Celebrity meltdowns.
We've seen a few over the years. It's certainly not new to show business. There are still people speculating about Marilyn Monroe forty-eight years after her death.
Today's high-profile train wrecks seem much more public, and uglier. We've seen and heard some fairly unseemly details about celebrity high-life in recent years. From inside the bizarre and tragic life of Michael Jackson to the jaw-dropping insight into the mind of Mel Gibson. I find it interesting how we can still be surprised at the goings-on in the world of privileged VIPs in a post O.J. Simpson world.
The latest (and soon to be longest-running) showcase of celebrity excess is Lindsay Lohan. This kid (and she is still a kid) is a mess. The 24 year-old actress is so out of touch with reality that she is completely convinced that she is above everyone including the law. Her tearful appearance in a Beverly Hills courthouse yesterday was sad. Not because of her 90 day jail sentence, or the additional 90 days of rehab, but rather her immutable conviction that she is being unjustly punished.
For those of you keeping track at home, Lohan's jail sentence was the result of a 2007 DUI conviction and subsequent probation, an alleged failure to comply with an order to remain sober and failing to report to drug and alcohol rehab. In addition to her drinking, Lohan is apparently living on a cocktail of prescription drugs, including Zoloft, Trazadone (for depression), Nexium (heartburn) and Dilaudid (a very powerful painkiller, apparently for 'dental discomfort').
It's fair to say that without some intervention you can pretty much see where this is going.
Of course Lohan has no shortage of enablers. Her mom has frequently defended her daughter, but seems to turn a blind eye to the growing stack of convictions. Then there is Lohan's entourage who are really just along for the high-profile free ride, and let's not forget her physicians who are handing out prescriptions like candy at Halloween. Her own father is such a celebrity whore he barely deserves mentioning.
So who cares, right? There's nothing new here. Celebrities have it easy. They are rich, pampered, spoiled and out of touch with the rest of the world. There are more than enough people on this planet who know a thing or two about real suffering so go ahead, crash and burn, serves you right.
I think there are several things to learn from Lohan's situation. The obvious lesson being that success, notoriety and wealth are clearly not the formula for health and happiness. Beyond this, there is a disturbing level of compliance among her peers, advisors and family who seem more than willing to look the other way when a person's life is going off the rails as long as the money train keeps chugging along. The media sharks are also circling, finding every possible angle to exploit hoping to unearth an exclusive and lucrative story.
All manner of people are lining up to find some way to profit from this situation, which I find bothersome.
Have we become so jealous of celebrity and wealth that we forget that this is a real person?
I don't doubt that should she decide to get her life back together, Lohan will have access to the best and highest-priced therapy, but then it really has nothing to do with money. Or does it?
Perhaps we too have become enablers because we allow fame and fortune to determine a person's value rather than their humanity. Witnessing someone crash and burn should be considered tragic, regardless of their perceived social status, but somehow when it comes to celebrity it's considered a form of entertainment.
To think that a person is less deserving of sympathy because of their success is not much different than celebrities who think they are above everyone else.
When it comes to life, there is no amount of earthly fortune that can preserve it, or prolong it, as effectively as the choices we make. One would hope those choices are based on humility and compassion in much the same way as how we view others.
Otherwise, who is the better person here?
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