Brooke Shields' Sexualization as a Child Was Staggering 

Brooke Shields opens up about being sexualized in the public eye as a child in an upcoming Hulu documentary.

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields is named in reference to the controversial 1978 movie Pretty Baby, which marked Shields' breakout role as a 12-year-old girl raised in a brothel. The documentary launches on Hulu on Monday, April 3, with first-hand accounts from Shields detailing her experiences as a child star-turned-sex symbol—with a worrying amount of crossover in between.

Shields, now 57 years old, was a child model in the 1970s and made her big screen debut in the 1976 movie Alice, Sweet Alice. Photographs were taken of her as a 10-year-old, in which she appeared nude. These were later published in the Playboy Press publication Sugar 'n' Spice. This is just one of many troubling instances which seemed to sexualize Shields when she was a minor.

Life as a Child Model

Born in 1965, Shields admitted on Inside The Actors Studio in 2008 that her first job was at 11 months old when she was photographed by Francesco Scavullo for Ivory Soap. Her mother, Teri Shields, was also a model and was heavily involved with Brooke's career in the early years.

In 1975, when Shields was 10 years old, she was photographed by Garry Gross. The controversial nude images, two of which featured a full-frontal Brooke, were taken with the consent of her mom, Teri, and published in Sugar 'n' Spice.

By 1981, Shields took legal action to prevent any further publication of the pictures, but in 1983 a U.S. Court ruled that the use of the photographs didn't breach child pornography laws because of the valid, unrestricted consents executed by a guardian.

Shields' breakout movie role came in 1978's Pretty Baby, which was shot when she was 12 years old. It starred Shields as a child who lived in a brothel and is eventually pulled into the world of prostitution. The movie features scenes in which Shields is nude, which led to accusations of the movie containing child pornography.

Teen Icon

At the age of 14 in 1980, Shields became the youngest cover model to ever appear on the cover of Vogue magazine.

She then became the face of an infamous Calvin Klein TV ad campaign. One of the ads included the teenage Shields using the tagline, "You want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."

Her movie career continued as a teenager, though many of the movies sexualized her despite her being a minor at the time. A body double was used in The Blue Lagoon (1980) to shoot her nude scenes, while Endless Love (1981) also received an X rating, later downgraded to an R rating.

High Times Article by Ed Dwyer

One of the most concerning pieces of media to resurface from those days is an article written by journalist Ed Dwyer for the magazine High Times in February 1978.

It often circulates online, and has gone viral once again in anticipation of the launch of Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields on Hulu.

"Documentary on Brooke Shields is coming out soon [...] and I will never not be horrified by the way so many adults sexualized a prepubescent girl. Should all be thrown in jail," wrote Twitter user @carbdiem, sharing a screenshot of the article written by Dwyer.

The tweet received tens of thousands of comments, likes, and retweets. The images of Shields used in the article include one shot of a young Shields posing alongside Woody Allen, with whom she would work on Annie Hall, though her scene was later cut.

In the opening paragraph, the writer bylined as Ed Dwyer, said: "The most perfect nymphette in all creation has been found—in America. Her name is Brooke Shields. Brooke's hair is elegant brown and clean, her skin pale and puritan, her eyes sinfully blue and her lean body just starting to curve into womanhood.

The trailer for Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields features several examples of how Shields was sexualized in her youth too. The first clip features Shields on a talk show with the host saying to her, "You really are an exquisite-looking young lady. I know you've been told that but, isn't she a pretty girl?"

It gets progressively worse from there.

The final paragraph of Dwyer's article reads: "She's a sweet temptation to all but blind men and eunuchs. She's sister, daughter, sex object, victim, lover, tramp. We can look forward to watching her fill out over the next decade. Brooke Shields is not just another pretty baby, baby."

The trailer of the documentary includes quick examples of images where Shields is photographed as a child model, dressed inappropriately. One clip shows blurred images of her appearing naked in a photoshoot.

Speaking in the present day, Shields says in the trailer, "I'm amazed that I survived any of it."

Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields will air over two parts, and will be available to stream on Hulu from Monday, April 3, 2023.