Why did I watch this? Why, why, why, why? I knew it'd make me angry, knew it'd sully an otherwise pleasant day. Of course it was an uncomfortable watch, of course the parents are living their fantasies of fame through their 11-year-old daughter after their own fame failed to materialise, of course the thought of sexualising and making a young girl into a beauty queen is royally f****ed up. So why on earth did I watch this rubbish? I have to admit that this will only be half a review, because, mercifully, the phone rang at about 10 past nine and I just couldn't bring myself to watch the rest after the phone call had finished.
Opening scene: Sasha bounces on a trampoline and has fun at home with her family. Sop far so normal for an 11-year-old girl. Then it was the big reveal - Sasha is, in fact, a star thanks to her participation in the country's two child beauty pageants. She gets her nails done, she gets fake tan, she has layers of make-up applied by proper make-up people.
All a bit wrong.
The pretty reliable Lucy Mangan, in today's Guardian, said this: "Deeply depressing. And that's even before this enchanting woman has decided that the future lies in American beauty pageants and dragged her whole family over to Texas to see if they have more luck there."
She also quoted the mother: "They're going to be worth a mint (in reference to Sasha and her younger brother Max). You better be smiling when we get there Sasha, or else you're dead. If you don't get accepted on this one, that's it, you're grounded."
The Scotsman said this: "Everyone, quick, sharpen your claws and gather round to condemn Jayne Harris! Jayne is a self-confessed former glamour model in Burnley who hopes her 11-year-old daughter will be the next Jordan. She blatantly enters her in beauty contests decked out in enough make-up to restock a small branch of Boots. Clearly the woman - who pathetically seeks reassurance that she still looks the same as in her old pictures - is an Evil Mother living vicariously through her kids, no?
"Well, that's what you're supposed to think every time this kind of story is trundled on to TV, as it is with surprising regularity (most recently in Painted Babies Growing Up). But Sasha: Beauty Queen At 11 left me with an unpleasant feeling that Jayne wasn't the main one exploiting her shy preteen."
The reviewer in The Scotsman speculated whether the programme itself persuaded Jayne to enroll her daughter in the American beauty pageant. This argument is interesting. Of course Jayne is wrong to put her daughter through all this crap, but it is yet another documentary shocker where the audience can point and look and get riled. The counter is that stories like this need to be brought to light and perhaps Jayne might look back at her insatiable quest for fame and think: hold on, this is wrong.
I'm glad I didn't watch this all the way through.
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I couldn't help but watch this nightmare all the way through - mouth agape - i couldn't believe what i was seeing, and just how stupid Sasha's parents are. Why are people like these selfish, unintelligent, arrogant, conceited, individuals allowed to have children?
My most disgusted line is when Sasha's mother is driving her to a 'top modelling studio in Manchester' and tells her daughter seriously that she 'better f**king smile', and that if she didn't get the gig she would be grounded.
The child is 11. She is completely over sexualized & objectified.
I feel so sorry for this little girl.....
I have never ben as disgusted in my life at this at programe, im 19 so its not like im old and used to things a certin way but i think that sashas parents need to realise that she wont have her looks for ever, and what will she do then. i think sashas mother should be locked up as she clearly cant handle the fact that she failed at something as easy as getting her boobs out, so shes trying to live her dreams through her daughter. The worst bit was when her mum said ' sasha if you dont get signed with this modelling agency then your grounded' what a sad physco witch. Sashas a lovely girl and should be able to do what she wants with out her parents pushing her into things shes not happy with. I think they need to find a happy medium and stop being so pushy!!!
I felt like crying towards the end of this programme-did anyone else get the feeling that Sasha really dosen't want to be doing all this?
At the end the interviewer asks Sasha: "What do you want most of all in the whole world?" and Sasha replies "To be famous" - the interviewer then says "why", Sasha says "I dont know....no idea"
That made me really sad and pretty shocked, it is so blatant that she's had that drummed into her head by her mum. Another scene which was pretty distressing- in the airport before the family go to Texas- Sashas mum and dad kept trying to make her do her cheerleading routine, and Sasha didnt want to, so then her mother wouldnt speak to her.
The worse thing of all is, Sasha's dad seems to be encouraging this "pre teen beauty queen" stuff too. It really upset me when Sasha was on her way to a modelling app and her mum said "smile or your dead".
Her mum needs to stop living her dreams through her poor daughter NOW.
I cannot believe this programme was actually allowed be showed on national televison. This woman who calls herself a mother is a disgrace!!!! she actually tried to make her child perform in Manchester airport, the when the poor girl who was obviously embarassed refused the mother stormed off in a huff and the poor girls father did nothing to intervene. i think this is disgusting and i hope that when the horrible woman watched that programme back she was ashamed of herself! however i doubt it very much, as every reference to sasha becomming famous also included how it would help her! and how she could meet celebrities!!!! it was pathetic!!!
