Sia Furler is a veteran singer and songwriter. Even if you don’t know her, you probably know one of her songs. But the reason you might not know her in the first place is because she hates fame. In fact, being famous is something that she avoids in every way possible. The survivor of alcoholism, a painkiller addiction, and depression described fame as “a monster,” according to The Guardian. About fame, she said that it “questions everything there is to question. Even things I had never thought to question. Things I had never dreamed of feeling insecure about.”
In order to continue in a career where fame and success usually go hand in hand, Sia began appearing in public with her face nearly completely obscured by an oversized wig. She appears this way in her music videos, in live concert appearances, and everywhere in between. But if you’ve been paying attention over the last few years, you will have noticed Sia’s 15-year-old dancing prodigy sidekick, Maddie Ziegler, appearing alongside the singer. Ziegler initially came to fame on the show Dance Moms.
Bonnie Malkin in The Guardian article points how Ziegler has become the face of Sia:
Where Furler was hidden, Maddie was exposed. Where Furler was still, Maddie was moving. Where the singer was in darkness, the child was in the spotlight. Where Furler’s face and body was carefully hidden from the eyes of a stadium full of strangers, Maddie’s face and body was offered up instead.
The issue at hand is whether it is ethical for an adult, who takes great measures to avoid the spotlight that accompanies fame, to put a child in that very spotlight in her stead. Sia took to Twitter to address the article:
This article poses a question I have asked myself often. I do check in with Maddie weekly about whether she wants this, and assure her if she ever wants it to stop it stops. It's a conversation we should all be having. Not just myself but all directors, stage parents and agents.
— sia (@Sia) December 6, 2017
With their children, clients, charges. Maddie was already famous when I discovered her, but I have certainly expanded her exposure and feel responsible for that. I feel very protective of her and my goal is to empower her in whatever choices she makes. Some would argue a teenager
— sia (@Sia) December 6, 2017
Can't or shouldn't be charged with making sound choices for themselves and so I do try to choose the best for her always. But I think this is an important conversation https://t.co/0k6bQ8EsvT
— sia (@Sia) December 6, 2017
What I learned from Maddie is that fame affects her differently than how it affected me. I can only trust that she is telling me the truth. If that changes, we stop.
— sia (@Sia) December 6, 2017
And it was clear that even fans of Sia had been wondering the same thing as Bonnie Malkin:
https://twitter.com/ChantelJennings/status/938264345611460608
So did Sia just hand Maddie, who has a different relationship with fame, a golden ticket? Or did she doom her to a treacherous life in the spotlight?
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