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Oh, Lindsay, Lindsay (shakes head)
When I read about Lindsay Lohan’s latest arrest Tuesday morning, the poorly written headlines made me think “C’mon, guys, this is old news. She turned herself in last week on a DUI charge from last May. Slow to catch up, aren’t we?”
Then I read the story, and I realized I was the one who was slow to catch up. Not only has she been busted for DUI again, after a second stint in rehab, but they found a small amount of cocaine on her.
Oof.
I’m sure more than a few people are gleefully rubbing their hands together at this news, with a “spoiled rich brat deserves it” mindset, but I’m really disappointed.
I came to Lindsay’s defense on this blog during her first rehab stint. I tried to remind folks that she actually does have talent. She showed it in movies like Mean Girls, Freaky Friday and A Prairie Home Companion, among others. Heck, she made the puff piece Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen watchable.
But with her offscreen antics continually overshadowing her onscreen antics (which haven’t been the greatest of late), I can see how it becomes increasingly difficult to remember that talent is there. She could give a performance worthy of Katharine Hepburn and it wouldn’t matter with her new deer-in-the-headlights mugshot.
Her arrest is a case of … interesting timing, considering her latest movie, I Know Who Killed Me, comes out this Friday. The movie already attracted some leering headlines since she plays a stripper, but the movie was going to tank anyway. Her arrest could draw a few morbid curiosity seekers to the movie, but I would be surprised if I Know Who Killed Me managed to beat Knocked Up in this weekend’s box office tallies.
UPDATE from today: Seems Lindsay sent an email to Billy Bush of Access Hollywood (ah, now THERE’s where you go to shore up your credibility), mounting a “wasn’t mine” defense - making her look even more desperate.
As far as her career goes, she’s in major trouble from this standpoint: When an actor signs on to a film, they have to have an insurance policy in case anything happens to them that might impair the production. Her rates are going to shoot into the stratosphere, and no one will want to cast her.
The New York Times quotes longtime talent agent Bernie Brillstein as saying: “I hope they put her in jail for as long as they can … Maybe she’ll realize how serious it is. I believe she’s uninsurable. And when you’re uninsurable in this town, you’re done.” And Brillstein used to rep John Belushi and Chris Farley, whose demons cost them their lives.
Seems to me Lindsay’s problem, outside of an inability to control herself, is she hangs around with a crowd that enables and facilitates her bad habits. I’m still hopeful Lindsay will clean up her act, but at the rate she’s going, I can’t predict she will.
Will she recover? Even if she does, can she revive her career?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Celebrities
Comments
By Kim S.
July 25, 2007 7:22 PM | Link to this
How many strikes does she need to get? I don’t know if jail will help her or not (but there is where I think she needs to be), but I do know that rehab clearly didn’t work. What a waste. Not of her - of rehab. Rehab only works if the person in question wants it to work - and Lindsay clearly doesn’t at this point. I just hope that this doesn’t end in someone innocent being hurt - as in her hitting something else much worse than a shrub. I’d actually blame the justice system if she didn’t get jail time for this. My other question is this - for someone with such a supposedly large entourage everywhere, WHY do people keep letting her get into a car? I just don’t get it. As far as her career, I couldn’t possibly care less.By mmarlin
July 25, 2007 2:28 PM | Link to this
She reminds me of Paris Hilton. A “star” whom thinks the world should kiss her feet. This pedistal she is on needs to be toppled and as it appears now she has done this herself. She should at least do time in jail if nothing else to ingrain some humility into her. To those of you who have children who “worship” her you have my sympathy. Those our children idolize are the ones who usually let them down.By Kimo
July 25, 2007 2:25 PM | Link to this
I have always liked Lindsay and have compassion for her. It takes one to know one. I hope she finally realizes that her life is out of control and surrenders to the program she learned in treatment. The only thing she needs to change is everything and that is the hardest part. I am praying for her and hope that this is her wake-up call.By Sir Critic
July 25, 2007 10:40 AM | Link to this
To be clear in all this, I do not defend Lindsay’s conduct, proven or unproven. Instead, I express disappointment that she is throwing away the promising career she had built. Allie: You make a good point about Downey. What makes the comparison even more striking is that when he had his troubles, he had an Oscar nomination under his belt, for the title role of “Chaplin.” So his climb back to respectability wasn’t as steep as Lindsay’s will be.By Kevin J.
