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Recently, best-selling novelist Terry McMillan caused a mini-furor via Twitter when she pondered whether actor Jaden Smith, 12, and singer Willow Smith, 10, were being "pimped out" by their actor parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. Willow created a buzz last year with her “Whip my Hair” single, and Jayden appeared in The Karate Kid. Lots of actors' offspring have careers as of their own, so why did this particular family come under scrutiny?
Maybe because a lot of people agree with her? With the Internet, we have more immediate access to what celebrities are doing and whom they are doing it with. Also, with Twitter, people can forget to use their "inner voice" and in 140 characters, write whatever comes to mind. In this particular case, McMillan wrote what I certainly wondered about, which was why these kids aren’t in school and whether their parents are using their children’s fame as a way to keep their names in the press. As Womanist Musings pointed out, McMillan isn't the only one doing the speculating: "Just typing in Willow Smith and education in a Google search window will reveal many hits."
After all, we have seen Willow, with her crazy hair and ridiculous attire (and might I add, clothing a bit too old for a ten-year-old to pull off) on various red carpets -- and, based on the success of one song, open for the likes of Justin Bieber, an enviable opportunity for aspiring musicians, young or old.
We have seen the Smith kids get career opportunities that others would vie for, not necessarily because of their talent, but more because their faces are becoming a mainstay on various celebrity sites, and because their father has made a lot of money in the commercial movie industry.
And if you have ever watched Celebrity Rehab or even simply followed what happened to child actors Gary Coleman, Todd Bridges, Dana Plato, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan, we can easily surmise that becoming a celebrity at a young age isn’t always the best thing to happen to a kid.
Despite what we may feel about the Smiths, what is interesting about this story is that it's an example of how Black communities seemingly have an emotional investment in the goings-on of Black celebrities -- a personal stake in what they do and what they do not do to "discredit the race." There is a vested interest in the success of Black celebrities, despite their personal dysfunctions. After all, if they can make a name for themselves in the fickle (and some say racist) entertainment industry, so can we…or our sons and daughters.
The response to Terry McMillan’s tweets was interesting. McMillan was in the news a few years ago, when the man she married, 20 years her junior, announced he was gay. Because she had written a book (How Stella Got Her Groove Back, later adapted for the big screen) based on their relationship, the press went wild with the revelation. Many commenters went after Terry McMillan for her tweets, citing her failed marriage. From the Huffington Post:
As someone whose had the unfortunate experience of meeting her in a social setting, Terry McMillan came across as a very unhappy bitter broad. She was brusque and seemed angry. So it's not surprising she would characterize the Smith children in this way. People who are happy in their own lives have no need for this.
… She does give off that vibe. BTW she didn't seem to have a problem being pimped by her ex-hubby.
As usual, it is almost a given that one who offers a dissenting opinion is the one who becomes the villain.
Questions about how Black celebrities are perceived and the role they play in our lives, also came up recently around how Black-centric websites, blogs and even folks on the street are going after singer Lauryn Hill, who is currently on tour. As with the Smiths, people seem to be fixated on Hill's image, what she represents within Black communities,
