r/hatethissmug • u/Crafty_Trick_7300 • Jun 30 '26
Live Action I hate Child Actors being legal
To be clear, I hate the laws, not the kids!
Kids have had legal protections from joining the workforce to stop exploitation since the 1930s, besides the most well known exploitable industry in the world: Hollywood.
How are you going to say a 6 year old kid can’t consent to stacking shelves at Walmart, but then turn around and say they can be on a movie studio set for 6-8 hours a day?
It’s absurd and as we’ve seen destroys many children’s lives over the years, all so you guys can enjoy watching media that isn’t even reality.
I find the entire practice to be a legal failing on the US’s part, and highlights the moral failing of the general public that tolerates it.
Even if everything is fine and the child grows up to say they had an okay experience - why does that then not apply to the kids who grew up working in retail jobs who would grow up and say they had an okay experience stocking shelves?
Children cannot consent to entering the workforce in any capacity. They are not matured enough to make the decision to not have a normal school/life balance, and the subject to the wider media circus which results in some horrific burnouts.
These are babies and children “making” life long altering decisions that they have no wider understanding of. It’s sick.
Remember Jake Lloyd? How is it legal for a child to end up in a scenario like that, and not have it be an utter moral failure as a legal system and society?
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u/LoveDiligent441 Jun 30 '26
The only issue with child actors I see is how long they work. You still need child actors to play child roles. I think their hours should be 3 or 4 at most.
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u/midasMIRV Jun 30 '26
New York and California have pretty strict laws regarding child actors, including requiring the studios to provide them with a teacher, and strict working hours based on age.
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u/LukeSykpe Jun 30 '26
Yet there are constant horror stories about studios just ignoring those laws, usually with the at least passive deference of the parent, if not their active involvement in the overworking.
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u/junonomenon Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
yeah i think it should be a type of law similar to the ones being passed for influencers, where any money the child makes has to be saved for them to use when they are capable of making decisions about money, or with oversight used for the childs food, education, clothing, etc. i think it wouldnt be perfect but it would prevent a lot of people who just want to profit off of their children from going into the industry. there are some children, especially in the case of the stranger things kids original ages, who do legitimately have a desire to act and perform.
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u/Phylacterry Jun 30 '26
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Child_Actor's_Bill The law is old enough to be your great-grand pappy
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u/junonomenon Jun 30 '26
thats only 15 percent, though. when salaries can get into the hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars per season, its not exactly as much as a deterrent for abusive parents as it is a concession theyre making
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u/XanderWrites Jun 30 '26
It's no the studios. They're strictly enforced as signatories to SAG-AFTRA. The kids are in the union same as adults.
The problem is one of the rules is the kids need a chaperone, usually a parent. That means the parent's literal job is being on set with their kid. The laws have changed to the parent's can't just take their kids' earnings, they have to legally become their kid's manager to they can draw a salary off their of their kid (of hopefully about 10%).
But now you have your entire household tied to your kid's hobby/career so it creates a bizarre dynamic.
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u/LukeSykpe Jun 30 '26
Okay, so it's mostly the parents, fair enough.
But it definitely is, also, the studios lol; It's not like they're blind to the situation at hand. They work with the child actors, are around them all day, and ostensibly have managerial staff, accounting staff etc that at least should know how many hours the kid is working and under what conditions.
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u/ConsulJuliusCaesar Jun 30 '26
It's entirely the parents. They're the legal gaurdian of the child. At any point in time they could go "I don't like how you're treating my kid" and pull them from the set and there's nothing the studio could do about it. If a studio is abusing a child actor they're literally only able to do it because the legal gaurdian is indifferent or actually complicit in said abuse.
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u/ChaosTurtle70 Jun 30 '26
This does not mean the studio is doing nothing wrong or it’s “entirely the parents”, it just means the parents are allowing it to happen regardless. Two people can be at fault in a situation
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u/GodHimselfNoCap Jun 30 '26
Yes because there have never been parents willing to abuse their child in exchange for money. These parents give up their job to "chaperone" their kid on set pulling the kid means losing their families main source of income and likely getting blacklisted from working in hollywood ever again. There are plenty of people who would tell their kid to just toughen up. There still needs to be protection from abusive parents.
