To the girls in question, the term tween signifies the period between childhood and adolescence, but to marketers, the term represents a moneymaking opportunity to the tune of $43 billion a year. In her persuasive 2012 documentary, Shannon Silva, a cinema studies instructor, explores the ways they do it and the harm that can result. For the most part, the methods revolve around appeals to preadolescent vanity, insecurity, and jealousy. Instead of encouraging them to forge their identity in their own time, marketers encourage them to grow up as quickly as possible. Visually, Silva structures her film like an ultra-feminine, pink-hued interactive website with an animated avatar that serves as host and speaks in a computerized voice. Web-like links represent the different sections.
As author Sharon Lamb (Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters from Marketers' Schemes) notes in the introductory sequence, tween isn't even a reliable term, since so many sources define it differently. For some, it includes girls as young as seven; for others, it begins at 11. Silva also solicits input from doctors, educators, child development specialists, mothers, and female fans of all ages. Though television commercials directed at children aren't exactly a new phenomenon, deregulation during the Reagan years blurred the lines between advertising and program content, encouraging the proliferation of shows like My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake that doubled as extended ads for branded merchandise. Preteen stars on Nickelodeon and Disney, like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, emerged in the ensuing years to provide a design for living. Through their shows, outfits, in-person appearances, and product endorsements, they’ve inspired a legion of eager followers. Some of those girls might also want to act, sing or dance; but others may simply want to be rich, famous, and beautiful.
The failure to live up to unrealistic expectations can lead to low self-esteem, disordered eating, and self-destructive behaviors. Girlhood may be a challenge at the best of times, but these problems have only become more pervasive, not least with so many tweens spending so much time online. Silva looks most closely at Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's Dualstar, the merchandising juggernaut built around the former Full House cast members who have since transitioned to purveyors of high-end fashion for well-heeled women through their label, The Row. If they're still thriving, other child stars have found themselves at sea once younger performers came along to take their place. Silva doesn't spend much time on this segment, in part because It's a Girl Thing clocks in at under an hour, but she references controversies including drug use and erratic behavior involving Cyrus and Britney Spears, though both have made strides in their personal and professional lives in the nine years since this still-relevant film saw release. If the upbeat look and feel of the documentary contrasts with its worrisome observations and conclusions, her film offers a thought-provoking examination of a very real problem. Recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P.