Im am so angry !!!!!! what a stupid selfish,common rough,mess of a parenting team it makes me sick, the poor girl has no future because of the disgrace that is her mother, i hope she reads this and goes and locks her self in the room and never comes out.
look at what happened to that young girl in america a few years back !! who would want that for there daughter? it disgusted me when she sed if u dont smile your dead HOW DARE SHE.... anyway ive let off steam now and i hope she realises what damage she is doing her daughter
personally i feel its all a bit pathetic. the mother clearly was trying to live through her daughter and it made me so angry that everything always led back to her in some way. it was like she was trying to get reasurrance all the time that she still looks like the old 'picture' of her with her boobs out. and im a 16 year old girl so its not like im old and past it moaning at the state of society. i genuinley feel sorry for the girl. yea, maybe she does want to be famous like many young girls her age do but im guessing she didnt bank on the pushiness of her mother or the enormaty of an american pageant to get there. the phrase 'if you dotn get this one yur grounded' jsut sums up the patheticness of the mother who needs to seriously look at herself and possibly give herself one great big slap.
The mother is disgusting. Thinking she is a celebrity is gone beyond being a supportive mother. WELL DONE to Lorraine Kelly for saying what she did in the make-up room. Would it have killed the trailor trash mother to wear something other than a Primark tracksuit on the show?
The Dad is not at home for the majority of the week to finance this idiocy, the mother is living vicariously through the daughter and the child's first word used to describe herself is "pretty".
This "family" is nothing more than a UK Spears family. Ready to implode.
Why is the mother ok with Sasha spending so much time being photographed. She should be STUDYING not preening.
Without being mean to the child, she seems uncomfortable being the "beauty queen" her mother thinks she is. She seems more like a tomboy playing dress up.
is jayne doing this hoping her birth mother is watching,to rub her nose in it,because jayne and her sister amanda were adopted.
I felt sorry for Sasha when the only words she could think of to describe herself were 'dumb' and 'blonde', no wonder when thats all her parents tell her she is. It's awful that she's being exploited by her parents and made up to look like a doll, they should leave her to enjoy her childhood, she's only 11 she has plenty of time to make a career for herself when she's older.
Underneath all the posturing and brassiness drummed into Sacha by her mother's strict and yet facile regime, seemed to be a sad, lonely little girl. Sacha's personality and identity have both been railroaded by her mother's sad and desperate attempts to become famous vicariously through her daughter's successes. But when success finally came, in the form of several impressive-looking trophies, (which even Sacha herself had a passing moment of pride for), the mother pouted, sulked and praised instead the son who essentially won for merely turning up. Never mind rewarding the efforts (and abject humiliation) of poor Sacha, expected to parade in a Chinese restaurant, "sing at bus-stops" in case "Andrew Lloyd-Weber shows up" and keep her mother "into old age". Pathetic.
This is a mother who believes 100% that success does not need hard work, merely a "beautiful face" and if not that, then her daughter's will do.....
Can't see the show yet, since I am in America, but I was there. When the cameras were not on, Sasha was a normal 11 yr old. Very average looking with typical 11 year old interests. She had lots of HAPPY moments while filming, but apparently these were all edited out. She LOVED being in the pageant and enjoyed the time with all the other girls. They played, ice skated and shopped together and had a blast.
Jayne is a bit pushy, and I am sure her thirst for fame is being quenched by all these blogs. Sure, she wants fame for Sasha, but I fear it is mostly so she can have fame herself. But she is not as much as a monster as they make it seem.
Remember, BBC paid for everything, flight, hotel, pageant, food, you name it, they paid for it. So when the show was edited, it was all for ratings, and they had total control. If it wasn't made controversial, you wouldn't watch...
That was depressing. I know programs always hype things up and edit bits out, but that was just ridiculous! Sasha's parents aren't giving her confidence and she'll end up feeling very insecure when she's older. Her parents are actually telling her that she's 'dumb' rather than encouraging her. They place too much importance on looks. What if something happened that made Sasha less beautiful? Then what would she do? It's nice to dress up, look pretty and be competitive, but there are other things in life. Sasha didn't seem properly happy...not in the way an 11 year old should be. I suspect this is the response the program makers wanted from their audience, but I think this time it's well deserved.
sasha is just another one of the many future women of our country; a mindless, fame-orientated, chavette-wag, prejudiced waste of energy. People like her and her family are not only a scar on the face of Britain, but an open wound on the body of the human species. Looking at people like them only deepens my thoughts on whether or not the human race will be taken over by vegetables some time in the future.
Stop only blaming the mother; the father is lily-livered and the girl has no mind of her own. The entire family unit are to blame as are the community in which they live in.
This show epitomises everything that is wrong with the world. I feel so sad for Sasha, I hope someone someday gives that poor little girl the confidence and support she isnt getting from her parents and realises she might just be worth more than her mother's hollow dream...
I watched the show,and i must say,although her mother is pushy and urm..immature,Sasha is just as any other teenage/preteen girl.Todays society is ruled by fashion mags and programmes filled with tips of fashion,fake tans and make up.I don't see why the mother is to blame.Im sure the programme has been edited,and obvisley made to be over the top.If you are offended by the programme then take a big look around Britian today,and you will that the pressure is on to look a certain way.If the childs happy,then thats all that matters,and Sasha clearly doesn't objected to any of her beauty treatments.Once again being 'policitally correct' has left people not being able to bring up their children as they wish.I think the country has bigger fish to fry than weather an 11 year old girl decides whether to wear make up or not.