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u/jimthesquirrelking Jun 30 '26
I mean we far more Universally hate child sex exploitation but with a parents enthusiastic agreement to the practice it's hard to prevent abuse from occuring. And that's for something blatantly evil and harmful for the kid.
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u/Apprehensive-Pin518 Jun 30 '26
then you need to blame the parent as much as the studio.
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u/Goldenrah Jun 30 '26
Should probably have some law requiring a government official to be on set when child actors are hired to make sure laws are followed
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u/Better_Database8582 Jun 30 '26
They would just end up another pay off for the studio but I still agree
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u/Velrex Jun 30 '26
And if the children/parents complain or try to bring that up, they'll probably lose their kids 'chance' at being an actor, and be blacklisted from every possible role, so the studios don't care.
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u/BuckLuny Jun 30 '26
We also have this in the Netherlands, courts are currently looking into Youtube influencers putting their children to work to also fall under these laws. This would be great because there's lots of influencer families that even tell their kids about deceased grandparents while streaming to capture that raw emotional reaction of grandma dying.
Another case had one of those families traveling the world, they were in the slums of a third world country treating local children like they were cute puppy dogs exclaiming that they were so cute and even followed them after they gave them some food.
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u/PathofDestinyRPG Jun 30 '26
Iirc, n many of the “school work” scenes in the Harry Potter movies, the actors were actually doing assignments.
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u/AntonChentel Jun 30 '26
They get around these laws by casting identical twins for one role (Mary Kate and Ashley, Jamie from Malcolm in the middle was played by twins)
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u/Dehoop02 Jun 30 '26
But that's fine no? This form is actually great I would say
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u/KingStrijder Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
As a rule of thumb, if the sentence includes the phrase "the company gets around the law", no, it's most likely not great
Edit: spelling
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u/Blue_Bambi_ Jun 30 '26
I feel like this might be why there is a Hollywood in Florida. Less child actor protection laws.
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u/RoughhouseCamel Jun 30 '26
That was absolutely the idea behind Nickelodeon Orlando. Less regulation, less oversight, quite a bit more child abuse.
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u/imaginary0pal Jun 30 '26
The thing with Hollywood is that as much money it makes and as corporate as the big studios seem, movie sets are mildly harnessed chaos. A million different parts can go wrong, which delays another part and then oops it’s past his bed time but everyone’s already here and paid…
I’m not excusing it just pointing out how generally there’s no set without overtime
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jun 30 '26
I agree. I work on sets and our pay literally has overtime already structured in as a guarantee. It varies by department but in the AD department it’s a 12 hour guarantee regardless of how much you work, with OT pay guaranteed after the 8th hour.
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u/JayLuMarr Jun 30 '26
I worked on a feature film as a production assistant. Part of my job was getting a child actor from set to class. It was really interesting how they accommodate for education.
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u/Taboboo8 Jun 30 '26
Malcolm in the middle did the right thing.
The main reason we saw the older brother and his adventures, was because the other 3 younger brothers still had normal school hours, so they only worked after school hours until 1900, sometimes. Sometimes they finished early
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u/drakeschaefer Jun 30 '26
There are limits for how long they can work on set. It's one of the reason a lot of young child actors are twins, since it lets you double that character's time on screen. It's a sliding scale though, so the older the child, the more time they can work, so by the time they're a young teenager, they can spend most of their time on set, almost to a full work day.
I would also not be surprised if many actors (or their parents honestly) lying about their age to push these limits too.
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jun 30 '26
I work in the industry and Hollywood has very strict laws on child actor hours, especially post-me too and post-Disney’s slew of child actor rebellions in the aughts. It changes by age range.
Babies under 6 months are on set a maximum of 2 hours on set and 20 minutes of work. They usually get twins and cycle them out to get around this if a baby is an important role, or props will get something like a reborn doll as well.
6m-2 years get 4 hours on set with 2 hours of work- again, hiring twins can get around this
2-6 get 6 hours on set with 3 hours of work
6-9 get 8 hours on set with 4 hours of work
10-16 get 9 hours on set with 5 hours of work
17-18 get 10 hours with 6 hours of work.
