- Mara Wilson wrote an essay for The New York Times on the dangers of child stars.
- Wilson, 33, is best known for the 1996 classic “Matilda”.
- The actress also draws comparisons between her early career and that of Britney Spears.
- Visit the Insider homepage for more stories.
Actress and author Mara Wilson, best known for her starring roles in ‘Matilda’, ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ from 1994 and ‘Mrs. Doubtfire ‘, published a personal essay in The New York Times on the dangers of child stars and the media. Britney Spears “terrifying” treatment.
The Times published the essay on Tuesday in which Wilson, now 33, outlined her own experiences with media sexualization at a young age, and the striking parallels between her early career and the way the media treated Britney Spears, leading to widespread conversations after the premiere of FX’s hit documentary “Framing Britney Spears”.
“The way people talked about Britney Spears was terrifying then, and it still is today,” Wilson wrote. “Her story is a striking example of a phenomenon that I have witnessed for many years: our culture is building these girls to destroy them. Fortunately, people are becoming aware of what we have done to Ms. Spears and are beginning to apologize. But we’re still living with the scars. ”
Framing Britney Spears explores the stars’ relationship with the media.
Sky
Wilson kept saying that while Hollywood has moved to address harassment issues in the industry, she was never sexually harassed on a movie set. Instead, she said her “sexual harassment has always come through the media and the public.”
“I’ve never appeared in anything more revealing than a knee-length sundress. This was all deliberate: my parents thought I would be safer that way. But it didn’t work. People asked me, ‘Do you have a boyfriend?’ in interviews since I was 6. Reporters asked me who I thought was the sexiest actor and about Hugh Grant’s arrest for asking for a prostitute, ”she said.
“It was cute when 10-year-olds sent me letters saying they were in love with me. It wasn’t when 50-year-old men did. Before I even turned 12, there were pictures of me on foot fetish websites and photoshopped. in child pornography. Every time I was ashamed. ”
“Framing Britney Spears” was released earlier this month and follows the toxic media circle that has surrounded Britney Spears for most of her career. The documentary also addresses the contentious conservatorship battle between Spears and her father, Jamie Spears – an issue that Wilson highlights as the main difference between her life and Britney’s.
“Many moments in Ms. Spears’s life were familiar to me. We had both made us dolls, had close friends and boyfriends who shared our secrets, and grown men who commented on our bodies,” she wrote.
But my life was easier, not only because I was never famous on gossip magazines, but because, unlike Mrs. Spears, I always had the support of my family. I knew there was money put away for me, and it was mine. to escape the public eye, I disappeared – safely at home or at school. “