Why Is Brooke Shields’ Role in 1978 Movie ‘Pretty Baby’ Considered Controversial?

The award-winning documentary Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields details the life of the child actress Brooke Shields, who played the trafficked daughter of a prostitute in Louis Malle’s 1978 movie Pretty Baby. The film received backlash due to controversial scenes Brooke had to do, including one where she appeared nude.

The documentary’s synopsis on ABC’s website reads, “‘Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields’ follows Shields through her extraordinary childhood and complex relationship with her mother and manager, Teri Shields. Brooke Shields’ professional career began at only 11 months old, working as a child model before starring in Louis Malle’s controversial film Pretty Baby at the age of 12.”

Brooke Shields controversial role in ‘Pretty Baby’ — A Reflection

Having been unaware of how controversial her role was at the time, Brooke considered Pretty Baby “the most beautiful movie I’ve ever made” and “the only real quality film I’ve ever been in.”

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“I value that movie in such a different way and wrote my thesis on it. I’m fascinated with that journey of innocence to experience and who owns it,” she told The New Yorker last year. “Do they become a victim to it? Or do they not?”

She did more leading roles in movies like The Blue Lagoon and Endless Love, but none came close to Pretty Baby in her heart. “It’s very interesting to me, that movie. You couldn’t make it today, obviously,” she added. After her hiatus from the spotlight to attend college, Brooke returned to film as a “more confident and more proud” adult who, without her degree, would not “have been able to adapt or reinvent.”

Brooke sought validation from Susan Sarandon

Brooke worked 12 to 15 hours daily as a 12-year-old while filming Pretty Baby and faced abuse on set. She had to wear antique footwear that broke her skin and got hit multiple times by her co-star Susan Sarandon, whose approval she craved very much. “I wanted so much approval from her— as a woman, as an actress, as a mom,” Brooke admitted. “She was a maternal figure for me in the film, and she was very serious.”

However, after receiving nine consecutive slaps from Susan, everything changed for Brooke. “I never felt like I got approval from her. I was a golden retriever puppy. That was me off-camera. On camera, Violet has this very stoic reaction to her mother,” she said. “During the slapping scene, I remember that’s when I switched the way that I reacted toward her.”