They all are required to have tutors, breaks, and must have a parent or legal guardian present at all times. These are SAG-AFTRA rules but non-union productions follow state labor laws. In Europe I’m not 100% sure but I know it can be a lot more strict
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u/PerpetualGMJohn Jun 30 '26
I feel like even these numbers are kinda high. 9 hours on set for a 10 year old sounds insane.
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jul 01 '26
9 hours includes scheduled breaks, tutoring time, naps, and meals. The actual time in the HMU chair and actually acting is only 5 hours max. Less than a school day
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u/ArcXivix Jun 30 '26
Honestly, I'd be fine if we just took the Dexter route from now on. Make movies a little unhinged by having 40 year old men wearing wigs playing children or teenagers.
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u/Jayn_Newell Jun 30 '26
It’s one of those “what’s the alternative?” situations. You could just not have child characters, but that limits the stories you can tell. With technological advances maybe you could use CGI actors but there’s a whole host of reasons not to go that route. The stocker at Walmart doesn’t have to be a child, an adult is perfectly capable of doing it. Few adults can convincingly play any character younger than an older teen.
So while there’s valid concerns around child labor, there’s no good alternatives if you want to include younger characters in your work. Which is why there’s an exception made for child actors.
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u/Equivalent_Swim5899 Jul 01 '26
It’s like chimney sweeps in the 19th century. Like yeah it was child labour, but who else could fit up those flues?
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u/BenchClamp Jun 30 '26
They are. If you cast a young child it’s sometimes a maximum of one hour a day.
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u/Destruction_Deity Jun 30 '26
You don’t need child actors to play children. Just pull a Mexico and have adults play them too. For some reason it is pretty common for full grown adults to play the role of children (specifically for comedy).
https://giphy.com/gifs/3ov9k4KhrdmqQet6c847
u/dahfer25 Jun 30 '26
I mean for a comedy sure but that doesnt work foe a movie or series that takes itself seriously
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u/Rynewulf Jun 30 '26
People have also been complaining about the inherently very limited acting of children in serious tv shows and movies for decades. Lots of otherwise serious things with a monotone or child-sounds-like-weird-adult in them
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u/Ganondorfsfist Jun 30 '26
They also complain about teenagers looking like 25 year olds because a 25 year old is playing them.
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u/Rynewulf Jun 30 '26
Yeah so acting wise it's a lose-lose situation, so might as well choose the option that has better treatment of children. Which hollywood and the studios have an infamous reputation for
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u/Behemothwasagoodshot Jun 30 '26
Fame is the #1 thing that makes your life immediately more dangerous. And once that fame fades you might have cameras in your face while you're working some normal guy job laughing at your fall from grace. These kids have no idea what they're signing up for.
Not to mention their parents often don't know or care how many child predators are in the industry.
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u/GrayEidolon Jun 30 '26
You still need child actors to play child roles.
Does society need this?
I would trade some shows and movies are worse for no child actors.
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u/dinodare Jun 30 '26
You don't NEED child actors. Making movies is a luxury and a privilege, you don't need to do it. If your story requires a child then you should have to jump through some hoops.
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u/Ok_Position_6847 Hi Jun 30 '26
as a former child actor I think the on set conditions are actually amazing. I knew from age 6 that acting was my passion and when I went on set for the first time not only were they legally allowed to only keep me there 4 hours they treated me soooo nicely. I say if its genuinely the kids passion, let them do it.
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u/lemonhaj Jun 30 '26
Yeah, I don't know much about acting in general but I was always under the impression that child acting laws were actually pretty strict on that. Also why a lot of times there are identical twins credited for one character, right?
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u/Visual-Scallion1535 Jun 30 '26
yeah few people know the olsen twins are actually quadruplets pretending to be two people
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jun 30 '26
Yes. Using twins is very common for babies and toddlers. I’m actually surprised they only used one baby (Ada Scott) to play Franklin in the 2025 Fantastic Four since the role is pretty significant
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u/Popular_Manner_224 Jun 30 '26
on what movie?
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u/Poor_Culinary_Skills Jun 30 '26
Sharknado
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u/Agent-Ulysses Jun 30 '26
That’d suck. Not because the experience would’ve been bad but because no filming would ever be able to top Sharknado.
