Maddie Ziegler in Sia video: Right choice for an 11-year-old?
Maddie Ziegler was born 11 years ago, but when her mom chose to allow her daughter to dance in pop star Sia's new "Chandelier" music video in a nude leotard and blunt-cut platinum blond wig, it felt like we may have just witnessed the girl鈥檚 birth as an underage sex symbol.
The video featuring Maddie, a regular on the Lifetime reality series 鈥樷�� has now garnered more than 5 million views on .
I am happy to see this extraordinarily talented young dancer become an overnight success, yet I wonder where parents must now re-draw the line between making a compromise to insure a child鈥檚 success and compromising the child.
That thought comes to me because I saw this video 鈥� not through the lens of a pop culture devotee, ruthless dance coach, or music video marketing person 鈥� but through the filter of my 10-year-old son who stood mesmerized at my computer this morning.
My guess is that right now, close to 5 million people聽might聽think: The song is powerful. The little dancer is transcendent. So, what鈥檚 the problem?
It鈥檚 not so much a problem, as a conflict for parents like me 鈥� who suddenly find ourselves in the odd position of having a 10-year-old boy who wants to watch a video of an 11-year-old girl in a costume designed to trick the eye into thinking she鈥檚 a nude version of the singer, whom we are hearing lament her inability to stop being a drunken 鈥減arty girl.鈥�
As I was looking at news topics online this morning, a still image from the 鈥淐handelier鈥� video popped up as a featured item on Yahoo News.
鈥淲hoa! Is that a naked girl doing a split,鈥� my son Quin asked as he tried to get closer to the computer in order to better view a photo of one of the highlights of the video.
After banishing Quin to the kitchen, I screened the video to determine if it would be OK for him to watch.
The song 鈥楥handelier鈥� is聽Sia鈥檚 poignant cry for help.
鈥淧arty girls don't get hurt,鈥� Sia sings off camera, as Maddie literally bounces off the walls, rolls on a bed and appears to fight off invisible hands. 鈥淐an鈥檛 feel anything, when will I learn? I push it down, push it down.聽I'm the one 鈥榝or a good time call.鈥� Phone鈥檚 blowin' up, they're ringin' my doorbell.鈥�
The chorus is, 鈥渙ne, two, three, one, two, three, drink,鈥� repeated several times and 鈥淭hrow em back, till I lose count,鈥� according to lyrics websites.
Seeing聽this storyline聽played out by what appears to be a naked child in tenement-like rooms聽makes me wonder how we evaluate how we are using children in music videos, especially if the result is a child in a video we wouldn鈥檛 let our children watch.
I opted not to let Quin watch Maddie鈥檚 video because I know the song lyrics and overall message of the video would open a can of worms so big that we would fish for a week for answers to his questions.
As I watched, I wondered if Maddie鈥檚 mom felt this adult-themed, sad, dark material is her best option for making her child into a household name.
鈥淧arents don鈥檛 have to go that route to get their kids known,鈥� says Lisa Wallace, dance teacher and choreographer for聽, a聽family theater聽company in Norfolk, Va.
鈥淚 have watched Dance Moms, seen Maddie dance, and I can tell you there are too many other avenues available to young dancers for a mom to be making that choice to go with something so mature and negative as a vehicle for her child,鈥� says Ms. Wallace.
Wallace has taught dance for 30 years and both her children, now ages 17 and 22, have made dance and theater their professions.
鈥淢addie is a role model for the girls I teach,鈥� Wallace adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame her mother isn鈥檛 teaching Maddie to think like a role model because that kind of thinking will get her farther and help her avoid the transition problems other talented young girls like Miley Cyrus had.鈥�
I asked Wallace if the same talent, choreography, and music in the 鈥淐handelier鈥� video would still get 5 million views if Maddie danced in a black leotard against a mirrored dance studio backdrop.
鈥淢addie is such a good dancer that she doesn鈥檛 need to go dark or sexy at her age to get attention,鈥� Wallace said. 鈥淭alent like hers would get the views without going that route. That鈥檚 what I would tell her mother.鈥�
Wallace says she counsels the parents of her dance students to take a good look at former child star Miley Cyrus before opting to allow an agent or manager to put their child into a video or film.
鈥淚 recommend letting kids learn during childhood, do age-appropriate roles and routines, because making the transition from child star to adult star is one very few manage well,鈥� says Wallace. 鈥淚 feel sad for Miley Cyrus because she鈥檚 so talented and working so hard to keep our attention after all her success as a child star, that desperation kicked-in and she鈥檚 resorting to bad choices.鈥�
Whether we are Dance Moms, sports parents, or drama dads, if we want our kids to make good choices for themselves, I suggest that we lead by example and make better choices on their behalf today that will aid them in navigating their own futures tomorrow.
