three girls adopted by an eccentric British collector who then leaves them in the care of his great-niece and a nanny, with dwindling funds. The three girls begin careers on the stage, while still children.

What Happened

Near the end of the book the most beautiful, Pauline, is offered a Hollywood contract. She accepts it, in order to pay for her sister Petrova, a talented dancer, to train in Europe.

• A still more notorious just-about-survivor is the singer Britney Spears, whose parents pushed her into acting as a tween and who was just 16 when she sang “Hit Me Baby” in 1998.

• But where Lohan eventually withdrew from public life, settling in Dubai, the conservatorship imposed on Spears in 2008 would see her deprived of full adult autonomy while continuing to work.

• Drew Barrymore still hasn’t fully reconciled with her mother, but she seems comparatively happy, and has hosted a daytime talk show since 2020.

Key Details

As an adult, knowing about Harvey Weinstein, it read like Pauline selling herself to fund her sister’s dreams. I wanted to yell at her: the price is too high!

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• Don’t put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington Don’t put your daughter on the stage!

• The horrors encountered in Moloch’s fiery belly, or indeed on the yachts laden with pervy old rock stars?

Why It Matters

In real life, though, most children offered up to the god of showbiz are sent by their own parents — a decision as unfathomable as the willingness of ancient Canaanites, according to the Old Testament, to sacrifice their own children to the.

• The intensity of showbiz-parent enmeshment?

• Is it the enthusiasm with which a child is sacrificed?

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by UnHerd as more details emerge