Confessions of a Celebrity Mom: Brooke Shields’s Down Came the Rain: My Journey through Postpartum Depression

Abstract

In “Confessions of a Celebrity Mom: Brooke Shields’s Down Came the Rain ,” I look at Brooke Shields’s recent memoir of postpartum depression as exemplifying the mythic thinking that, according to Anne Hunsaker Hawkins, characterizes autopathography as a genre. In particular, I examine the rhetorical strategies and appeals by which, in the context of her celebrity, Shields defends herself against the shame and stigma attached to postpartum depression in a culture that both idealizes and devalues motherhood. The memoir is an honest yet canny disclosure of intimate moments of depression, shame, and suicidal thinking: in it, the author both exposes herself to the public eye (and attacks by Tom Cruise) and, drawing on the allure of her celebrity, veils herself and her privileged life from any real scrutiny. Dans « Confessions of a Celebrity Mom : Brooke Shield’s Down Came the Rain », j’ai jeté un regard sur le récent mémoire de Brooke Shields portant sur la dépression postpartum comme exemple de la pensée mythique qui, selon Anne Hunsaker Hawkins, caractérise l’autopathographie comme un genre. En particulier, j’ai examiné les stratégies rhétoriques et les appels en fonction desquels, dans le contexte de sa célébrité, Brooke Shields se défend contre la honte et le stigmate lié à la dépression postpartum dans une culture qui à la fois idéalise et dévalue la maternité. Le mémoire est une divulgation honnête mais quand même rusée de moments intimes de dépression, de honte, et d’idées suicidaires : dans ce livre, l’auteure s’expose aux regards du public (et aux attaques de Tom Cruise) et, tirant parti de sa célébrité, occulte son personnage et sa vie privilégiée contre tout réel examen.

Public's perception of celebrities with serious illness in Hong Kong and the impact of media stories of ill celebrities on health awareness and behaviour

“…The glamorous but ultimately unattainable existence of celebrity emphasizes the public's own insufficiency, which may arouse feelings of envy, frustration and anger and give rise to an aggressive attitude. [27][28][29] Reading media stories about celebrity illness and witnessing the celebrity's misfortune may, therefore, contain a certain degree of schadenfreude and become a source of reading pleasure. 1,29 Johansson perceives this particular type of reading as the public's opportunity for a momentary experience of vindication of injustices, in which the public may have power and control over the celebrity for a limited period of time.…”

“…1,30 In fact, the private lives and plights of the celebrities are increasingly addressed in an intimate and verisimilitudinous way, signifying a 'democratic' counter-impulse in celebrity culture. 27 This appeals to the audience, because the celebrities are attainable, as they are just like the audience. Therefore, Harper believes that ill celebrities may gain positive exposure after disclosing their medical conditions, because the audience may compassionately identify with the celebrities' 'ordinary' status.…”