Lindsay Lohan heads to jail: Harsh treatment or help at last?
| Los Angeles
The jail door clanks shut Tuesday on 24-year-old actress Lindsay Lohan 鈥� due to start her 90-day sentence for violating probation in a 2007 drug case by failing to attend court-ordered alcohol education classes. As she does, the tabloid paparazzi fall over themselves for the last, best flash shots, the evening fan broadcast shows lurch into overdrive with 鈥淟indsay鈥檚-last-minutes-of-freedom鈥� stories, and even the 鈥渇ilm at 11鈥� local news folks can鈥檛 ignore the story.
Channel 4 Los Angeles spent its first 10 minutes of news on Ms. Lohan, announcing that the "Mean Girls" actress had joked nervously in a that "The only 'bookings' that I'm familiar with are Disney Films, never thought that I'd be 'booking' into jail ... eeeks."
With US troops committed to two wars, an oil spill wreaking economic and environmental devastation on an entire region, and North Korea instantly bankrupting thousands of its own citizens with currency reform, is the attention on Lohan worth anything more than a dismissing glance? Is this just one of many overindulged celebrities who have 鈥渄issed鈥� the law one too many times and need to stop being coddled, or is this a 鈥渢eachable moment鈥� with tangible, real-life lessons for those who dig deep enough?
A bit of both, say sociologists, theologians, behavior specialists, and therapists.
鈥淥f what is Lindsay really guilty?鈥� asks Dr. Ben Agger, director of the Center for Theory at the University of Texas, Arlington's Sociology department.
鈥淲e, her titillated public, are the guilty ones 鈥� we who track her Twitters and consume the latest headlines about her private life lived publicly," he says. Our celebrity and media culture, which values presence and profile over substantive contributions, is at fault, he says.
"We who devour her should be doing the time," he says. "Shame on us! Is there a lesson in all this? In our postmodern moment, the boundary between fame and infamy has nearly vanished.鈥�
Wherever one stands on all the above, the experts seem split on whether courts should be making an example of Lohan or not.
鈥淔or Lindsay Lohan to finally go to jail after having beat it so many times is to reinforce our American values: 'You reap what you sow,' " says author and radio personality Debbie Mandel.
"Helicopter parents" too often smooth things over for their children, even up to dealings with professors and employers, says Ms. Mandell, imprinting undeserved self-esteem. In these cases, "failure can be a potent teaching moment," she says.
鈥淟indsay manipulated the legal system and took advantage of the judge鈥檚 leniency 鈥� she made a mockery of court instructions. She acted out because she wants everyone to see her in the spotlight 鈥� her life has become her movie," says Mandell.
Jail time isn't the right answer for celebrities who act out, says Paul Levinson, a professor of communication and media studies at Fordham University in New York. He says he doesn't think Lohan should necessarily be going to jail.
鈥淲hen you have these stars with personal behavioral problems and prosecute them to the full extent of the law, you are turning jails into some kind of social corrector. What she needs is counseling and psychological help, but there is a tendency in our legal system to make examples out of people.鈥�
Jail time had a positive effect on socialite and reality TV star Paris Hilton, helping her stay mostly out of trouble, and it can be the best thing that ever happened to Lohan, argues Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a prominent author who has advised celebrities including Michael Jackson.
鈥淪adly, we live in an age when parents are failing their children and the culture is failing its constituents, and the only people who are left to be mature adults are judges and police,鈥� says Rabbi Boteach, who was named by Newsweek as one of the 10 most influential rabbis in America.
鈥淲hen it comes to people like Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton 鈥� these are not wicked, evil people,鈥� says Boteach. 鈥淩ather their sins are self-annihilation, and we as a society have to step in and help save them. This judge has been an angel of mercy by sending Lohan to jail. This is a lifesaving mission. She is saving a life.鈥�
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