My skin crawls when I read the comments about Millie Bobby Brown at the premiere of The Electric State. There are the usual ones left by adoring fans, celebrating her outfit choice (a metallic Annie’s Ibiza gown), hairstyle and general existence. But also there, in their hundreds, are disparaging words about her appearance (suggesting that she looks significantly older than her 21 years). “Literally had to double check [she] turned 21 the other day and not 40,” reads one particularly vicious comment. “Lookin [sic] older than ever!!” another troll felt compelled to chime in on X.
The scrutiny is nothing new. Since the actor first rocketed to fame as Eleven on Stranger Things in 2016, she’s become a lightning rod for discourse, ridiculed for things including (but not limited to) her changing accent, getting married too young, the way she dresses, the way she styles her hair, the way she conducts herself in interviews. There are entire Reddit threads dedicated to discussing how old she looks and the tweakments she may or may not have had. (Sample entry: “It’s the filler. Don’t get filler kids.”) Cosmetic surgeons have speculated about her aesthetic decisions in national newspapers. It is, in a word, grotesque.
I’m not here to argue that it’s an unbearable burden being a celebrity. Of course there are negatives (relentless scrutiny, the lowest points of your life being broadcast to the world, a total lack of privacy), but it also comes with countless plus points that regular people are not afforded – not least unimaginable wealth. But I disagree totally with the idea that celebrities should somehow expect to have to serve as our personal internet punching bags. The public-facing nature of the job doesn’t mean they should have to accept their own dehumanisation or memeification.
Were I not so protective of my own sanity, I would ask Brown’s many critics: where do these thoughts end? Does the actor looking older than her 21 years (a notion that is, of course, entirely subjective) infer some kind of moral failing? Are our brains so addled by constant social media use that we truly believe it’s our right to opine on the worth of other human beings based on a few pap shots and red carpet photographs? Were we placed under the same unforgiving microscope, even the most robust self-confidence would disintegrate, and fast.
This obsession with women and their age is a form of misogny. Beyond that, it’s boring. Millie Bobby Brown is an award-winning actor with several blockbuster roles under her belt. We should be applauding the achievements and precocious talent of this still extremely young star (and be mindful of the fact she was a child when she entered the spotlight), not cruelly dissecting her appearance. Rumours are circulating that Brown could be set to play Britney Spears – who suffered a breakdown in the harsh glare of the tabloid spotlight in the Noughties – in a forthcoming biopic. How depressing that, when it comes to the treatment of young women in the public eye, we clearly still have so far to go.
