How was the rock star enabled in his pursuit of Birdie? Who was complicit? How have you seen this dynamic play out in real life?
No one steps up to advise Birdie, and she doesn’t ask for help in making decisions regarding going on tour with the rockstar. . Her parents are the worst offenders,bending to the will of a 13-year-old because she wants to go on tour. Harriet is more involved but seems not to feel empowered to stop her – by suggesting she might lose her job , fr instance. I was really annoyed by the passivity of all the adults in the room
3 Likes
I had a hard time believing Birdie’s mother and father didn’t care about their daughter…so much so they would hand over legal guardianship to a man twice her age. How did she get the nickname Birdie? Someone, somewhere (maybe her father?) called her that rather than Elizabeth, It’s difficult to think her mother’s love only extended as far as the proper clothes to purchase, and it took a family doctor to tell her to stand up straight!
1 Like
It seems he was enabled by everyone, including her parents. Can’t imagine signing over my daughter at any age, but certainly not 14. I even blame the head of the agency. She didn’t stop her after telling her and parents that she’d watch out for her. No! Have not seen anything like this.
2 Likes
Maybe the question should be…Who didn’t enable him? Everyone seemed to be in this for themselves and what they could get from Birdie. In real life…the kids who slept overnight at Michael Jackson’s, Jerry Lee Lewis marrying his 13 year old cousin, Elvis…getting Priscilla’s parents to let her go to America…way too many examples of parents giving their children away to the rich and famous.
I really could not believe the parents allowed her to go and pretty much signed her over!!!
I agree with Gwen C. I was aghast that Birdie’s parents signed the guardianship papers and left her on her own without checking on her. Later, they tried to justify their decision by saying they thought that was what she really wanted.
They were never very available to Birdie and seemed more interested in pursuing their own interests.
I know that this was central to the plot and basically shaped the rest of Birdie’s life, but it just seemed unbelievable to me.
I felt sorry for Birdie.All she wanted was to be loved and the rock star convinced her that he was in love with her. It was obvious that her parents didn’t want her around by the fact that they signed the contract so easily. Since the parents allowed Birdie to leave with the rock star, Harriet’s hands were tied and she tried to get Birdie back to New York as often as she could.
He was enabled by everyone. No one stated that what he was doing was wrong. People lied to her about what he was like and what he was really doing.
I agree with Laura and Kathleen. What kind of parents would allow a 13 year old to make that kind of decision, and allow some unknown rock star to become her guardian? Someone should have been calling child protection services; although it was a very different time.
Everyone enabled the rock star. I don’t think anyone had the courage to say no to him. I was shocked and appalled by Birdie’s parents. Why would they let her go? The mother to me seemed like she was living through her daughter and the father was too soft.
Were Birdie’s parents so self centered that her association with a rock star made no difference to them? It seems far fetched but it is very plausible. I have a cousin who was not a model but a baby groupie. Both her parents were so unaware of what that means. They thought she would become an actress or someone famous because of her liaison. Unfortunately, she died at a very young age of an overdose. So yes…famous daughter, maybe famous parents? Bizarre but it does happen, sadly.
Everyone closed their eyes to Birdie’s situation.
The grown-ups failed Birdie! Her parents were simply unavailable, out of touch, flawed, whatever! Harriet tried to protect Birdie but was also complicit in using her for financial gain. All the grown-ups should have faced consequences for how they failed Birdie. The Rock Star should have been held criminally liable as he knew what he was doing was wrong. Teenagers are taken advantage of all the time even though many do not realize it at the time.
As a counselor, I have frequently seen this dynamic of victimization in families where a child does not receive the love and acceptance that they (and everyone) needs to be healthy. Young people who are not nurtured in appropriate ways tend to try to meet their needs in inappropriate ways and abusers look for the vulnerable to victimize. Frequently, abusers even believe they’re helping the victim.
As a parent of two girls, I would not even consider signing guardianship, no matter what. Children are the responsibility of their parents. If you are not willing to take it seriously I suggest you not bring them into this world. It seems that several big stars have follow in his footsteps example being Elvis,
It seemed as if everyone around her was complicit. I can’t imagine why her parents would have allowed the guardianship and also the traveling so much without visits.
I don’t think Harriett was straightforward enough with her. She allowed Birdie to assume/guess what she was doing was okay.
Just about everyone in Birdie’s life were complicit. Most knew about the Rock Star’s pursuit of her and no one did anything about it, so it continued. Her parents signed her over to the Rock Star so quickly, Harriet knew the pitfalls in that would occur when she persuaded Birdie to sign up with her agency though Harriet did try to protect Birdie somewhat. All the men on the tour with the Rock Star knew, but no one intervened. The wives and girlfriends and groupies could see what was happening, but the most they did was to make snarky comments. The public that followed the Rock Star knew or suspected that the situation was not right, but did not ty to end it.