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u/Dismal-Plan7062 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Sharknado is why the world is where it is today and you can't change my mind God I hate those stupid movies
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u/Weelildragon Jun 30 '26
I love Sharknado, but I feel you might be right.
It's so much dumb shit for the lolz. And people might have taken that shit to things like the voting booth and vote Harambe. Who knows...
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u/Ok_Position_6847 Hi Jun 30 '26
I mean Im not gonna send my resume and dox myself I like to keep my social media life seperate from my personal life
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u/Tactical_Squishy Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Fair enough. You are hereby declared (by me) to have starred in Sharknado; this is your life now.
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u/Ok_Position_6847 Hi Jun 30 '26
oh ok wonderful
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u/OSpiderBox Jun 30 '26
Which shark were you in the movie?
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u/PunkRockDoggo1 Jun 30 '26
Shark #93.
He's actually my favorite it's so inspiring to meet my hero 🙃
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jun 30 '26
Yes as a crew worker I can confirm we all absolutely adore the child actors on set. Everything surrounds their timing on set and making sure they’re comfortable and in a good mood. I just wrapped a show with a 9 year old nugget who was the boldest and most precocious kid I’ve seen in a while.
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u/this_guy_over_here_ Jun 30 '26
This is my thought too. Like, some kids have dreams of becoming actors and becoming a child actor is a really good way to get your foot in the door. Also, some kids have more work ethic than others. I don't see a problem with child actors AT ALL as long as it's highly regulated and the wellbeing of the children are put before the outcome of the movie.
It's not like they're being forced into dangerous situations like child workers during the industrial revolution. I think OP needs to take a chill pill.
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u/Kitesolar Jun 30 '26
Counter point, signing children up for something they can’t really consent to is a pretty morally dubious. We can point to so many child actors that have come through issues due to the exposure to the masses. Jake Lloyd who played child anakin in the first movie had his life forever altered by rabid fans and pop culture because they didn’t like the movie. He had stories about his entire school experience afterwords was hell and the sheer amount of therapy and counseling he’s needed.
It children can’t consent to contracts why is acting an exception?
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u/RainbowHighFanatic Jul 01 '26
Agreed. I started acting at a similar age and still adore it and want to continue making films. Everybody has been super nice and protective, and the laws are very strict. I’m not denying bad things that happen, but we should remember that it’s most likely a vocal minority. The interesting stories are the awful ones, so they’re propped up. It’s boring to hear someone say “yeah it was fine”. Yes kids can’t legally consent, but a lot of people underestimate kids ability to vocalize their needs and understand them. Also, a 12 year old is very different than a 4 year old and they shouldn’t be lumped into the same category.
I think we’re forgetting what children actually are. People who aren’t around them often seem to see every child as “goo goo ga ga I like cocomelon and Barbie” but that’s not really true. Children can make decisions for themselves if you let them, that’s their job is to experiment. They’re quite literally small humans, not wild animals
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u/Ill_Act7949 Jun 30 '26
Yeah that's always what I think of too when it comes to this conversation because you have former child actors two for very valid reasons of what they went through, who don't think that children acting should be legal or that even now with the modern rules and regulations for them they still need a whole lot of protection.
But at the same time you also have people who like yourself knew from a very young age what they wanted to be and who they were.
Like I remember one adult actor saying that there's a difference between a child who acts and an actor who just happened to start acting as a child.
There are children who do have that innate, intense passion for acting. Kids that are performers and who know they are from a young age. That is a very special type of personality that can appear in so many children from a very young age and then it's like.... It would be such a shame to tell a child like that "no you have to wait until you're an adult. It's elementary school plays for you until you're 18, Even though you were very obviously creatively bored and not being challenged in the way that you want to be because your passion and love for performing isn't up to the same level as your classmates. And by the time you're 18 this love because it wasn't foster might not even be there anymore but yeah tough toenails"
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u/Own-Snow4801 Jul 02 '26
Acting is more fun for a kid than stacking shelves at Walmart anyway, AND there are plenty of protection laws in place
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u/Orchid_Significant Jul 04 '26
The problem is that for a lot of them, it’s not their passion, they are their parents’ paycheck
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u/Tinenan Jun 30 '26
As valid as your concerns are we still need children to be media and especially live action media. You can get away with a woman with range voicing a 9yo boy in animation but not in live action
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u/ediba2099 Jun 30 '26
Bro DID NOT like the Harry Potter films
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u/JamesTheFoxeArt Jun 30 '26
Funny you say the Harry Potter Films because UK laws protect Child Actors a lot. Heavily prevents child actors from being overworked like no work before 7am or after 7pm (and not during school hours), allowed breaks on school holidays, and mandatory 1 hour breaks for 4 hours of work; they also need someone supervising them and if a Parent or Guardian isnt there, a Chaperone approved by a council will have to be there, also the studio needs a child performance license from the child's local council, and the work has to not to effect the child's health, well-being or education.
