Lifetime
Lifetime returns to the ‘celebrity’ biopic that is also a story that is ‘Ripped from the Headlines’ because this one made big waves in the news, and at one point the story was made very public when the subjects appeared on the WE tv series Marriage Bootcamp: Celebrity Edition. The real notoriety came from the actor who is involved in the story, a man who had a decent career with roles on TV shows like Lost, and in movies like The Green Mile (although this TV movie fails to ever mention the role or the show that really put him on the map — Eugene Tooms in the ‘Stretch’ episode of The X-Files). But he managed to derail a promising career due to what at the time was regarded as very creepy behavior but today would earn him a star politician.
I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story tells the story of Courtney Stodden — as told by the real Courtney on screen — a young girl with aspirations of being a singer. But after her mom takes her to do some modeling, and being told she has what it takes to make it as a model, they focus on putting her into pageants — much to her father’s chagrin — and after she wins a title, mom Krista marches her 15-year-old daughter into a local TV station and practically wills them into giving her a local talk show which improbably becomes a hit with viewers. The only problem is the main audience is older men and that creeps out the station management enough that they cancel the show. Not one to take adversity lying down, Krista forges ahead as Courtney’s de facto ‘momager’ and meets up with a friend who has friends in the industry who can help develop Courtney’s career ambitions, and they are directed to an actor named Doug Hutchison, who runs classes to help aspiring actors wanting to get into the industry. Right away Krista makes the wrong decision by letting her daughter email Doug about joining his program, and after a back-and-forth email chain with some odd questions — to help him figure out who Courtney is and what is best for her guidance — he asks Courtney to come to Los Angeles to join his program. Krista is hesitant and reads all of the emails before contacting Doug, expressing her concerns about letting her 16-year-old daughter go to L.A. alone so he agrees to come meet them. Dad Alex thinks Krista has already gone too far and isn’t protecting their daughter, rather she is being seduced by the idea of fame. It’s at this point that the real Courtney interrupts the story to reveal what this is all really about — grooming. And not just her, but her mother as well after reading the emails and listening to Doug’s smooth talking about what he can do for Courtney.
After Doug and the Stoddens go out for lunch, Doug tells Krista that he is in love with Courtney and … she’s okay with that, later telling her daughter that in some states it’s legal to get married at 16 with parental consent. Even if the groom is … FIFTY-ONE years old. Courtney seems unsure about all of this but she also seems to feel trapped when Doug proposes to her on the beach with promises of taking care of her and building her career. Alex reluctantly allows his daughter to marry a man perhaps even older than him and they have the Las Vegas wedding of Krista’s dreams. It’s not long before reality comes crashing down on Courtney as she basically becomes a servant forced to dress like a stripped to clean the house, wash dishes and do the laundry. Doug continues to make cursory promises that he is working on her career, but he’s mainly using her as arm candy at Hollywood events and parties. As she realizes he is not doing anything for her, although Krista assures Courtney that she needs to stay the course and things will happen, the marriage breaks down and Courtney begins trying to live her own life while still living separately in the house with Doug. Courtney begins to spiral into a life of booze and partying, getting raped in the bathroom at one party, and somehow finds herself re-marrying Doug. But the sensationalism around their relationship in the tabloids has taken a hit on his career and after losing his home, moving into a tiny apartment and needing money, he signs them up for a reality show the second Courtney finds out she’s pregnant. Literally the moment the at home test shows a positive. Sadly, she suffers a miscarriage and all Doug is worried about is losing the show which was supposed to follow the pregnancy, and her despondency leads to a suicide attempt. Courtney finally sees the light, attends an AA meeting and checks herself into rehab (unfortunately, the movie does not include the Marriage Bootcamp appearance on which Courtney, Doug and Krista appeared), and gets some clarity in her life, leaving Doug for good, and attempting to re-establish relationships with her parents.
Lifetime
I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story is a very well-produced movie (Courtney herself was a producer so she could accurately convey her story — although the disclaimers want to make clear that a lot of this has been dramatized and may not be entirely accurate as far as some people and events are concerned) that takes on a truly disturbing subject without being completely exploitative. It’s also a very familiar story for anyone who follows entertainment news and pop culture because this May-December ‘romance’ made headlines back in the day. It is a difficult topic to make into ‘entertainment’ because the whole thing is pretty gross, but it also shows that even people with the best intentions can fall prey to someone who wants something they shouldn’t have. It’s even more dangerous when that something is an under-age child. Writer Kim Barker does a good job of condensing Courtney’s story into a 90-minute movie, conveying how young Courtney was exploited by her mother, but also throwing a little bit of sympathy Krista’s way because she was just as bamboozled by Doug as her daughter was (although perhaps her quest for Courtney’s fame was more more Krista to live vicariously through her and had Courtney actually become a star, Krista may have become even more controlling). Of course, Doug is made out to be the real villain of the piece which some may say is unfair since we don’t get anything from his perspective, but anyone who did watch Marriage Bootcamp knows that he was totally unrepentant for his actions, feeling that Krista was the real problem and that he truly did love Courtney, refusing to accept any real responsibilities and not willing to see that it’s really creepy for a 51-year-old man to prey on a 16-year-old girl. Makes one wonder now if Hutchison is in the Epstein files. Director D’Angela Proctor does a good job of moving the story forward, although it would have been nice to have some on-screen text to let us know the passage of time. For the longest time we think this is all taking place while Courtney is 16, but at one point she says she’s 19-years-old so it’s a bit jarring to not have a timeline to follow. The production itself is also very well done, but there are some egregious wigs on display, most notable the one worn by Maggie Lawson as Krista which sometimes looks okay and other time looks like a bad Party City wig, and another one worn by Amos Glick as the agent friend, which looks like a really bad toupee (but perhaps that was the point?). Holly J. Barrett as Courtney also has several voluminous wigs that actually work pretty well, at times accurately depicting totally over-processed, over-bleached hair.
