Unless you've been living under a rock, you've seen these totally tubular and beautiful bundles of talent taking over entertainment.
From your left: Caleb McLaughlin (16), Finn Wolfhard (14), Millie Bobby Brown (13), Noah Schnapp (13) and Gaten Matarazzo (15). Notice their ages, ladies and gentlemen.
The cast of Netflix's 80's sci-fi drama, "Stranger Things," is made up of children. They have won SAG Awards and MTV Movie Awards, and they have been nominated for Emmys, Golden Globes, People's Choice Awards and more. They have accomplished more in their short lives than I ever will, and I will not stand for slander, sexualization or otherwise disrespectful treatment towards any of them for any reason!
On October 30, 2017, Texas model Ali Michael posted on her Instagram story this picture of Finn Wolfhard, who plays Mike in the series.
She captioned the photo, "Not to be weird but hit me up in 4 years". Michael is 27. She made a statement apologizing for the post in which she said it went along with the general nature of her social media platforms: "humor, sarcasm, and self-deprecation." Still, her post made it to Twitter where it was met with harsh criticism, and rightfully so. Her remarks as an adult toward a 14-year-old are no different than if the genders had been reversed. Pedophilia is alive and well, and behavior like this should not be tolerated with or without apologies.
While it is inappropriate to be publicly suggestive to anyone, especially minors, this particular incident raises once again the issue of sexualizing child stars.
Parts of being cast in and promoting such a successful show as "Stranger Things" are presenting yourself professionally and handling yourself in a way that conveys your talent and seriousness with regard to your job. This is hard at any age. It is even harder when you haven't even had your coming-of-age job at the mall. These children were barely out of elementary school when they took on such grown-up roles. We, as adults not in their industry, seem to forget that just because they look nice on the red carpet and don't wear things at public events that we would have worn as pre-teens doesn't mean they are any different or have skin any thicker than ours was. Millie may wear heels and some makeup, and the boys might be trained to "smize" at the camera, but none of these factors are grounds for judgment or harassment. They don't even get to swear aside from Millie, as Eleven, being granted one single swear word in season two.
On November 6, at an airport, Wolfhard approached a TMZ reporter who asked him about Ali Michael's comments.
The kid looked visibly uncomfortable. His comments included, "That was gross," and "It's good that she apologized, but that's weird." You can watch the video here. It is clear that comments like the ones made by Michael are unwanted and inappropriate. If a 14-year-old knows that, then so should we, and we should do everything we can to make their jobs as successful child stars easier.
"Stranger Things 2" is now streaming on Netflix, and you can find all five members of The Party on Twitter. Go forth and don't disrespect children. Okay?
