Lindsay Lohan Wants to Be Taken Seriously

The last time we saw Lindsay Lohan this skinny, she had just been charged with cocaine possession and drunk driving. She also wasn't working regularly and spent more time at the club partying than Paris Hilton setting up the video camera in her bedroom.

Fast forward a year. Lindsay's completed her third stint in rehab. This time, it looks like it might just take. Her ever-strained relationship with her overbearing and loud-mouthed father looks to be on the healthy track. She is seen in public more and more during the daylight hours doing the things "normal" women her age do: shop, eat, spend time with friends, etc. The media laps it up. They want her to do well. Her constant companionship with Samantha Ronson starts to ignite the press. Who is this woman and is she partly responsible for this amazing turnaround? Is Lindsay Lohan a lesbian? Either way, things seem to be going along pretty smoothly and a rush of relief fills the gills of the American media system.

The work starts to roll in for Lindsay after she scores a guest starring spot on Ugly Betty. Photos of Lindsay hard at work on the set of Labor Pains are all over the internet and in magazines. Her Marilyn Monroe-themed "Last Sitting" spread in New York Magazine is a huge success and credibility is starting to be restored (ironically, even though she is nude in the artistic photographs). More modeling contracts are worked up and pretty soon Lindsay Lohan's wild nights appear to be a thing of the past. Her image has been smudged off enough for her fans and critics to really start believing she is back for the long haul in Hollywood.

Then a bomb is dropped. Lindsay's story arch on Ugly Betty is shortened reportedly because of a network decision. Both parties claim that it was done for a completely legitimate reason, but on-set fighting with main Ugly Betty star America Ferrera is printed in magazines across the globe as the real reason. Lindsay is toted as being "difficult" and "unprofessional" on-set. The movie offers are no longer coming in and television isn't interested.

Around the same time, rumors start circulating that DJ Samantha Ronson's late-night gigs across different continents are just not good for the recovering Lindsay. With little to no work lined up, Lindsay takes to joining Samantha on her tour of the club world and the photographers go crazy. Nothing sparks rumors of falling off the wagon more than seeing a recovering addict in a different club every night of the week for six months.

Photos appear of Lindsay pouring Grey Goose vodka and sipping it while listening to one of Samantha's sets. Late-night catfights wake up the neighbors and the police are called on different occasions. Add this to the fact that Michael Lohan, Lindsay's father, has started a tell-all blog wherein he insults Samantha Ronson calling her "SaMANtha" repeatedly and you've got yourself one big mess if your name is Lindsay Lohan. (Oh, and don't forget the part where Michael admits to the press that he fathered an illegitimate child while still married to Dina Lohan).

Reassuring MySpace posts start popping up with Lindsay as the author. She writes about staying strong, being sober, asking her father to keep his mouth shut and the love of her life - Sam. Fans enjoy these posts and the support continues to roll in, although, a little more hesitantly. Then the posts stop.

Lindsay Lohan is photographed skinnier than ever and the swarm is on her like white on rice. She moves out of Samantha's house and into her own down the street. Reports spread that her and Sam have broken up. She gets a matching tattoo with female songwriter, and also recovering addict, Lily Allen (the tattoo is copied from Rihanna's). An arrest warrant stemming from Lindsay's 2007 case is issued. She spastically shows up unannounced at Jack Nicholson's house at 4 am. All of this occurs within roughly a month's time.

So, when Lindsay implores her fans and critics to leave her alone by writing on her MySpace blog, they just listen, right? Not so fast. They have seen this play before and know what happens after intermission. The story does not change the 4^th time you see it. When dealing with an addict, recovering or not, you cannot simply take the word of the addict that everything is on the up and up. Part of the addiction is the lying and the deceit involved.

My advice for Lindsay is this: If you want people to take you seriously, stop partying, work-related or otherwise. Keep going to AA and work on your sobriety before anything else, even your relationship with Samantha. Prove to your fans and people who care about you and want to see you do well that they can indeed trust your judgment. Otherwise, the record will just keep skipping no matter how many times you wipe it off. Trust, respect and loyalty is not something you are given freely, it is something you have to earn. Good luck.