“Living Doll” is unhealthy Web presence for girls

Lately I’ve been reading a lot about Venus Palermo, a YouTube video sensation.  Her how-to videos have shown millions of viewers how to create her look:

Her look is described as a “living doll,” because she deliberately attempts to mimic the appearance of a life-size ball-jointed doll, as seen in several pictures found on the Internet:

The fantasy behind this weird form of dress up cannot be ignored.  In fact, it becomes glaringly obvious in this uncomfortable video clip (“Insane guy in love”), in which an obsessed male fan first tells Venus he loves her, and then becomes irate with her, during a live call-in session.  All the while, her mother, Margaret, looks on.

Perhaps this is a case of YouTube Stage Mama sensation…?  After Justin Bieber’s meteoric rise to fame via YouTube, combined with reality TV’s introduction to the idea of everyone’s 15 minutes of fame, hopeful mamas are allowing their daughters to push the limits of what is healthy in a scramble for their opportunity for the vicarious limelight.

Margaret Palermo is not too concerned about her daughter’s unusual male following.  Regarding Venus’s child-like appearance, she is quoted in The (UK) Sun, “That is why she is so beautiful and special.  She has the face of a baby and the body of a woman” (Tippett).

That’s pretty creepy, but a cursory browse through Venus’s web site (venusangelic.com) provides much more worrisome material.  For example, the photo on her home page:

Her Facebook page also contains some content that might raise a few eyebrows, like a comment from Walter, a 50-something man who writes, “Thanks sweety you are such a doll baby I love your pics.”  There are many more men who—unlike Walter (who seems to be using his real name to follow Venus)—create usernames just so they can like her page and comment while protecting their true identities.

As the mother of a 15-year-old daughter myself, I can’t imagine being OK with this kind of attention!  It’s not a question of whether or not Venus is a “good” girl, as her mother keeps insisting; it’s the unhealthy type of attention she is attracting that should concern her.

SOURCES:

Tippett, Jennifer. “I’m a Living Doll: Venus, 15, on her image as a walking, talking toy.” The (UK) Sun, 13 Apr 2012. Web. <http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/4251638/Venus-Palermo-news-The-teenage-girl-who-spends-120-a-month-to-live-like-a-real-life-doll.html> 24 Apr 2012

VenusAngelic. “Insane love guy calls Venus.” YouTube, 1 Jan 2012. Web. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5jzCQ32rSM> 24 Apr 2012.

“VenusAngelic: Venus Palermo, a 15 year old Living Doll, Perfect School Styling Video.” Annewsments.com, 16 Apr 2012. Web. <http://annewsments.com/venus-angelic-venus-palermo-a-15-year-old-living-doll-perfect-school-styling-video/> 24 Apr 2012.

“Venus Angelic Fanclub.” 2012. Web. <https://www.facebook.com/venusangelic> 24 Apr 2012.

“Venus Angelic Official Blog and Site.” 2012. Web. <http://annewsments.com/venus-angelic-venus-palermo-a-15-year-old-living-doll-perfect-school-styling-video/> 24 Apr 2012.

06/07/2012 update

I no longer wonder why her mother, Margaret Palermo, allows this:

TRUST and the Internet

I just finished watching the 2011 movie “Trust” with my daughter, with mixed feelings.  Intended as a warning against the evil of online relationships where you think you know the person you have been chatting with over a period of time, it is the story of 14-year-old Annie who decides to meet up with Charlie, a guy she knows from a teen chat room.  In actuality, Charlie is an online predator who grooms young girls by building a rapport with them, then gradually confesses to be older than he originally pretended.  By the time Annie rendezvous with him in real life, it almost doesn’t even matter to her that he is probably close to 40 years old.  From there it’s a short leap to the motel room where Charlie manipulates the confused and frightened girl into trusting him.

At the outset, the movie does a good job selling its reality to young teens of my daughter’s generation who seem permanently connected to their cell phones and iPods.  As the relationship between Annie and Charlie initially develops, a constant stream of instant messages between the two is superimposed over the day-to-day life Annie leads with her family.  Annie is a smart girl, and in the beginning she blocks unwanted messages from another user who crosses a line with overt sexual advances, indicating that she has safe Internet habits.  She has a loving family, with parents who do monitor her Internet use—but who balance their control with a certain amount of trust in their daughter.  As depicted in the first part of the movie, they could be any family with a teen-aged daughter in America today.

Unfortunately, the film immediately lost credibility with my daughter in the movie’s crucial turning point: the scene where Annie meets Charlie at the local mall.  At this point the character believes her love interest to be a 25-year-old graduate student, and is understandably disappointed to realize the truth.  The truth, from a 14-year-old girl’s perspective, is that he is a creepy, middle-aged pervert who makes her skin crawl.  According to my daughter, a smart girl like Annie—or perhaps likeherself—would never have given him the time to explain himself, and certainly would have known better than to get into the car with him.

Liana Liberato as Annie, and Chris Henrey Coffey as Charlie in “Trust”

In his post, CNET reviewer Larry Magid cites the unlikelihood of such a scenario ever actually happening.  He compares it to a warning about airline hijackings: sure, you should be aware that they’re possible, but the likelihood of either one actually happening is extremely rare.  Actor-turned-director David Schwimmer (of “Friends” fame) might have better convinced his younger viewers if Charlie’s spell over Annie had been more believable; as I pointed out to my daughter, even if he had turned out to be 20ish and good-looking, that still wouldn’t have meant it was safe for her to have shared her personal information with him, or to have met with him in person.

Jeanette Catsoulis of the New York Times looks at it from a completely different perspective, that of the  sexualization of young girls as much through advertising as through sexually charged Internet chat rooms.  Ironically, Annie’s father Will is an advertising executive who, through his daughter’s traumatizing experience, begins to question the industry in which he works as well as his own personal failures as a father.  This is just one of the many layers of emotions tapped in the movie as it addresses the tangled relationships that unwind when a young girl’s trust is misplaced.

SOURCES

Catsoulis, Jeannette. “Trust.” New York Times: C.8. National Newspapers Premier; New York Times. Apr 01 2011. Web. 23 Jan. 2012 <http://search.proquest.com.library.esc.edu/docview/859476684?accountid=8067&gt;.

Magid, Larry. “Movie ‘Trust’ Dramatizes Internet Sex Crime.” CNET, News page, 01 Apr 2011. Web 23 Jan 2012 <http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-20049788-238.html&gt;.

“Trust Movie Trailer.” Web 23 Jan 2012 <http://www.onlinemovieshut.com/tag/trust-movie-trailer&gt;.