Millie Bobby Brown in the media

[raisinsraisins]

Following on from all the #metoo relating to HW etc.

I've never watched Stranger Things, but there are lots of recent photos of the 13 year old actress Millie Bobby Brown all over the media at the moment. She looks like she is about 25 years old in the photos, in regards to her make up, hair, clothes etc, and she is always photographed on her own, not with her parents or other guardians.

If anyone mentions how odd this is on Twitter etc, they are generally shouted down for sexualising a child, and that some children just look old for their age and shouldn't be looked at as if they are an adult.

This all sits really badly for me, as although I don't know this particular girl's personal situation, surely the way ahead in Hollywood now should be for young children to be protected from any situations they should not be in, and not marketed as an adult. Why is this still happening?

[MrsTerryPratchett]

Knowing what we know, a 13 yo girl with no very present safe care-givers is unsafe in Hollywood. I hope Winona is keeping an eye out.

What she looks like or is wearing is irrelevant though.

[VictoriaMcdade]

She has been quoted as saying that she won't wear anything too revealing. It can all tip into creepy really easily thought.

There's been a bit of a stir though about people sexualising the other children from that show. They are only 13 or 14, for goodness sake.

[Somerville]

There were quite a few scenes in latest series that made me really uncomfortable. (I don't want to drop spoilers so won't give details.) And that whole 80s-throwback vibe is fun to watch, but what we know now about what was happening to child actors then just adds to the discomfort.

[raisinsraisins]

I know it shouldn't matter at all what she looks like, but for some reason I am uncomfortable with the way she looks, as she is a role model to other children. And obviously for her own safety if she is attending any parties and events on her own it will be assumed that she is older than she is.

[IhaveapenIhavepineapple]

I've just looked her up because I've never watched Stranger Things and the first suggested search term other than just her name is "Millie Bobby Brown bikini". This was on duckduckgo.

[Lewwat]

She's not alone, she doesn't rock up to all these places on the tube

[LaurieFairyCake]

I think she looks like a pretty normal 13 year old so I don’t see where you’re coming from. She’s dressed up in fairly cool gear but nothing I would say older than she is.

I’ve just watched all of the series and the debrief series where the cast are sat round a table chatting about it - she’s very much treated like a young person and actor - she’s listened to, encouraged to talk. All of the very young cast appear to get on really well.

[TheRadiantAerynSun]

just Googled her pictures and I don't see anything inappropriate.

She has the kind of look that when she smiles she looks like a little girl, but when serious she looks much older. The moody/arty pictures do make her look around 20-25, but she's not sexualised in any of them IMO.

Obviously we can't know how well protected any of those children are, but that's a different issue.

And people will sexualise young girl in the media regardless of what they look like; there was a website with a countdown to when Emma Watson was 'legal'.

[metalmum15]

I've just googled images of her and I really don't think she's dressed any different to other teenagers. Also, she won't be rocking up to events on her own, there will be adults with her, just not in the photos.

Somerville I'm really curious which bits made you uncomfortable? I can't think of anything (Although I have still to watch the last 2 episodes )

[berliozwooler]

Just googled her. She looks 13 or younger to me in all the images. Can't see an issue. My 12 year old daughter looks older than that, frankly, when she experiments with make up. Most of the time she looks 12/13. A lot of her friends look like grown women, purely due to height and build.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Also bear in mind she’s a model for kids ranges so there are quite a lot of posed photos of her.

[ISaySteadyOn]

She is an amazing actress fwiw. Stranger Things is worth watching just for her.

I would love to see or hear a group interview with all the main female cast where they talk about the things OP mentioned.

[pinkyredrose]

How the he'll does she look 25?! I think you need Specsavers.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

@pinkyredrose it really depends on the picture. She was mentioned somewhere and I didn’t connect the name with Eleven. So I Googled and didn’t know who it was. Then I realized and was very shocked it was her. She really looked adult.

[eyebrowsonfleek]

It’s well established that her parents are very hands-on.
I have a 14 year old dd and tbh MMB looks younger - it might be because of the clothing that she is given or because she’s not at normal school so has space to develop her own style. She wears very little make up compared to the average UK 14 year old too.

[metalmum15]

She wears very little make up compared to the average UK 14 year old

Yes, and she has her own eyebrows.

[Dervel]

I don't think she looks 20-25 although often 20-25 year olds are made to look 13. Perhaps that's what's confusing people?

[JemimaLovesHamble]

Her parents and siblings are very present, in fact it seems like MBB is financially supporting her whole family. That's not necessarily a good thing though, it puts a lot of pressure on her shoulders.

[raisinsraisins]

On the BBC website today, the new editor of Vogue magazine says he wants to protect models. But the front cover of the new Vogue features MBB within a list of adults.

I really hope that things have changed and we won't still be hearing stories in the future about how we failed to protect children.

[SylviaPoe]

She looks 13.

The boys are also photographed on their own.

[deydododatdodontdeydo]

Have watched all of Stranger Things and didn't think she looked anything other than a child.
Also googled her images because of this thread and I'm failing to see what the problem is. None of them are sexualised and she doesn't look 25 at all.
I think sexualisation of girls is a huge problem, but sorry OP, in this case I think it's not a good example - there are hundreds more out there which are good examples.
Bit of an out of date one now, but Charlotte Church for example, or Emma Watson.

[MmmmmmBop]

She is so great in the show. The best thing about it by far.

Amazon very recently came under pressure to remove a "Sexy Eleven" costume from sale on their site, so you're not at all wrong about the need to guard against the sexualisation of the image of the 13-year-old actor or the 12-year-old character.

[MrsFionaCharming]

www.popbuzz.com/tv-film/stranger-things/millie-bobby-brown-sexiest-tv-stars-and-like/#LuppkfoJXgrA3dum.97

[BagelGoesWalking]

There was a recent picture (with the longer hair) where she does look a lot older than 13. I think it’s the hair:makeup but she could easily pass for 17/18?

[raisinsarenottheonlyfruit]

I watched the interview with MBB and her co-star Finn that came on directly after the last episode.

Sitting around the table were 3 adult men - the Duffer Brothers (writers and directors) and a presenter.

The presenter asked the kids about their kiss scenes and the kiss scenes of their co-stars and they talked about this for a while. I'm sure nothing bad was meant by it, but given the current revelations about child stars, it felt a bit innaproproate. Why were these two teenagers being made to talk about their screen kisses by adults? Why were we dwelling on this?

The kids were witty and entertaining talking about the embarrassment of kissing on screen, but I'm not keen on the RL embarrassment of these kids about what is one of their first kisses being our entertainment (MMB being on record as saying the previous screen kiss with Finn was her first ever kiss).