Friday, May 27, 2005

Lindsay, Please, Eat!

We're big on Lindsay Lohan at our house. I, of course, being the celebrity gossip monger you all know and love, am all over the Lindsay/Paris/Nicole/Tara scene (yes I am aware that Paris no longer hangs with Nicole, but they still occupy the same category in the popular imagination, not to mention my life).

Much more importantly, however, the whole family shares a great affection for Lindsay's movies, in particular Freaky Friday and The Parent Trap (yes, we know, they're remakes, but Lindsay's Freaky Friday is, sorry, better than Jody's, and we've watched the original Parent Trap just as many times as the remake, and we like them both, so there) (and, no, I have not let them see Mean Girls, which frankly did not do much for me).

Let's face it, folks, Lindsay can act. Twins brought up in London and California? Channeling Jamie Leigh Curtis? She has talent. And as importantly, for this feminist mom, those movies, at least, are truly GIRL-friendly. By this I mean, that they are about empowering girls and they are appropriate for girls. (At this point I will not digress into Hilary Duff, but I could.)

(OK, brief Hilary Duff digression: The Lizzie Maguire Movie--surprisingly girl-friendly, especially at the end where the two girls, both played by Hilary, gang up on the boy who has scammed them both and Lizzie ends up singing a rocking solo on the stage where she was supposed to duet with said lame boy; A Cinderella Story--oh god, just shoot me and send me to recuperate at the rest home for obsolete feminist moms; Raise Your Voice--eh, I'd rather watch Fame, and what's with the sick brother/sister videocam thing?).

But this is about Lindsay. To recap: Lindsay can act, and Lindsay makes girl-friendly movies. In other words, Lindsay makes life a little easier for the feminist mom forced to endure her daughter's taste in pre-teen chick flicks, even if said mom is fully aware of real-life Lindsay's bad girl antics.

But now, Lindsay, we have a problem. For the final thing in Lindsay's favor was always her body. Which is to say, the fact that she actually had a body. Flesh. Round cheeks, legs, a butt, even some belly. This is good, people, we like this, those of us who want positive role models for young girls.

Now, however, Lindsay seems to be on a campaign to eliminate as much of her body as possible. She's a stick. I've tried to find a direct link to the picture of her in the red dress, but this is all I could come up with (scroll down). She looks terrible--and at least 15 years older than she really is.

OK, now I feel like I am about to get into logical difficulties, because the fact is that real-life Lindsay is a terrible role model for young girls, and I seem not to care about that. Why? Because young girls, at least my young girls, have no idea about real-life Lindsay's real life (for that matter, I have no real idea about her real life). But they do see pictures of her plastered across the checkout counter. And I still cling to the fantasy that...well, what AM I clinging to? The idea that Lindsay gives a shit what my daughters think of her? I know better than that. The idea that a movie star might actually be able to resist Hollywood's anorexic hegemony? Perhaps. The idea that pop culture has feminist possibilities? Yeah, maybe. The idea that I can continue to protect my daughters from the contagion of negative body image and eating disorders? Definitely.

I don't know...basically I just want Lindsay to have a nice big ice cream sundae, relax, and go make some more movies that my kids and I can both enjoy.

5 comments:

Libby said...

My daughter's a little too old for most of the Lindsay movies, but we did see Mean Girls together and it had some of the qualities you're talking about in the others, I thought. (Though the kumbaya ending was hardly believable...)

In Mean Girls she had brown hair, too, which I think looks way better than the overbleached look she's got going now. Along with the too-skinny body, you're right, she looks 15 years older. Blecch.

Have you seen Ever After with your girls? Again, Drew Barrymore--not such a great role model in real life. But as Danielle in Ever After, not bad at all! And also not a stick...

thatgirl said...

I used to have this friend (well, I still do, but ya know) who was, it seemed to me, five years ahead of me on everything. Life milestones, intellectual revelations, etc. When she was going through them herself it was inconceivable to me and my life, but sure enough, five years later there I was. Our paths have since diverged but I'm starting to feel like you're the new five-years-ahead me. And this has nothing to do with age -- the other friend is three days older than me.

I loved, loved, loved Freaky Friday too -- so much so that I gush about it to folks who DON'T CARE ANYWAY that it's really far better than you'd expect it to be. Which confuses them because they didn't expect it to be bad.

Meagan Francis said...

I am really disappointed in Lindsay's new "look"--the scary bleached-blonde hair which appears to be thinning, the overdone makeup which does not suit her coloring or looks--and of course, the scary weight loss. I don't know what kind of ideal she's trying to hold herself up to--hopefully not Paris "Stupid Spoiled Whore" Hilton (see that South Park episode?), I really would have thought Linsday would have better taste, but then again, what do I know--I certainly had horrible taste when I was 18. I guess it's unreasonable of me to expect more from her than what her age will allow, even though I did love her in Mean Girls.

Anonymous said...

Wow. She looks appalling. I had no idea.

Btw I also thought Mean Girls was very good, for a teen flick. Perhaps just a bit too old for your girls?

Anonymous said...

Ever After is a much better movie to watch with my girls, 3 of them....aged 9 to 17! We watched Mean Girls. I thought it was funny. My teenagers hated it. They tolerated Lindsay right up to Freaky Friday. We all loved it. I made them go see the "Drama Queen" movie and they hated it. And they do take notice of a someones lifestyle, choices, and public image. That is what turned them away from Lindsay movies. It's sad really and at times I feel sorry for Lindsey, even though she probably wouldn't want me to. Because if that were my daughter choosing to go out drinking all the time and becoming so thin, I would be freaking out. But her mother seems to endorse it. So that's Hollywood for you. Typical!