As for the performances, Barrett is excellent as Courtney from the age of 15, totally transforming from that child to a child who had to grow up way too fast. Some of the outfits she wears are shocking considering the age of the person being portrayed, but Barrett is slightly over 20 so she herself is not being exploited. Through her performance, she allows us to see how Courtney was lured into the relationship with Doug, not only by Doug but by the person she trusted most, how she often questioned what was going on but still feeling trapped in the relationship because of pressure and promises by Doug and Krista. Sadly, her father who knew this was all wrong also allowed it to happen. But Barrett allows the audience to sympathize with Courtney and root for her to take control of her life before things get any worse than they are. At the point when she hits rock bottom with her alcohol addiction, being raped, and suffering a miscarriage, Barrett just makes us want to give her a big hug and tell her it will be alright if she takes control of her life. It’s certainly a harrowing topic for anyone to go through in real life, but it can also take a toll on the person bringing that story to life as an actor. Hopefully the production protected Barrett during filming to make sure she was handling things well without affecting her emotionally. Stella Grace Fitzgerald also does a nice job as the under-15 Courtney to the point that the transition between the actresses is almost unnoticeable.
Lifetime
Maggie Lawson is also very good as Krista, someone who loves her daughter and wants to make her dreams come true. Unfortunately, she gets caught up in the fame game and beings pushing her daughter into situations without really taking her feelings into account. She knew Courtney wanted to be a singer, but she just goes overboard and really seems to be more focused on making Courtney famous so she can be rich and famous as well. We’ve probably seen time and again that having your mother as your manager is not the best thing for the child, and that certainly plays out here. But Lawson does show that Krista was, at first, concerned enough about the older man communicating with her daughter to read through the emails, but instead of seeing any warning signs — apparently Doug was crafty enough to word things so they seemed like logical questions but were designed to groom Courtney to join him in Los Angeles, and Krista fell into the trap as well. This does make Krista a complicated character because we have to decide if she was complicit in exploiting her daughter by allowing her to marry Doug, or was she just as misled as her daughter? Or was it the idea of fame and fortune blinding her to what was truly going on? Lawson does a good job of making all of that ambiguous enough to draw our own conclusions as to whether Krista is also a villain or just another of Doug’s victims.
Doug Savant manages to make Hutchison (although he is described by Courtney as ‘short’, Savant is almost three inches taller than Hutchison and is a bit more imposing than the real person) seem genuine in his love for Courtney. We never get to see the content of the emails aside from a few of the questions he asks, and Savant does his best to humanize the person (who does come off as a bit creepy in real life). Every time he has to assure Courtney or Krista that he is deeply in love with the girl, it feels real enough that they — and we — accept this relationship. But seeing how he forces her to dress also makes us get a little sick to our stomachs, and when he ignores Courtney’s despair after losing their baby because he’s just lost a source of income, that really turns the tide against him. Savant does a great job though of almost luring us into believing Doug was a decent guy who wanted to help Courtney and was genuinely in love, with just enough menace at times for us to know that love and devotion is all a facade. Drew Waters is also very good as Alex, conveying his own conflicting emotions about how his wife is handling things with Courtney, although it’s not clear as to why he is so out of the picture (the Stoddens are perhaps separated, or he is on the road a lot for his job, but he and Krista seem to be leading separate lives even though he is often at the house).
I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story is a harrowing, cautionary real-life tale of grooming and parental misconduct that should be a warning to anyone with young children who have stars in their eyes, or who are just in situations where a much older adult has too much influence on their lives. The movie handles the situations well without making them too exploitative, and having the real Courtney as a guiding hand in the production certainly was a benefit. It’s not light entertainment by any means, but it is well worth watching so that perhaps parents can see warning signs with their own children before things escalate.
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. Help is free, confidential and available 24/7. Call 800.656.4673 or visit hotline.rainn.org/online.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988 or go to 988lifeline.org.
I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story has a run time of 1 hour 28 minutes, and is rated TV-14.
I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story | Official Trailer
Lifetime