My nearly-ten-year-old daughter has a celebrity crush. But don’t expect me to go on to talk about posters of Rob Pattinson or Taylor Lautner or even Justin Bieber or one of the Jonas Brothers. No, my little gal has got much better taste. Or at least she likes a guy who can make her laugh. See, my daughter’s got a major, major crush on Michael Cera.
Yes, that’s right. Michael Cera. You may remember him as Paulie Bleeker from Juno:
Or possibly even as George Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, which was a totally awesome show, by the way.
The problem is, most of Michael Cera’s film credits are for movies that I just don’t feel super great about letting my 9 year-old daughter watch. Take, for instance, Juno, Superbad and Youth in Revolt: not exactly pre-teen material. Neither, to my mind, is Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist or his current film, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I did, however, let her see Year One (with Jack Black), mostly because I really, really wanted to see it myself. (Incidentally, it’s freakin’ hilarious, but probably still not super-appropriate for the nine year-old set…)
So now this poor kid has a crush on a guy whose movies she can’t see (because her mother won’t let her), but I think it’s kinda cute, nonetheless. I mean, first of all, he’s Canadian (born in Brampton, to be precise), which probably explains his sweet, self-deprecating sense of humour. Also, he’s funny, and smart. And I have to say, I’m sorta weirdly proud that my kid picked a sweet, smart, funny and goofy guy to have a crush on. In my books, it’s better than the all white teeth and six-pack allure of Team Jacob.
But anyway, all that aside, I have found a way for my girl to get her some Michael Cera in a way that won’t scar her for life by exposing her to stuff that’s waaaaaaayyyyy beyond her years (go watch Superbad if you want to know what I’m talking about). She can watch Treehouse.
More specifically, she can watch The Berenstain Bears.
Yes, that’s right. Our Michael Cera voiced Brother Bear on this insufferable cartoon series (the 2003 version, not the 1985 version) about a family of bears who are, “a lot like humans, only more so” (do you know what that line means? Because I certainly don’t).
Somehow, I don’t think the girl who has this as her computer desktop
will be satisfied with that, do you?
Good choice Charlotte! I love Michael Cera!!
And he’s from Brampton – where I grew up!
I never realized how inappropriate his films were for younger kids while he has such a clean cut image and seems to be a good role model!