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I watched the special about him last night on The Learning Channel. It made me truly sad for him. Throughout all of his young life so far, he was pushed into things and knew only about things that his father wanted him to know. No friends, no interaction with other kids in school because he was home-schooled, no different types of foods, dancing lessons, martial arts lessons, weight training, etc., but no time or leniency to just let him be a kid.
He was basically marketed as a product- a dog and pony show for the world to gawk at. Now his father is finally gone (jail for assault on the mother) and he is working towards a movie role (Tiny Tarzan) and works out 2x a day, 5 days a week to get back "into shape" for the role. This kid will lack the required social skills necessary later in life to be successful on the personal level due to all of the isolationism he is experiencing.
Although he appears happy (at least in the documentary), I think that he'll someday realize just what he has sacrificed and will lament the loss of his childhood spent almost entirely on doing grown up things. He will be "old" and burnt out before his time. He's missing out now on kid stuff that he won't be able to enjoy when he's an adult. Again, that makes me sad for him.
He was basically marketed as a product- a dog and pony show for the world to gawk at. Now his father is finally gone (jail for assault on the mother) and he is working towards a movie role (Tiny Tarzan) and works out 2x a day, 5 days a week to get back "into shape" for the role. This kid will lack the required social skills necessary later in life to be successful on the personal level due to all of the isolationism he is experiencing.
Although he appears happy (at least in the documentary), I think that he'll someday realize just what he has sacrificed and will lament the loss of his childhood spent almost entirely on doing grown up things. He will be "old" and burnt out before his time. He's missing out now on kid stuff that he won't be able to enjoy when he's an adult. Again, that makes me sad for him.
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