Joyce Fegan: The sobering reality of the Brooke Shields documentary in 2023

We could all sit back and watch in shock and horror at the global sexual objectification and commodification of this child 40-odd years ago, were so much of the sentiment that drove her stardom not still around in our air and culture today

Actor Brooke Shields at the premiere of “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields” at Alice Tully Hall in New York. Picture: AP

There are post MeToo documentaries and then there is the Brooke Shields one, Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields — its title is a play on the name of the infamous 1978 movie she starred in at 11 years of age, playing the role of a child prostitute. The lines specifically written for her are equally as stomach-turning as the scene in which she kisses an adult man, Brooke's actual first-ever kiss. And when her face, of its own accord, naturally scrunches as she pulls away in the various takes, she is admonished by the men on set.

All of this and so much more is depicted in the newly released documentary featuring plenty of interviews from the now 57-year-old New Yorker and mother of two.