Brooke Shields: Pretty Baby The star proves that beauty lies within in her new documentary

AMANDA EACHO AMANDA.EACHO.22@CNU.EDU

On April 3, a documentary, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” was released on Hulu. In the two-part documentary Shields reflects on her life in front of the cameras from an early age and how it’s impacting her today.

The documentary serves to show how being sexualized and objectified impacts young women in the Hollywood industry. She delves deep into the issues that come with being sexualized at such a young age and how she had to learn to break away from that image of her.

The story is told through archival footage and interviews with her close friends, film historians, culture reporters, and Shields herself. It also does a deep dive into many controversial movies that Shields was a part of such as the movie Pretty Baby where, at twelve years old, she played a girl being raised in a brothel and had to kiss her adult costar in addition to two nude scenes.

Another movie that is highly focused on is Blue Lagoon where 14 year old Shileds starred opposite of 18 year old Christopher Atkins at the time and played cousins turned lovers after they get shipwrecked. She again had several nude scenes and many people ended up getting sick on set due to unsanitary conditions.

In part one, they explore her early career, starting with her first photoshoot at 11 months old. It ends with her graduating Princeton, much to the surprise of many who saw her as just a pretty face. She also talks about her complex relationship with her manager/mother, Teri.

In part two, viewers see Shields be ginning to find a voice setting boundaries with her mother and discovering her talent in dance and comedy. This helped her break away from being just a pretty face. However, she also speaks in depth about her divorce from her first husband, being sexually assaulted by a Hollywood executive, her struggle with infertility, and postpartum depression.

By the end the viewers get a glimpse into Shield’s life now. She’s shown at home with her husband and two teenage daughters, discussing her life and how what she went through was wrong and that she hopes they understand.

Brooke Shields’ story is moving and one of empowerment but also cautionary. It brings to light how child actors are taken advantage of. It also shows how women are held to these high standards of how they should look and act. This documentary brings about the question of whether or not society has changed from when Shields was a child.