How do we solve a problem like Lindsay Lohan? How do you catch her career and stop its fall? How do you find the words to make her understand that she needs to change, once and for all? The spectacle that has become Lindsay Lohan is well documented. And by now everyone has processed and over processed her impending 90-day jail sentence (followed by a 90-day rehab stint, for good measure).Her case, life, fame stands as an unfortunate testament to our times. It both irks and intrigues me that we spend so much of our waking lives discussing, critiquing and analyzing her every foible. And in the end, it just makes me sad.
I know not everyone feels this way, and I know much of her predicament is entirely of her own making, still I feel genuinely sorry for Lindsay. Sure, she seeks out this spotlight herself. Sure she blames others for her own mistakes. But she is so young and, as her continual shenanigans attest, so immature. I feel about Lindsay the same way I feel about Amy Winehouse or Courtney Love. I take no joy in seeing the on-again, off-again freight train of crazy that has become their lives. Fair or unfair, I feel worse for those stars whose lives have become a public circus when they are indeed truly talented. And Lindsay, back in her “Mean Girls” days, was indeed truly talented.
So I take no pleasure in her pain. I feel no schadenfreude at her sobs. When did we become a society that roots against the best in others? Instead, as I’ve said before, I find myself in the odd situation of wanting to be shield her publicly from her critics while scolding her privately for squandering that abilities.
Certainly, many of her past actions can’t be applauded. Drinking and driving is wrong, period.
In the end, I think only Lindsay can solve the problem of Lindsay. Perhaps those days in jail, however many they end up being (because, believe me, it won’t be all 90), will be a time enough to really reflect. Perhaps, instead of writing “fuck u” on her fingernails to the world, she will think, “How did I fuck this all up?” Perhaps she will see that only she can stop herself from being an unfortunate headline and start being the promising actress we first met and were charmed by, all those years ago. I want to be charmed by Lindsay Lohan again. I want to see her act again. I want to root for her. If only she’d let me.
22 comments:
"Taking drugs is bad, period"? Do you really believe that? Just interested.
maybe she means taking hardcore, potentially dangerous drugs? i dunno...everyone's got their own opinion.
but yeah, dorothy, i definitely get what you're saying. for me, it kinda hits on a deeper personal level, not because i know her or anything, but i know people exactly like her (on a smaller scale)...
i think part of it is people subconsciously wanted her to flame out like this so they could feel validated in their need to have some sort of superiority over those above them. i dunno...
@fizzy I can't speak for Dorothy, but saying that taking drugs is bad, period, is a scientifically true statement that I see no problem with. Drugs, coffee, alcohol, smoking, too much salt, too much fat, aspartame, etc etc etc, all these things are scientifically proven to be bad. Then it's up to each individual to chose how they wish to treat their body. I drink coffee because I like the taste, and I drink alcohol because I like how a few glasses of wine make me feel, but there's still no doubt in my mind that it's unhealthy.
On a different note I've been thinking a lot about consumer responsibility these last few days. Fame, positive or not, is never something that can be bought. No matter how hard you fight for it, how much you pay for it, you will never achieve it unless someone is willing to give it to you. Magazines willingly sell article space, and paps hunt for pictures, but unless they knew that people would click those links to bring in that ad money, pay for those tabloids, they would never bother. So I try not to. I don't click ad-supported sites with her name on it, I don't buy mags with her face on them. I'll go see her movie, because I think she's talented. It's a drop in the ocean, but it's the one power I do have.
it's funny, cause usually I don't really care for celebs going crazy/getting into trouble (like paris hilton, britney spears, et al) but with lindsay it's different.
it's such a waste of talent!
(see "a prairie home companion")
when you read another story, you just think "oh, the poor child, somebody has to get her out of it and take care of her!"...
Let us pray now..hehe no seriously. It is such ashame to waste a talent like hers like that. I know I wont be wasting it if I have it, but unfortunately I dont. Anyways, I did kinda laugh when the news broke out, assuming it was another stunt from LiLo but after reading it and watched her cried..i did feel sorry for her but she's a big girl, she can take care of herself. I'm sure it wont be 90 days...it will be less then that..she really need to get herself together now.
The song "Lucky" by Britney Spears can best be used on poor Lindsay. She never had a real childhood, those times to stop, think and learn. It is all those child stars who have it the worst. Especially those who got rich as a kid, with parents who just use them as "money makers".
"She's so lucky, she's a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking
If there's nothing missing in my life
Then why do these tears come at night
Lost in an image, in a dream
But there's no one there to wake her up
And the world is spinning, and she keeps on winning
But tell me what happens when it stops?"
I don't think anyone but those close to Lindsay should be concerned for her. I don't know her, how many of you know her?
She's one of many celebrities that shove will power aside or due to pressure fall into drugs and other bad activities. It's her life, I don't see why the world focuses so hard on it.
Also the world wouldn't be a worse place without 'leisurely' drugs.
Bravo.
