Bad Girls
So by now you've probably heard the news, Ms. Lohan is arrested for DUI and they say cocaine was found in her crashed up vehicle. Not many people are surprised that yet another young superstar has gone the way of driving while intoxicated - putting others and themselves at serious risk. Ms. Hilton will be heading to prison soon to pay for her crime and Ms. Richie is up for her hearing soon - for those of you who forgot - she was arrested after driving the WRONG way on the freeway! Now it'd be too easy to just continue to dump on privileged and famous young women who no doubt have become more famous from all the dumping by the media that they endure. I'd rather like to introduce something into the argument that we don't often hear being covered on news outlets or gossip rags, quite frankly because it's not a good sound bite - and that my friends is compassion.
Now I say compassion and not forgiveness. I say compassion and not understanding. What these women have done by putting innocent lives at risk by driving while intoxicated is inexcusable. What I want to look at is how we as a society and a media treat young women in the media - building them up to tear them down, discussing every angle of their sexual exploits, many before they are even 18 years old. We put teenagers on the covers of magazines wearing nothing but a forced, rehearsed smile -- an immitation of what they believe to be a 'sexy woman'. We discuss their bodies as though they are common property and really any of our business. We count their calories and watch for when their thighs touch and then we criticize them until starvation. We are engaged in their demonic struggles with substance abuse - we love to see the pictures of them partying - buying up the photos of their trashed Saturday nights - disregarding that most of them are underage when we start to see them fuzzy headed and smiling pretty in the paparazzi photos.
We have an incredibly unhealthy relatinoship with celebrtiy in this culture and particularly young female celebrtiies. We can judge them all we want - but replace their photos and stories with the stories of another 19 year old in your life. Or a 22 year old. Or a 17 year old. See if you can recall those years of your life and how the person you were (or are) might react to the pressures placed upon you not juts by one or two people but by millions.
I live working one foot in Hollywood and one foot in the heartland of America. I know and have worked with some of the young women we read about in gossip magazines. I am just as confused nad conflicted by my love/hate relaitonship with celebrity. This weekend, watching another young women, clearing battling a drug/alchohol addiction in public get to the point where she is self-destructing and again endangering the lives of people in my community - just makes me heartbroken. When we do we stop short of supporting juicy headlines in favor of reaching out and helping a life? Lindsay Lohan will be 21 in July. Many would say she is old enough to live with her consequences. But let's not forget for one second that she is just like us. Minus the privilege and money - she is a young woman clearly lost and searching, sad and addicted, out of control and most likely praying for someone to help her.
Compassion not redemption. Compassion not allowance. Compassion not criticism.
Think about it.
Now I say compassion and not forgiveness. I say compassion and not understanding. What these women have done by putting innocent lives at risk by driving while intoxicated is inexcusable. What I want to look at is how we as a society and a media treat young women in the media - building them up to tear them down, discussing every angle of their sexual exploits, many before they are even 18 years old. We put teenagers on the covers of magazines wearing nothing but a forced, rehearsed smile -- an immitation of what they believe to be a 'sexy woman'. We discuss their bodies as though they are common property and really any of our business. We count their calories and watch for when their thighs touch and then we criticize them until starvation. We are engaged in their demonic struggles with substance abuse - we love to see the pictures of them partying - buying up the photos of their trashed Saturday nights - disregarding that most of them are underage when we start to see them fuzzy headed and smiling pretty in the paparazzi photos.
We have an incredibly unhealthy relatinoship with celebrtiy in this culture and particularly young female celebrtiies. We can judge them all we want - but replace their photos and stories with the stories of another 19 year old in your life. Or a 22 year old. Or a 17 year old. See if you can recall those years of your life and how the person you were (or are) might react to the pressures placed upon you not juts by one or two people but by millions.
I live working one foot in Hollywood and one foot in the heartland of America. I know and have worked with some of the young women we read about in gossip magazines. I am just as confused nad conflicted by my love/hate relaitonship with celebrity. This weekend, watching another young women, clearing battling a drug/alchohol addiction in public get to the point where she is self-destructing and again endangering the lives of people in my community - just makes me heartbroken. When we do we stop short of supporting juicy headlines in favor of reaching out and helping a life? Lindsay Lohan will be 21 in July. Many would say she is old enough to live with her consequences. But let's not forget for one second that she is just like us. Minus the privilege and money - she is a young woman clearly lost and searching, sad and addicted, out of control and most likely praying for someone to help her.
Compassion not redemption. Compassion not allowance. Compassion not criticism.
Think about it.
posted by Jess at 9:04 PM
8 comments
