This question is inspired by the Jon Dore show. I’ve only seen a few episodes, but in several that I’ve seen, the Character “Jon Dore” is kind of a jerk to kids 9 and under. In one he interviews a kid and sort of asks her jerky questions. I just watched one where he walks up to a kid at a lemonade stand while talking about “hookers and blow” and Las Vegas. Now, on closer examination, it actually looks like they spliced together two shots, because the little girl is not actually in the shot when he is using the adult language. But it seems like there are other scenes where the kid is in the frame. Anyway, just wondering how they do these scenes while protecting the kids.
Protecting the kids from what, you ask? Well, if the real life person playing a character “jon dore” is a real jerk to an adult (as also happens on the show where he interviews real people) the adult understands what is going on. But in the case of a 7 to 9 year old kid, I feel like it could kind of freak the kid out, and I’m wondering how they prevent that.
If it’s a scripted television show (or movie) aren’t the children actors? I cringed in a few scenes of the movie Bad Santa, but the kids are all actors and knew what to expect. Besides, ultimately aren’t they just words? Kids hear and say worse on the schoolyard playground.
Going back a way, inThe Phil Harris and Alice Faye Show (a spin-off from Jack Benny,) Phil Harris had a regular whipping boy in the neighbourhood kid “Julius,” who was supposed to have been about ten.
There was always mutual antagonism, and Phil was always putting him in dangerous situations for laughs. Just regular stuff, sneaking him into a circus ring with hungry lions, using him as a test subject for amateur drug synthesis, that sort of thing.
I listen to that show on XM radio and Julius (who is hilarious) seems to be able to take care of himself and often does worse things to Phil and his idiot friend than are done to him.
And I think that the actor playing Julius was actually in his early twenties.