My God i have just watched that awful programme the mother should be hung drawn and quartered and I really hope she reads this email. Your daughter at 11 years of age is every peodophiles dream, you should be ashamed of yourself children should be children and your daughter should still be playing with dolls not having hair extensions having her hair bleached blonde and wearing nail extensions women like you should be sterilised you are unfit to be a mother just because your sole intension in life was to make it as a model and lets be honest that failed don t try and make your child something you were never let her make her own choices in life let her live her childhood you are obviously just trying to make money out of her dont you care that she will be so messed up when she gets older i guess not
after ten mins of watching this programme i was clenching my fists in anger at how this sorry excuse of a mother and someways the father are treating this poor little 11 year old.they are taking the most precious years of her life away from her to chase a dream.i'm all for ambition but this is too far, what about her education i didnt hear a word about that apart from sasha admitting she is dumb.this poor girl doesn't have a chance with these so called parents drilling into her head that she is a blonde,barbie/cindy doll.it makes me sick and so so sad that in todays society these people are allowed to have not just one child but TWO!!the mother is driving her child down a path of destruction and they are so ignorant to it.well said lorraine kelly!
I just watched this programme (i live in the Netherlands) on BBC1 and i do partly agree with the author of the review; I have watched more documentaries about child beauty peagants and they usually leave me apalled, mainly with the moms.
And yes i was apalled by Jayne, although most of the American moms i've seen are way worse (I think because these peagants are much more common there and there's a whole inner world of beauty peagant moms and their kids which is SCARY).
At least Jayne was really clear (to the viewer anyway) that she wanted it all for HER, it was and still is HER dream and she doesn't seem to interested in what her kids want or don't want.
She kept saying it's ALL FOR SASHA of course, but I i'm not sure Sasha is aware of this. And if so, isn't she TOO aware? Too aware of her mothers need and her 'duty' to fulfill it?
I do think she wants 'it' too; but i think for her it would be enough to just perform (she does seem to like dancing) and just to play princess in whatever way. Without the NEED to win.
And my God; she DID win! (not as much as that ugly girl with the ginger hair) Four huge big trofees, and i think if mom would at least have acknowledged those (her first pageant and she does all that? maybe it's time to get proud of your daughter...?) Sasha would have a great experience and fond memories about a (hopefully one off..) event.
I can't say 'poor child' though, or think she is not a nice girl; i think she is and i think/hope she will just find her own way to do whatever it is that SHE wants.
I do say 'poor Jayne' though..
She also needs to find her own way and do what SHE wants without the use of others esp her kids..
so basically people paying tax payed for this pathetic family to go and seek some fame for their little spoilt daughter ?
great
id rather watch a show where all that money spent was going to feed some poor children in africa.
her parents should be ashamed,tacky trash.
i watched this last night and was disgusted! Sasha was a beatiful CHILD but her mother wanted her to look like an adult and a porsenlin doll! she even quoted that.
Its horrible that Sasha's mother has ripped her daughters childhood away! Sasha doesnt even seem to want to be a model! It seems to me that she just wants to be a normal child and hang about with her mates and enjoy her childhood!
Her mother is evil and horrible. I was shocked when she said "You better be smiling when we get there Sasha, or else you're dead. If you don't get accepted on this one, that's it, you're grounded." who treats there daughter like that!? is that supposed to be some lame excuse for encouraging her? I think that Sashas mother needs to let her be a child for the few years of childhood she has left! Then when she is acutally a teenager she should be able to make her own desision of what she wants to do.
It seems to me that Sashas mother is using her daughter to get into fame because she couldnt make it for her self! All she cares about is the money and if people are looking at her! DISGUSTING!
i think that sasha is not very pretty!! she doesnt want this her mum does!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The mother is totally uneducated. I could'nt beleive what i was watching. The mother should try and sort herself out 1st and get that 'muzzy' waxed and sort out the hoodie situation. Sasha was a pretty girl but no different than 'the girl next door.'I feel sorry for her with a mother like there is no hope!!! Drinking pints of lager in airport at 8 o'clock....in morning....
emotional abuse. it needs to stop. family therapy required in my opinion.
I feel sorry for Sasha, Having a vile woman like that for a mother - Jayne the poor excuse for a glamour model with her own calendar (that she made herself)
we have just come back from a holiday in egpyt where we had the mis fortune of meeting this dis gusting family. They walked around like super stars while their children, Sasha and Max were acting like spoilt brats. On just one occasion I was at the pool bar waiting to get a drink when Sasha came up with her friend and said to the barman, get me a f***** glass, when he did she said its to f****** late. The son Max told his Mum she was a F****** C*** and also got one of the pool staff who was so lovely to the English sacked, saying he swore at him which was the other way round. That is just the start they were disgusting.
The mother was a disgrace.. what a moody miserable sulky bitch.. i feel for that poor child i really do.... let her be a kid for gawd sake.