Yet One More Thought on Lindsay Lohan

Okay, yes, I'm going to add my two cents to all the other Lindsay Lohan hype already out there. The girl is an addict. We all know this. Her agents and spin doctors can't hide it anymore and now they can't even try so they don't bother. She's been through rehab and now she's already re-arrested as of 07/23/07 on DUI and possession of cocaine. Lord only knows what else she's pumped into herself. It's a miracle she's still alive.

No wonder the girl is so skinny. That happens when you use more pharmaceuticals and alcohol than food to keep your body going. I doubt she needs anorexia or bulimia to explain the wasting away of her body. Go to any detox center and you'll find the same frail look on just about all of their inhabitants.

She is the newest poster child for substance abuse and how it can mess up your life. We've had these bad example icons before. Lindsay is just the latest one.
Quite honestly I don't understand why she's the 'big thing' right now. We've been through this so many times before. How soon we forget. Marilyn Monroe stands out as the quintessential example in 'recent' history and then there was Morton Downey Jr. just a decade or so ago along with Drew Barrymore after that and her revolving door rehab before it finally took. But I know most members of Ms. Lohan's peerage probably have no clue about most of that business. Of late, we have her associate Britney Spears, who has gone through similar problems and with children in tow to boot. And, of course there's the whole Paris Hilton jail fiasco. Why is Lindsay such a big deal now? We've seen all this before, folks.

I suppose the answer lies in the same reason that we go to remakes of old movies. The paparazzi and celebrity news media(I don't want to lump all media types together here, despite the fact that most major networks and large newspapers have gotten just as bad as the tabloids) among others are constantly looking for the newest and the latest. And we eat it up. We want new. We want now. In a culture full of sound bites and instant gratification, we seem to crave anything current, even if it's just a new wrapper on an old package.

Work places thrive on this kind of trivial tripe. You can't escape it. It's literally everywhere. Especially in an age of portable media.

I find it all quite boring and tedious myself. I've learned my lessons about the pitfalls of stardom and the drawbacks of substance abuse. I've seen what happens. Over. And over. And over again. I suppose I can understand the fascination of the younger generations who haven't witnessed as much of this as I have, but what excuse do others my age and older have? Because it's not just adolescents and those in their early twenties gobbling this crap up. I've seen grandmas purchase tabloids or hear them gossip over the latest Hollywood foible.

I suppose we find it amusing. For the masses who will never see the kind of money and attention that these stars obtain, it can feel good to know that glamour and wads of cash don't mean you're better than anyone else. We feel better about ourselves as these 'great people' fall from grace. Which is a shame. Because as soon as you feel better about yourself at someone else's expense, you're really no better than they are at all.

Over all I just find it very sad. She really is a beautiful young woman and she's killing herself with her destructive habits. I think the worst part of all is that she is still eligible to work in her business. All this publicity ensures that she is still in a very bright spotlight and therefore will practically guarantee box office draw. There's no such thing as bad press.

Even more sadly, we have not found a way to change any of this. You'd think that with all our other modern advances we would have figured out a way to reduce such excess. From her stupid exploits to our stupid fascination with her. But I guess we're stuck with it.

Like it or not.