THE NEW YEAR’S PROMISE
Everything Old Is New Again

We here at AMC are relieved to see 2009 pass into history. The death of Michael Jackson, easily the most triumphant child star of this or any other age, revealed for all to see the profound consequences of fame won young. Lost, and consciously avoided by a world that remembered the music and forgot the cost, was the warped and cruelly distorted character that emerged from the spotlight’s shadows.

Death in another mask arrived with the conviction of Skylar Deleon, a marginal celebrity who nonetheless was portrayed in the Press as a Child Star who used his brief and unremarkable work history to seduce a yachting couple into parting with their yacht and their lives in what was one of the most brutal murders in the annals of maritime crime, especially when it was revealed that the couple was wrapped in anchor chains and, still alive, shoved into the uncaring sea. This conviction marked a first for kids in the business and we note the absolute absence of conscience that delineated the outer edges of social dislocation that stalks unwary families who involve their kids in show business.

“I’m not really a criminal, I just play one on TV.”

Or, if you prefer the alternate from the background of Robert Blake, ”I wouldn’t kill my wife no matter how much I hated the bitch ‘cause I’m a television detective.”

The coin is the same no matter which side you view. Even viewed edge-on as in the needless death of Brittany Murphy, an experienced talent whose cause of death is yet to be revealed, a troubling certainty begins to form as one realizes hundreds of industry professionals she worked with, all of whom had a part to play in her struggles with body image. See her resume’ at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005261/ and ask yourself why legions of “appearance specialists” from make-up artists, hair-dressers, costume designers, wardrobe mistresses, dance instructors, vocal coaches and a raft of set teachers failed to see the warning signs of weight loss and personality displacements.

What angers so many of us who grew up in this business of artifice and image is the stark truth of how many of our business associates really don’t like us at all, particularly the men who clothe us and paint our faces and know our physical dimensions down to the smallest millimeter. Men who like only “boys with breasts” occupy too many influential positions in a young actress’s life, and this push to Size Zero and less is all the proof you need.

When two of the Seven Deadly Sins are your companions you are in trouble…particularly if the worlds of Acting, Dance or Modeling are your ‘field of dreams.’ Greed and Gluttony are mortal perils and each has two sides.

The entire system that surrounds these Spotlight Kids needs an overhaul from top to bottom, from sea to shining sea and beyond. Children are our future assets, not today’s disposable commodities.

The eating disorder Bill in New York should be passed, and pronto. Same with the first-ever child labor laws for entertainment in Florida. The State of Pennsylvania needs to pronounce the results of its nine-month investigation into the working reality of the Gosselin Eight. Congress and the White House must reject any legislation that piles unsustainable obligations on the backs of children yet unborn.

And lastly, the California Courts must stop this charade of using legalese and the issue of “standing” to mask the internationally broadcast evidence of Octo-Mom’s disdain for the rights of her own children and appoint a guardian to protect the health and well-being of the fourteen at-risk children living under the Suleman roof.

2009 gave us all the evidence we need for change. Let’s hope that 2010 brings in a verdict.