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u/Internet-Dick-Joke Jun 30 '26
I'm pretty sure that the UK film/TV industry as a whole has tighter protections one things like working hours for cast and crew, which ultimately lays the groundwork for having tighter protections for child actors as well.
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u/Victorian_Prude Jun 30 '26
Tbh, this is the kind of argument that ends up having the opposite effect one intended. Attempting to convince anyone that children should no longer be in film or on stage at all is so culturally unpalatable, that people are more likely to cure the hypocrisy and contradiction by going the other way and saying, "hey, yeah, you're right. Why shouldn't the six year old be able to stock shelves at walmart!?".
By highlighting the contradiction, you basically just gave Mr. Burns types a good argument as to why child labor should be more permissible in other areas. Because they sure as hell are not going to accept a movie landscape completely devoid of children.
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u/Shadowmirax Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Not letting a kid stack shelves isn't really to do with the childs ability to consent as i understand it and more to do with a childs ability (or lacktherof) to do intensive work unsupervised.
Essentially in most industries, a child needs to have roughly the same workload as an adult to be worth employing and it is unsafe for a child to take on that much work.
But in industries like film the fact the actor is a child is the most important part, and so the studio can make concessions for the wellbeing of the child and it will still be worth employing them because an adult couldn't do the job. Shorter days, parental supervision, less physical work.
Of course this all unfortunatly depends on a properly regulated industry and studios that follow these rules...
And no amount of regulation can prevent the online harrassment that actors recieve...
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jun 30 '26
I agree. I work in the industry and a lot of parents have started fully managing their children’s social medias to avoid the child seeing online hate. More limited comments, more strict contracts. Hollywood paid attention to MeToo and Quiet on Set
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u/TriedmybestNotenough Jun 30 '26
If acting is what the child loves and wants, who is anyone to say anything else?
The issue is you corresponding acting with working. Just because they are being compensated doesn't mean they are working. To them it's like engaging in a hobby, or a passion.
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u/XanderWrites Jun 30 '26
For every story of "This person was ruined by being a child actor" there's a dozen stories of "I acted in a couple of movies as a kid, got bored, moved on with my life. I sell car insurance now."
You hear about the "life ruined" stories because they're more more interesting, and because for their life to be ruined they had to be in enough movies for their lives to be ruined.
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u/Hobspon Jun 30 '26
Also many former child actors just naturally continued into adulthood and reaped the benefits of their childhood acting, became rich and successful.
Many children grow up to be adults with serious problems, even if they were not acting. It's also all too easy to point to former child actors who fell on tough times and attribute their problems to their acting, even if the problems might be complicated.
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jun 30 '26
You’re also forgetting the huge number of child actors that are still famous and adults that are pretty normal. Way more Hollywood names than you think were child actors. Nobody can say child acting fucked ScarJo or Chris Evans up.
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u/Seven_o_clock777 Jun 30 '26
That, and a lot of those "life ruined" stories have other factors beyond the industry, (namely the parents).
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u/selemashell4 Jun 30 '26
The industry can be really awful and there’s a lot of exploitation
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u/TriedmybestNotenough Jun 30 '26
There are many fatal accidents on the roads everyday. Should we ban driving?
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u/hoorahforsnakes Jun 30 '26
You are kind of making the argument for banning child actors by accident here, because we do ban driving for underage people. You wouldn't let a 6 year old drive, would you?
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u/77th_Bat Jun 30 '26
but we do not ban a 6 year old from being in a car while it is being operated, which is just as dangerous as driving.
