Hollywood: Land of Self-Destruction

Recently, Lindsey Lohan was busted for DUI after a recent car accident. I have to admit, I wasn't surprised by this. After all, what else can you expect from a girl who hangs out with Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie? Both have also been busted for the same offense and are constantly seen out partying and taking full advantage of every bad thing the Hollywood scene can offer. They're part of a new type of celebrity who has taken over the town in recent years: famous for being famous. This new type of celebrity has flourished with the popularity of reality TV. It doesn't take any acting or singing talent to be famous anymore. All you have to do is have a high profile name or pull a few crazy stunts and you're suddenly a household name. Even some of the biggest names in entertainment are embracing this new tabloid culture as a means to staying in the spotlight without having to work for it.

Britney Spears started out as a fresh faced country girl who had a decent voice, some great moves and catchy songs. She managed to turn these performances into a career most musicians would envy. In recent years, however, she's thrown it all away. Instead of releasing new albums and touring, she's chosen to spend the last few years promoting her personal life. Ever since she dropped out of her Onyx Hotel tour, she's given countless interviews to magazines and TV shows detailing her marriage, pregnancy, showing off her son Sean Preston and talking about how wonderful her life is all the while crying about how she isn't given her privacy. Lindsey is in a similar boat. Once a respected young actress, she's now known for her hard partying ways and her looming legal issues. When Paris Hilton's sex tape got out, it was pretty well accepted that she was not totally innocent in it getting out. With the release of the tape, she went from hotel heiress to media star. All of a sudden, you saw her every time you turned on the TV or looked at a magazine. There was once a time where things like this and those mentioned above would've ruined a career totally, not enhanced it.

Actress Barbara Payton was a big name back in the 40's and 50's. Like Lindsay, she was a talented person who was given every opportunity, but decided to sabotage it. She consistently got involved in scandals that made her bosses angry. Instead of getting a career boost, the public laughed and her bosses dropped her from projects. She basically disappeared from the business as a result and eventually met a sad end from heart and liver failure after having abused her body for so long with alcohol and drugs.

That is the fundamental problem with hollywood and sports today. People are allowed (and encouraged) to be shocking and are treated as though they're above everyone else. The second a series becomes very popular or a sports star gets well known, they immediately threaten to walk if they don't get paid more despite making more then any of us will see in a lifetime. Back under the old system that rejected Payton, that never would have been allowed to happen. You did what you were told to do and you didn't throw fits when you didn't get what you wanted. Maybe if we had that old system in place, the above mentioned "stars" would not be in the messes they are in today. At the very least, we wouldn't have to be exposed to it all. The closest thing we have today to the old systems is the US Figure Skating Association. Tonya Harding was a star of the sport, although she wasn't the perfect ice princess the PTB wanted. She was allowed to dress differently, though, as long as she did well and didn't cause too much trouble. However, when she was implicated in the attack on fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan prior to the 94 Olympics, she was banned from the sport for life. To this day, no skater who is a member of the USFSA is allowed to share the ice with her.

Today's spoiled actors, singers and sports stars need to be brought back down to earth and made to realize they have opportunities most of us will never see in our lives, so they better make sure they don't screw it up. They need to know they are not invincible and yes.... the rules we all have to live by aplly to them too.

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