In praise of Dakota Fanning, normal teenager

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

There are many things I’m thankful for this year. I’m thrilled that I haven’t dated John Mayer. I’m glad I haven’t shared a movie theater with Katie Holmes I’m delighted that I missed Kate Gosselin shopping at the Grove, and wasn’t out in the neighborhood when Jon Gosselin shot his embarrassingly un-funny Funny or Die video.

And I am truly thankful for Dakota Fanning. And her parents.

Check out her IMDB bio. Fanning began acting at the age of 6, and as she did more and more movies there was more and more press about how mature she was, and what a pro. I couldn’t help but read them and cringe a little, waiting for the meltdown — or at the very least the un-cute adolescence — to come. It was hard not to wonder if she had stage parents, or if she was just too utterly precious, or even worse, a robot, like that kid in “AI.” Or if Amy Poehler’s “The Dakota Fanning Show” might ring a little too true.

Here she is on the Ellen Degeneres Show in 2007:

Adorable, right?

Well, check her out now. Back on the Ellen show last week:

I probably stopped paying attention for a while there, because it was nothing short of a revelation when she turned up promoting The Twilight Saga: New Moon. She seems to have skipped right through awkward early teendom (if it afflicted her at all) and embraced both a career and normalcy, right down to being a cheerleader and getting crowned homecoming princess.

And while Teen Vogue isn’t really known for its hard-hitting cover stories (would be interesting if Vanity Fair sent Leslie Bennetts out to talk to her), she comes off remarkably down-to-earth about graduating to more mature roles in their profile. And the photo shoot, while again strictly audience-appropriate, is long on fashion and short on teenage cheesecake.

All of this is hugely to Fanning’s credit — but it does not happen without parents who pay attention. It’s what happens when parents are devoted to giving their kids a normal life while protecting and fostering their creativity. It’s what happens when parents don’t sell out their kids’ childhoods to reality shows. Or use them as a meal ticket. Or release tapes of their phone calls. Or go clubbing with them. Yeah, Lohans, I’m looking at you.

Everyone makes mistakes, and young people both famous and infamous flirt with rebellion and run off the rails. There are so many ways things can go wrong.

But just this once, here’s a big thanks for getting it right.