As you media watchers out there may know, actress Lindsay Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail Tuesday for her failure to attend alcohol education classes after a series of drunk driving charges dating back to 2007.
I realize that the starlet has a reputation as an out-of-control wild child who thinks she’s immune to the law, but I can’t help feeling sad when I think of the talented young actress from The Parent Trap, Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Mean Girls. My daughters and I have watched and enjoyed all these movies, and it’s a shame to see so much talent and vivacity go down the drain because of alcohol and drug abuse.
I’ve cringed these past few years as my daughters bore witness to Ms. Lohan’s very public downfall, and I found myself hoping she’d turn herself around. I cringe now at the idea of her public “hanging.”
Yes, she should pay the price for driving under the influence, but that doesn’t mean we have to revel in her downfall.
In an article on Forbes online, Kiri Blakeley points to the discrepancy between the media frenzy over Lindsay Lohan’s drunk driving arrests and the relative indifference to male celebrities who behave badly.
One of the reasons for the discrepancy, she writes, has to do with economics—more women than men buy tabloids and magazines, and women supposedly like to read about other women who have it all being taken down a peg or two. It’s a case of give the people what they want.
But is that really what we want? I, for one, would love to see a picture of a clear-eyed, radiant Lindsay Lohan. Then, instead of clicking my tongue and saying to my daughters, “Did you see what happened to Lindsay Lohan?” I could point to her and say, “Look. Anything’s possible. She turned her life around.”
Some people never pull themselves out of the pit of addiction. But there are so many who do. Here’s hoping Lindsay Lohan–and all the others who have to hit rock bottom before they change–can beat their addiction.
Photo Source young Lindsay Lohan
I really appreciate this post. Thank you for articulating what I’ve been thinking since I saw the pictures all over the web of her crying.
Thanks for this post. It’s a great topic for discussion. I don’t revel in anyone suffering from the disease of addiction, but these types of stories do get my attention.
I am only interested in stories of celebrities dealing with the consequences of their addictions from the standpoint that I am in recovery and am ever-hopeful that whatever story I’m reading, fill in scandal here, will be their bottom and that they will somehow get honest enough with themselves to get the help they need.
Back when I was drinking and Robert Downey Jr. was cavorting about and making a hot mess of his life, I remember sipping my wine and complaining that he was going to die(!) if he didn’t get help. At the time, I thought he was hopeless. I was incredibly annoyed with him because, while I drank quite a bit, I wasn’t like HIM! Oh it was so easy to be so smug with a buzz on.
When Iron Man came out in theaters, I was newly sober and my sponsor, our spouses, and I went to see it. We caught a couple of 12 step references in the movie. In interviews, Downey later shared that he’d been sober for 6 or 7 years (can’t remember now). I was just astounded that he’d been able to recover after he’d gone so far down the spiral of addiction. He has become an inspiration to me now. I hope I see that in Miss Lohan someday, but we all have to write our own story.