If you've ever thought about signing your daughter up for a child modeling contract, this might give you pause. An ad for the children's board game Clue is drawing criticism this week for featuring a young girl perched on a chair in a seductive pose markedly similar to that of actress Sharon Stone in the movie Basic Instinct.
The ad is actually from 2010, and it's just one in a series that appeared in Mexico, all spoofs of popular films, from Silence of the Lambs to The Godfather. Why the game's maker, Hasbro, opted to use R-rated films to advertise a children's toy is confusing -- at best. But the reason the Basic Instinct ad has come back into the spotlight -- and why it's being lambasted -- is pretty clear.
Just look at this little girl:
See anything wrong with this picture?
How about the fact that the sweet little face doesn't match up to the seductive posing of her body? She doesn't look like a kid at all but like a little adult!
Who in their right mind thought it was appropriate for a little girl to dress up and sit that way? Who in their right mind said, "Ooh, yes, let's let a 7-year-old (we guess? Maybe 8 or 9?) dress up as a character best known for going commando and flashing her crotch in a short dress?"
Certainly some people will say no harm, no foul, the little girl's legs are modestly closed, and it's not like the young model had to watch the movie before posing for a print ad.
But kids are smarter than we give them credit for. She may not have had to watch the movie, but surely she cottoned on to what it was she was parodying, and she asked questions. Uncomfortable questions.
The sort of questions kids ask when their parents allow them to dress up on Halloween as characters from movies they aren't allowed to watch because they're too adult.
Telling a kid they can act out an adult role but not actually watch said adult film sends a mixed message to kids. Just like Pandora, when we try to smack that lid back down, we find that we never quite get all the bad things back into the box.
What do you think of letting kids dress up and act like little adults? Would you allow YOUR daughter to do this?