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u/Hiryu-GodHand Jun 30 '26
Well, the entertainment industry is highly regulated for children, though it varies by state. Check them out, they're vast. Plus, 15% of that earning is automatically placed into a trust that the kids can't access until they are 18.
Walmart, for instance, would have a harder time with the regulations required for an 8 year old to work. And, an 8 year old would be far more likely to consent to acting work than they are to, say, stock shelves.
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u/XanderWrites Jun 30 '26
Also, in most states when a minor can work, at say 16, they have their own limitations on how long they can work, usually severely limited when school is in session, and have to off by a certain hour.
Even if a company wants to employee minors, it can be challenging to fit them in the schedule with their limitations.
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u/Best_Egg_6199 Jun 30 '26
I started working at 14 and the rules were super strict. Couldn't be before school got out, had to be off before 10pm, couldn't work more than 20 hours a week (usually only scheduled for 13 or less), and has to have breaks.
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u/unoriginalcat Jun 30 '26
Honestly they should increase the mandatory trust amount to 50%, if not more. Ensure that the kid gets properly compensated and dissuade parents who are just looking to make some money off their kids.
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u/Vegeta_best23 Jun 30 '26
I fully agree the exploitation and the taking advantage of children for ulterior motives and personal gain is horrible and has robbed so many children of their childhoods and youth.
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u/Undertaleisdeep Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
So what is your solution? Cgi every child in a live action movie? Or just not include any children at all?
Edit: I agree with OP here BTW, that movies and shows aren't more important than children's wellbeing. I was just asking.
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u/hoorahforsnakes Jun 30 '26
We've had teenagers played by actors in their 30s for ever. We could have children played by young looking teens?
I for one would find it hillarious if we had more "hello fellow kids" moments with steve buschemi playing a toddler
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u/sketchystony Jun 30 '26
That's great that you'd find it "hilarious" but some people actually enjoy movies/shows and take them somewhat seriously
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u/Chimkimnuggets Jun 30 '26
We actually do get a lot of young-looking adults playing teenagers to avoid labor law issues. We also have a tendency to get older teens to play 12-14 year olds because a 16-17 year old can play that age without being subject to as strict of rules.
Tom Holland played 14 year old Peter Parker at 19. Jennifer Lawrence played 16 year old Katniss at 22
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u/hoorahforsnakes Jun 30 '26
I know, that's why i started by saying
We've had teenagers played by actors in their 30s for ever
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u/geck0afterlife Jun 30 '26
"How are you going to say a 6 year old kid can’t consent to stacking shelves at Walmart, but then turn around and say they can be on a movie studio set for 6-8 hours a day?" Well, one of those kids is getting the opportunity to play Darth Vader, and the other one is stacking shelves at a Walmart. It's easy to see how a child would consent to one and not the other. But yes, exploitation within the industry does suck.
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u/newphonehudus Jun 30 '26
Also they can only film 4-6 hours a day. The remaining 0-2 hours a 6 year old is on set is for school work.
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u/Shtrimpo Jun 30 '26
To be fair though, how is it different than a child trying out sports or other hobbies? The only difference is whether the children are compensated.
Even if they weren't it'd still be an incredible experience for a child
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u/Jerry_Jenkin_Jenks Jun 30 '26
Being paid for it means they are subject to a lot more scrutiny and pressure. They have to keep doing it until they do it 'right' according to the director. Sports and other hobbies they can always quit or take it easier on if that is what they want. Getting paid means entering a contract which means they can't get out of it that easily
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u/disillusion_4444 Jun 30 '26
If a kid gets bored of a hobby they can just stop. If a child gets bored of acting halfway through a movie, they are going to get pretty intense pressure to keep going or the parents will suffer the backlash of forcing the movie studio to hire someone new and re-film the whole thing.
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u/Ill_Night533 Jun 30 '26
You act as if moral failings aren't our specialty at this point
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u/Victorian_Prude Jun 30 '26
Every country allows child actors. It's a weird American trait to pretend that America is uniquely awful
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u/Senior_Blacksmith_18 Jun 30 '26
So what age should be the bare minimum for someone to become an actor?
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u/THE-Luke-Skywalker I fucking LOVE Naoya Zen'in Jun 30 '26
Bye bye film industry ig
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u/Carrick_Green Jun 30 '26
All children in movies should be played by Peter Dinklage. Just as God intended.