July 25, 2007 10:11 AM | Link to this
Who cares about some little spoiled brat in LeftCoast, Hollyweird? What’s digusting, is that people and our news agencies think this is newsworthy. Get a life people! Maybe you should pay more attention to what is going on in you own community and with your elected officials. Can you name your State Rep.? Congressman? Senator? Mayor? Governor? But yet you know all about the life and times of Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Britany Spears, etc., etc.! What a sad state of affairs we live in. :-(By Julie
July 25, 2007 8:54 AM | Link to this
You know. It seems the ones who have the world at their feet are usually the ones that feel they can stomp all over it. Lindsay has been so immersed in that lifestyle she’s forgotten what REAL living is like. I pity her. Her blatant disregard for others safety disgusts me, but I really do feel for her. She’s so lost. Anyway, enough on that rant. You asked if she could ever recover her career from all this. I just want to draw your attention to the life and times of a young Drew Barrymore. Drinking at age 9, pot by 10 and cocaine by 13. Her first rehab stint was at 13 years old (and a second followed shortly after that)! Her attempt to make it back into the business initially was as a vamp in Poison Ivy. Remember that gem? insert eye roll Finally, it seems someone told her that people were more fond of the little doe-eyed cutie from E.T. than the tawdry skank she had become. It seems like that is when she started her way back. It took her almost 10 years to fix her image but she didn’t give up. Now, most people would never imagine that she’s been through that type of life. For people that are aware of Drew’s past, she suffered a severe fall from grace. My take on Lohan is pretty similar. She’s got to grow up first of all…then, she’s got to want to make things different. It’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of determination and one hell of a publicist. It has been done in the past, but it’s definitely not going to be easy. I think the one thing Drew had going for her that Lohan does not is that when Drew was doing her drugs and drinking, she was VERY young. Most people felt like someone really should have been looking out for her and being a parent. Lohan, however, is definitely old enough to know better. I know they say that negative publicity is still publicity, but I think someone took that a little too seriously. One last thought … At the rate some of the younger Hollywood crowd are going, it’s surprising we don’t have more cases like River Phoenix.By Allie D.
July 25, 2007 5:18 AM | Link to this
It is really upsetting to see people throwing away their lives like this, whether they are rich, famous or not. It would be nice to see Lindsay pull a Drew Barrymore and actually get her life together, but then again, Barrymore was already out of the more reckless point of her addictions by the time she reached Lohan’s age. It would also be interesting to see if she could pull a Robert Downey Jr, who finally seems to have his stuff together (or who might just be better now at hiding and controlling his demons)and is making decent movies again, but the sad reality is that this business is already much crueler to even the most genteel women. By the time Lindsay decides to emerge from her spiral of self-destruction, it will probably be too late to salvage her career. But the thing is, she’s going to have to want it. There is only so much I can sympathize with someone who simply refuses to even try to change. To get arrested AGAIN? So SOON? What the bleep is the matter with her? I don’t give a rip how talented on the screen she might be. She’s an idiot.By Cali
July 25, 2007 1:11 AM | Link to this
Oh my gosh, what a great blog entry! I totally thought the same thing as you! This morning, I was watching “The View” briefly, and they were discussing Lohan’s recent arrest, and I kept thinking “this was so last week, and she was released on $30,000 bail…old news guys!”…but sure enough they were discussing breaking news. I’m so sad to hear that she is struggling again. I really wish the rehab programs would be more efficient and stable, that way people don’t have to have reccuring encounters, as she did. As for her career, I hope she completely cleans up and goes on a press tour discussing her mistakes and what she’s learned from them. Otherwise, I think her career is long done. With all of her recent drama, she’s becoming the next Paris Hilton. I hope this is Lohan’s last battle with alcohol and drugs.