Amen, Ms. Snarker....amen.
I'm sorry I think that as a society we do this to them, remember the good, old days when Studios made Actresses sign morality clauses and you lost everything if you breached it?
We glorify their misbehavior, it makes headlines and we reward them. We are their enablers.
Um, just a thought, anon@7:44...Those old time "morality clauses" also forbid any expression, admission, whatever, of homosexual behavior or orientation, too.
Those "good ol' days" of Hollywood gave us wit and glamour that I still enjoy, but also could be a hypocritical and harsh and ruthless place to be in, behind the scenes, for anyone with problems or "differences". Sh*t still happened, they were just more organized about hiding it back then.
The treatment of Judy Garland is a glaring example of how Tinsletown eats its young and always has.
Anyway... I can only hope Lohan beats the odds, beats her addictions, and gets beyond this somehow. Just in basic sympathy for another human being, talent or no. (And esp. before she harms someone else during her spirals)
Poor thing, I'm not sure she ever really stood a chance, even if she grew up in a golden slum. Her parents gave her the genes to be pretty and probably the genes to be addictive, guided her to great start in show biz, and then after that, they are to be loathed. Just god awful, shallow, and selfish pigs. No doubt the early success in the show biz provided another batch of adults that indulged the worst in her, she's just one in a long line of child stars gone very bad. So now she's a warped and crippled young woman who looks much more world weary than she ought. I wonder if she'll ever be able to find/get what she needs to straighten herself out.
Side note. I don't buy Drugs = Bad. Some of us need them to just stay alive (Me: type 1 diabetes. No insulin? Dead in days, at most. Lots of other conditions/diseases could fit here.) As a child of the 70s I can point to recreational experiences that were quite positive, even if it's not PC to say so these days. There are people who managed their heroin addictions until they die of old age-it does happen. It's likely people have been doing mind altering drugs of one sort or another since we were hunter/gatherers. Humans LIKE drugs, always have, always will. This is not to deny that some lives are destroyed by them. Hopefully we'll figure out better ways to help those at risk, but to just label drugs as BAD is simplistic and really not so helpful.
To Anon 8:09, I don't think DS meant drugs like Insulin, but more like cocaine, heroin, etc. Also, the stuff you tried back in the day isn't of the same grade and purity that's going around now.
As someone who has worked treating drug addicts, YES, illicit drugs are bad. There may be those who can 'control' it or manage it (much like a cigarette after eating) or not get addicted, but the risk is so great, that I would suggest that people stay away from it. Drugs can and do alter your brain permanently. That's why addicts never recover, they just manage to stay on the right side of that line - day to day.
Forget D.A.R.E. or Scared Straight, kids should spend a day in a methadone clinic. I think that would be enough to stop them even contemplating drugs.
As for Lindsay, I hope this is her wake up call.
Agreed.
Thanks Snarker
In jail but with some psychological help? I don´t think she can recover/start again by herself. Besides, parents are something given... "friends" are chosen. So, detox means another friendship circle as well. Drugs are *bad* (from any point of view... drugdealers apart of course!)
"Those aren’t excuses, just maybe explanations."
Thank you!!
READ THIS -
One, you all became a symptom of the media problem, voyeurism and Ms. Snarker's belief that we should feel sorry for someone that has lost their childhood due to their parents misguidance. A million people are in Ms. Lohan's shoes across this nation, working to get their life back after an abusive childhood. Thus creating an adult life of trouble. You all know someone in your life that has this problem, you might even be that person.
Two, judging what another person should or should not do is reckless. To sit behind a computer and giver your opinion of another's life creates malice.
Not until you have walked in another person's shoes, can you tell someone ..."many things you know you'd like to tell" them. You haven't walked the talk.
Finally, don't cast the first stone! Please remember to have compassion for one another and send Love so others may be relieved of suffering.
Bless her and grace her with Peace.
Enough said.
Now, go fix your own life first!
I felt that besides the linsey, there is something
disgusting thing delivered the news.
that was how I feel.
-------------------------------------
another story,
she was, and still there could be chance for her
to comeback as she was,
I saw a movie that she was very young, actually
a child, who looks so adorable. very cute.
I bet that whoever you are you'll love to see the movie. she was really cute.(other people agreed)
somehow feel very sorry that the only thing
she can do is paint on nails.
I do think it's not nice take drug, or the other
issues but also feel kind of. sad cus
living as a star in the u.s is not easy.
I think it's more difficult than other places.
but you know you can be more rich than others,
so, cheer up. at this point.
I noticed it hasn't been mentioned here yet, so I feel I must. Does anyone else think that part of her problem is her confusion over her sexuality? I mean, I know from my own personal experiences how difficult that is, and I can't imagine how difficult that would be in the public eye, and at such a young age. For this reason alone my heart goes out to her everytime I read about her being in trouble yet again....
Word. Ms Snarker. Bloody word.
I totally agree with you. Being a child star is not the best way to begin life. Did she really choose her ceb. life?
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