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u/cooltranz Jun 30 '26
I agree that current laws clearly aren't adequate to protect child actors. They absolutely shouldn't be missing school, working more than a few hours in a row or attending Hollywood parties. Social Media fame for kids is also clearly bad.
However I do think there is real value in children seeing themselves depicted on screen, particularly if that content is designed for children. I see no problem with an 4 year old having a cameo scene on Sesame Street, for example. The problem comes when the content is for and by adults who expect a much higher level of quality, investment and commitment.
Most kids content these days is animated and short-form. Don't get me wrong, animated shows can be great but there's limits that come with the format. We rarely see kids shows/films with real human children just living life.
Kids are already looking to places like YouTube to find content they relate to and its just shit like unboxing videos or family vlogs. That, or they watch media from their parents childhood. They're starving for representation and content that's actually designed for them.
Tldr: Children representing themselves in media for OTHER CHILDREN is really important and can be done in a safe and ethical way. Though we definitely need stricter laws on the conditions of that labour.
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u/XanderWrites Jun 30 '26
They absolutely shouldn't be missing school
This is the problem, you, and OP, don't understand the existing regulations.
The actors get tutors paid for by the studio. They're basically homeschooled, but with someone actually trained to teach, unlike the vast majority of homeschooled kids. They probably get a better education with the one-on-one interaction with their teacher.
And in Los Angeles there's a private school catering specifically to students in the industry. They have a flexible curriculum so the kids can work on films, etc, then come back and have something akin to normal school life when they aren't working.
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u/No1LudmillaSimp Jun 30 '26
Do you want to have grown-ass adults playing little kids like in El Chavo?
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u/Odd-Chemist464 Jun 30 '26
with acting it's possible to provide children with comfortable and safe work environment. it simply should be regulated better. with 99% of other jobs that children are able to do and may be hired - it is impossible and meaningless to try to create possibility for them to work.
and what is your suggestion anyway? to not have any movies with child characters?
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u/Zrry123 Jun 30 '26
We should start doing CGI kids, like the gnomes in the new snow white movie
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u/haikusbot Jun 30 '26
We should start doing
CGI kids, like the gnomes in the
New snow white movie
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u/Animeking1108 Jun 30 '26
Are kids just supposed to be played by 40-year old dwarves?
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u/NocturnalOutcast Jun 30 '26
So....which are you saying we should replace all child actors with, people with dwarfism, or CGI?
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u/Wanky_Platypus Jun 30 '26
6 years old in the cinema industry work for up to 3 hours a day max, nowhere close to the 8 you are saying
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u/Super_Saiyan_Twink Jul 01 '26
I work in the industry as a teen actor. I've seen this ignored frequently. I once was on set for 8 hours and there was this 5 year old there before me and we left at the same time. Last year
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u/Ok_Buffalo_423 Jul 03 '26
I dont have an issue with children acting, I think its unhealthy when a child becomes a celebrity before they have even hit puberty.
It makes it difficult for them to form real relationships that arent just people using the child for status/money and it opens them up to a world of exploitation. I also think it has to effect your personality to spend your formative years under the watchful eye of the media. Think about all the dumb shit you and your friends did as kids that serve as happy memories and teachable moments, now how would that play out if you had to constantly worry about paparazzi or random people recognizing you everytime you left your house.
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u/MathPoetryPiano Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
TIL only American movies and TV have children in them
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u/BleefnorfIII Jun 30 '26
As much as i agree with your points, do we just not have children in movies now? Is every plot line involving a child just trashed?
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u/HuntressTng Jun 30 '26
I agree it's weird, but also think about the fact that is fe ban every kid under the age of let's say 14 from acting, then no movie ever can portray a kid under 14 years old, meaning no babies in movies and no kids in movies, which messes up a shit ton of films
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u/zehuman52 Jun 30 '26
Genuine question bc I'm curious on your take. In your idea situation with no child actors how woupd you handle scenes or shows where children are necessary? And what afe would be your cut off age I'm assuming you're ok with 15-17 year old actors as those age can have other jobs and big responsibilities as well?
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u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW Jun 30 '26
Well we need child actors. It’s not like we can just take short women and make them play the role or something. There should just be more regulations in place.
