Is it good for Lindsay Lohan to get punished?
The newspapers everywhere report that Lindsay Lohan was sentenced by a California judge to 90 days in prison for breaking the terms of her probation. Photos of her tearful breakdown now appear on internet sites all over the world.
Apparently, few feel sorry for the beautiful, rich, and talented young woman and most people behave like rubber-neckers pausing to stare at a major car wreck on the opposite side of the freeway. And what a glorious wreck she is: a cross between a Greek tragedy and an Italian opera.
But beyond the sensationalist headlines, one wonders if the attraction to Lohan is because she represents a bit of everyone, though in highly caricatured form. We see the sense of entitlement, privilege, the wounded princess, the need to feel special. This stuff gets everyone into so much trouble.
There used to be a TV ad for a popular men's aftershave in which a pretty young thing responds to some Joe's bid for her by smacking him across the face in a loud satisfying clap. His faux grateful, but winning response was "Thanks! I needed that!"
The ad caught on, because we crave sometimes being put in our place. It helps get a realistic perspective on ourselves, our strengths and abilities. Everyone needs to come at the world from an angle or a place.
Obviously, there are people with outsized talent and gifts. I don't know about you, but Lindsay Lohan on a bad day still looks a lot different than most of the people walking the streets around my part of the country. It's inevitable and understandable that someone like her, who commands enormous attention, may feel entitled. Nevertheless, despite mega-talent and abilities, the world will not "work" for her unless she has a "place" that is integrated with both who she is and what she has to offer and the rest of the world. This must be a concern for her as it is being said in some quarters that Lohan's career is in jeopardy.
Fox News reports that Lindsay's party train of denial is over, her employability over the next five years is impossible. She can't get insurance, she is too much of liability. Even if her best friend wanted to make a movie with her, it just couldn't happen," said longtime Hollywood publicist Michael Levine. "Does that mean its over for good? Ask Robert Downey Jr. Of course she can come back. But the question is, will producers and the public be bothered with her by then?"
Lohan is also slated to play the part of Linda Lovelace in the biopic "Inferno," but according to Levine, securing a completion bond will now be an incredibly difficult task for the filmmakers. Just last week the actress, who turned 24 on Friday and celebrated with cigarettes and Red Bull at Hollywood hotspot The Colony. She was reportedly fired from the upcoming film "The Other Side," after its investors considered her ever-declining public profile.
Lohan is concerned about how jail time will affect her career. While she in jail, she would do well to consider investing time and effort to find out who she really is. She might want to consider psychotherapy. A good psychotherapeutic treatment will allow her to see her own reflection within a context of warmth and compassion. This is something we all can make use of.
