Life in the spotlight of intense global fame has always had a downside. Along with the riches and power come the dangers of burnout, addiction and public disaster.
That has often been true for the children of celebrities. Yet at just 13 years of age Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes, has begun to dabble in acting, fashion design, singing and dancing. She is also soon to debut a clothing line called Material Girl in partnership with her uber-famous mother.
It is certainly a dangerous road to follow but, with such a famous mother, Lourdes probably had no choice about embracing a life in the public eye and she must have the best guide in the business on how to court fame and turn it to her advantage. “Madonna has a PhD in using fame. She is a total genius,” said Hollywood correspondent Gayl Murphy.
Like any caring mother, Madonna has exercised firm control over what her daughter does. However, unlike most mothers, that has tended to revolve around headline-grabbing events in which Lourdes can get involved. Two years ago it was reported that Madonna had forbidden Lourdes to take a role in the film The Secret Lives of Bees, which featured young actress Dakota Fanning. She also allegedly vetoed a plan for Lourdes to appear in a Harry Potter film.
Now rumors are circulating that Lourdes has landed a role in a forthcoming film about Edward VIII. The key difference? The Edward VIII film is Madonna’s own project. Despite strong rumors to the contrary, Madonna’s publicists have denied that Lourdes has been cast in the film, but their phrasing has left the door open so that the decision could be changed.
Whatever the truth, a stage career certainly looms. Lourdes has just been accepted into a performing arts high school. At the same time, she has made an appearance in one of her mother’s music videos, appearing as a dancer in the shoot that accompanied the single Celebration last year.
Lourdes also attended the premiere of the Hollywood musical Nine last year, posing on the red carpet next to her mother wearing a black leather jacket and fingerless lace gloves that echoed Madonna’s 1980s style. “Lourdes is still pretty young for this sort of thing. But Madonna at the moment appears to be doing everything that a real stage mom should be doing ... she is showing a lot of control,” said Murphy.
That is certainly true of Lourdes’s highest-profile project yet: her clothing line. The brand, which is inspired by her mother’s early career style, will go on sale this summer. It has been mostly designed and chosen by Lourdes herself, but Madonna has taken a firm grip on the reins of the publicity machine behind it. Lourdes is the face of the brand, which is trying to appeal to teens, but Madonna’s fame is the engine that is generating the publicity.
“The big question mark is whether the Madonna brand really appeals to a wide swath of teens and tweens, which are the key target demographic for the line. In that sense, it’s smart to have Lourdes as a face for the brand,” said David Lipke, a senior editor at Women’s Wear Daily.
Madonna is the one meeting the press, keeping her daughter firmly behind the scenes and acting as Lourdes’ spokeswoman. In a series of interviews last week, Madonna explained that she was fearful of getting Lourdes in front of the cameras and putting her daughter under such public pressure. “That is why I am here talking about the line and she is not. Eventually, I will let her. I feel like she needs to go to high school and focus on her studies,” Madonna said.
If that makes Madonna sound like any other mum, that is not surprising. Parenting expert and top American “mommy blogger” Cathy Hale said celebrity parents had the same protective emotions as any parent, but a very different context for them. “The feelings are the same. At the end of the day, if you are Madonna or any other parent, you are still all dealing with diapers and kids falling down and scraping their knees,” said Hale, who runs the blog MommyQ.com.
But if anyone knows the pitfalls of being a celebrity parent it is Madonna. She has been globally famous for three decades and will have witnessed many spectacular burnouts of celebrity offspring. But, ironically, the role of protective “stage mom” is also a new one for Madonna.
After all, her own fame has been built on a series of clever reinventions. “It is actually another reinvention for Madonna. She’s been a singer, an actress, a pop star and a children’s author. Now she’s a stage mom,” said Murphy.
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