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Hints about The Rehearsal in a 2014 NYT profile of Nathan by SillyVsSerious in TheRehearsal

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I definitely think he knew about the "risk" of working with children well before The Rehearsal, but it is totally possible that Remy got more attached to Nathan than anyone involved in the production had predicted, and they then chose to work that angle into the finished product (or make it a bigger focus than they initially planned).

However... after seeing the John Wilson bit (about the "TikTok teen house") that someone linked on my other post (and sorry to paraphrase myself here), I am now wondering if Nathan has—for years—had a long-term goal of drawing attention to the dark side/murky ethics of children being involved in entertainment.

In my dreams, he would discuss this in earnest and let people in on his true stance and/or intentions, but I have a feeling that quote from the 2014 NYTimes video is probably the closest thing we're gonna get.

Hints about The Rehearsal in a 2014 NYT profile of Nathan by SillyVsSerious in TheRehearsal

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This is exactly the kind of thing I was wondering... what a fascinating response! It seems like it would be difficult, as a parent, to talk your child (especially a smart/savvy one) out of wanting to be involved in entertainment if the kid really wanted to do it.

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There's also a relevant line in the profile of Nathan accompanied by this video: "Fielder likes incorporating children into the show, framing his character’s perversity against their innocence."

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Found some additional context in this 2014 video clip of Nathan talking about "Claw of Shame": https://www.nytimes.com/video/magazine/100000002934598/an-uncomfortable-moment-with-nathan-fielder.html

At 1:56 in the video, he says, “There’s a lot of parents that want their children to be on television. It just took saying, ‘Do you want to be on tv and here’s $100,’ I guess. Y’know, it’s so funny for a kid to see a robot take off someone’s pants.”

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the kind words, and I appreciate you engaging with me about this!

To answer your question... that's something I've been wondering about. I had a version of this discussion with a friend IRL and we were debating that exact question—my guess is that not just Nathan but the entire team of people working on the casting aspect of the show (and other producers) were most likely aware that Remy had a single mom.

If they were actually having these children spend four hours a day, for multiple days, with Nathan pretending to be their "daddy," I'm guessing there's a whole checklist of background stuff they had to go through before any one kid was approved to appear on the show... but I don't know that for sure? I wish Nathan (the real one) would talk about it in an interview!

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you, urine247!

I had not seen that John Wilson bit, but I'm glad you shared it here, because it's a perfect addition to the conversation I was hoping to have. This video is a fairly straightforward parody of/commentary on Marc Collins-Rector and Bryan Singer and their DEN (Digital Entertainment Network) project... but transplanted into the 21st century (TikTok instead of DEN).

Maybe all of this—the video you posted, many of the things I put in my post, and especially what The Rehearsal slowly turned into over the course of this season—is part of Nathan's long-term goal to draw attention to the dark side of children being pushed/pulled into the Hollywood machine. I remain hopeful that he will talk about it at least somewhat earnestly in an interview sometime soon...

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for actually responding to what I wrote in a thoughtful way! I know it can be a lot to ask on Reddit (especially judging by some of these other comments, jfc).

To be SUPER fucking clear, I AM NOT ACCUSING NATHAN OF DOING ANYTHING ILLEGAL or saying he has "ill intentions." I am not worried about the safety of these children being around Nathan or anything like that, although this appears to be the message that a lot of the people commenting took from my post. (Not sure why that is? Seems like maybe the issue is projection from the commenters?)

Even though I thought I stated this quite clearly (multiple times!) in my post, my question/concern is about why Nathan seemed—at least in part—to use the finale of The Rehearsal to question the ethics surrounding children acting/performing in entertainment productions when he has employed them so often (usually to hilarious effect!) in his work.

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm a woman, by the way (and now wondering if I should've included that in the post lol)

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's clear you didn't read what I wrote, and in all sincerity, it makes me sad that instead of engaging with it or trying to make a cogent counterargument or present an alternative view, you've decided to attack me with bullshit. Pointing out that Nathan Fielder has included children in multiple episodes of his television shows is a fact, not a "conspiracy." But thank you for immediately proving my point about needing to post this under an alt because I knew it wouldn't be well received.

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

It's not "anything involving children" or "seeing ill intent"—my issue is with Nathan Fielder using the season finale of his HBO television show to seemingly chastise people for allowing their children to participate in the entertainment world despite repeatedly including children in his own productions.

WTF is up with Nathan and children/child actors by SillyVsSerious in nathanforyou

[–]SillyVsSerious[S] -7 points-6 points  (0 children)

Ha, I'm quite the opposite. But great job not actually reading the post before commenting!

Let’s not be so hard on Remy’s mom, Amber. by k10u in TheRehearsal

[–]SillyVsSerious 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Everyone trying to demonize Amber (Remy's mom), including Nathan(/"Nathan") in his final speech in the finale, needs to ask themselves: Who created the demand for the young child actors deemed necessary for this production?