Child actors and gruesome films.

[Itsmychristmasdress]

I'm watching gangs of new York. And it just got me thinking how child actors are exposed to horrific violence on set of movies...I wonder how is that allowed. I am sure they are protected in some ways but I'm not sure they can be fully protected?
Anyone know a bit about it?

Haven’t see that movie, but my six-year-old can scream and wail like the world is ending because we told her she had to turn off Unicorn Academy. (She has ADHD and lots of “big feelings.”)

There’s a movie called “Mysterious Skin,” about two boys who are sexually abused by their coach and how it continues to affect them as adults. You can tell how the filmmakers did it without traumatizing the kids; for example, the coach rests his head on one of the boy’s chests and we don’t see the boy’s face, because I think it’s a mannequin. At one point, the same boy looks out his window late at night and sees his mom and her boyfriend having sex in the yard. We see him looking out the window, then a shot of the mom and the boyfriend, then a closeup of the kid’s face. The mom and boyfriend characters were clearly filmed at a different time.

What I wonder is, how do these kids feel when they grow up and find out what other things were in the movie? If I was a kid and I thought I was filming a movie about a little boy’s summer, I’d be shocked when I grew up and found out it was about child sexual abuse. Or do the parents and filmmakers tell them a sanitized version of what the film is about? (“A man who hurts a boy” or something like that.)

Bear in mind as well the kids hang out in costume, make up, they get lunch at the trailer, sit near the actors, see them half in/half out costume, the sets are fab but also two steps away from 'real' rooms. It's so stop and start not real time.

Nannerli · 24/09/2024 10:57

Is your baby upset on an average day? Because that’s all that’s happening here — you wait till the baby cries about any of the fifty things babies cry about and then film, after which the baby goes back to his/her day. Hence the use of twin babies playing the same character quite often

I get that, but some are quite distressed, and they just want to be with a parent/carer. I understand that babies cry, but sometimes it is toddlers/young children, which is equally hard to watch.

I get that, but some are quite distressed, and they just want to be with a parent/carer. I understand that babies cry, but sometimes it is toddlers/young children, which is equally hard to watch.

As an Early Years teacher I have seen children cry hysterically when their parents says goodbye and turn it off the instant the door closes. I think small children are capable of acting even without any encouragement. I'm not a cruel teacher, BTW, I saw it with my own child when I hovered outside peeking in.