Former Disney Channel star Christy Carlson Romano has spoken out against recent documentary projects delving into the dark side of kids’ TV, labeling them as exploitative “trauma tourism” from outsiders.
In an upcoming podcast appearance on the Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown, Romano reveals she has purposely avoided participating in shows like Investigation Discovery’s “Quiet on Set” docuseries about alleged abuse at Nickelodeon. The “Even Stevens” actress says she’s been approached by filmmakers before but has declined.
“These are people who don’t belong to our community. These are outsiders. And maybe they, maybe if they knew where to put money towards [fixing] a problem, they would, but again, a lot of this has been perceived in a way that’s — it’s outside baseball. It’s not inside baseball, it’s outside baseball. These are trauma tourists,” Romano stated.
The 40-year-old, who also starred in “Kim Possible,” expressed concern that sensationalized documentaries on child actors’ traumatic experiences are “extremely triggering” and can inadvertently promote “trauma porn.”
Christy Carlson Romano also cited fellow former child star Alyson Stoner, who has “impinged upon me the importance of understanding trauma porn.”
“I actually have a degree from Columbia in film, and you know, we know that the art of montage and the collision of images is going to incite a certain kind of emotion. That is what documentary filmmaking in social movements is meant to do,” she explained.
While acknowledging the well-intentioned goal of bringing awareness, Romano worries the provocative editing and framing of traumatic stories creates an echochamber that is “not helpful” for actually enacting positive change.
Instead, the actress advocates for more solutions-oriented dialogues directly involving the child star community, rather than sensationalized retellings by “outsiders” and “trauma tourists.”
“I’ve chosen not to speak about this with anybody, including ID…I started to be approached by many reality-show-type producers, and they were like, ‘Hey, how do we do this?’ and I would combat them with saying, ‘Hey, guys, the only way we would do this is if we talk about how do we fix it?'”
For Christy Carlson Romano, truly progressive storytelling on resolving issues around kids in the entertainment industry needs to come from those with firsthand experiences and a vested interest in implementing substantive reforms.
