Will Lindsay Lohan's Name Change Help Her Career?

Lindsay Lohan has made headlines yet again. This time, it is thanks to her father's alleged assault of his girlfriend which landed him in court. Lindsay's mother, Dina,told Popeater , "Lindsay is dropping the Lohan and just going by Lindsay." A family friend went on to compare Lindsay to the likes of other single-named celebrities, such as Oprah and Beyonce. The plan is that Dina and Ali Lohan (Lindsay's younger sister) will change their last name to Dina's maiden name, Sullivan, and Lindsay will do the same in the future.

Unfortunately, people do not recognize Lindsay with a single name because of her acting ability. People refer to Lindsay's name as a joke, like in the e-Trade commercial that aired during the Super Bowl where the baby referred to "that milkaholic, Lindsay". It isn't a compliment. And, what truly great movies has Lindsay done? People can look back in time and refer to certain actresses by their first name, and have confidence that people know to whom they are referring: Audrey, Judy, Angelina, Meryl, Julia.... The list goes on, and Lindsay just isn't on it.

Furthermore, the entertainers that have one name have always had one name in their career. Would you know who Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPierce was if she wasn't called "Cher"? Cher got her nickname from Sonny Bono in 1963, when he was trying to release their first album. Madonna entered the entertainment industry as Madonna, and many people do not know her last name is Ciccone. Oprah Winfrey has never used the name "Oprah" without her last name following it, including for television and film appearances. Yes, Oprah's television show is now called "Oprah", but she does not use Oprah as her only name. When she has been credited in a movie as an actress or a producer, it has always been as Oprah Winfrey.

Angelina Jolie is another famous actress that has had many public issues with her father, Jon Voight. Only in her first movie in 1982, when she was five years old, was Angelina Jolie credited as Angelina Jolie Voight. No one would know who you were talking about if you referred her as "Angelina Voight". It is too late for Lindsay Lohan to drop her last name.

It isn't too late, however, for Lindsay Lohan to turn her life around. And, believe me, I wanted to change my name to my mother's maiden name when I was going through my own "daddy issues". I never did. Once I got married, I took my husband's last name, but I didn't go so far as to drop my father's name even when we stopped speaking in 2002. Lindsay has to realize that she created her reputation, not her father. Did Macaulay Culkin drop his last name when he had issues with his father? No. Instead, he took control of his life and his career. There are plenty of stage parents - whether mothers or fathers - that cause havoc on their children's lives.

Hopefully, Lindsay Lohan isn't playing the blame game with all of her issues. Just because her father has allegedly done many illegal things doesn't mean that all of her problems stem from him. No one really knows the personal relationship that Lindsay has with her father; we just know that it is not a good relationship. Lindsay needs to focus on her individuality over her identity-- They are two completely different things. Once she establishes who she is as an individual will she be able to recreate her identity. People will respect her more once she stops pointing fingers, assumes responsibility and cleans up her act. A name change won't help her career; A life change will.