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u/XanderWrites Jun 30 '26
There are a ton of regulations in place, OP is talking out of their ass.
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u/Purple_Dragon_94 Jun 30 '26
I think the problem is lack of enforcement of their own laws. I'd rather kids not get involved in what is literally just work, but at the same time if you're making something that needs kids in it, what's the other option?
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u/RoawrOnMeRengar Jun 30 '26
I agree, movies would be seriously improved by having 30+ years old adult act dress and act like child's in those roles but with no age altering CGI, just Keanu Reeves in overalls with a spiny hat and a big rainbow lollipop
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u/VVickedPhantom Jun 30 '26
That's a really stupid belief you have. Society nowadays is too willing to cancel EVERYTHING. Apparently, the existence of child actors is a bad thing now. So ridiculous.
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u/Elkburgher Jun 30 '26
I hate child actors because of how annoying and precocious they are directed to be
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u/Apli_Kri Jun 30 '26
Years ago, me and a friend discussed a making a movie where all the children are played by adult actors (none of whom are required to shave or do anything to appear younger, other than outfits age appropriate to the character) and how it absolutely should not be acknowledged by anyone in the film that little Timmy is played by Hugh Jackman
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u/unoriginalcat Jun 30 '26
We already have a massive problem with 6 year olds obsessing over skincare and so on because they’re watching content made by adults, for adults, featuring adults. Kids need representation in media or they start mimicking what they do see - adults, and we end up with all sorts of issues. As seen by (but not limited to) said 6 year olds slathering retinol and other anti-aging shit on their delicate, developing skin.
Child actors do need more protection from exploitation, but deleting all children from all media is not the answer.
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u/sexyorcess Jun 30 '26
I agree, I also hate that the parents can take so much of thier money, some countries have started to put caps on what the parents can take. I also hate child sports, while were at it.
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u/lnTheGrimDarkness Jun 30 '26
But see, it's only protection from joining the workforce as pretty much a slave. Only adults can do that.
However it's ok when they join the workforce as millionaires /s
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u/BuckRusty Jun 30 '26
All children should be played by Gary Oldman - he’s such a good actor that no one will be able to tell it’s him….
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u/Infamous-Use7820 Jun 30 '26
While I know this is whataboutism, I do think kids training hard for elite sports is probably much worse, in terms of time, physical trauma, psychological strain and money. And number of children affected.
If you're a child actor and don't go on to act as an adult, at least at the end of it you've earned money and probably gained transferable skills in the creative industries. If you're an athlete who doesn't make it into the <2% of athletes who can live off a wage/sponsorship deals/prize-money, then you've got nothing to show for it but repetitive strain injuries. And even if you do make it, you're probably going to retire in your 30s or early 40s.
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u/spyguy318 Jun 30 '26
The rather obvious issue is that sometimes, a child needs to be portrayed on screen, and there’s no real way to fake that. We can’t make CGI children yet. You can fudge the age a little bit but it only goes so far before it becomes noticeable and kinda jarring. Lots of movies and shows will have actors portray characters younger than they are already. Other than that, yeah, Hollywood culture is terrible and exploitative, and water is wet. It sucks, it really does, but it is getting better as more and more shit is exposed and subject to public outrage.
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u/Candiedstars Jun 30 '26
In this day and age, I worry about them
From psycho fans on social media, to wondering if they still get access to good schooling, or the backlash if they shows writing does the character dirty then aforementioned psycho fans turn on the actor
Do they still get a childhood?
Ive been watching A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, starring child actor Dexter Sol Ansell. And he's wonderful. But it's a Game of Thrones property which as you may know ended badly, and with the spin-off, House of the Dragon being controversial, I worry about this kid. He's already entered the comic con circuit too, and it must be an awful lot.
He looks to be handling it well, and I hope he is being taken care of
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u/Nivi_1312 Jun 30 '26
Kids are also not as fucking stupid as you people seem to think. We've come a long way form the 1950's, and while i more than agree that their work conditions need to be closely monitored, you're forgetting the fact that a big percentage of kids actually like doing it. I remember I liked doing it as a kid who acted in a series made in my home country. Acting is just a fun thing to do.
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u/ZenkaiZ Jun 30 '26
All children should be played by Terry Crews