I Am Celebrity, Hear Me Roar

Susan Estrich on Lindsay Lohen:

"The prosecutor should throw the book at her. She had every advantage, and she blew it. Her life was most girls’ dream come true, and she took it for granted, abused her status, turned her fame into a license to ignore the rules and live above the law. She is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but she also deserves to be charged with every possible crime, and given the maximum penalty when she is found guilty.

"I have no compassion for Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton or Britney Spears or Kate Moss. I don’t care how many other people get away with driving under the influence or possessing cocaine or falling off the wagon. We may not be able to afford to imprison everyone who “just” drives drunk a few times and carries cocaine in her pocket, but we can afford to lock up Lindsay. Live by the sword and die by the sword.

"Compassion in this town is a business decision, not a personal one. Forgiveness is a calculation of future profits, not real remorse. If the powers that are, the agents, executives, producers and advertisers, were to decide that casting Lohan would spell doom for their projects, that putting Kate Moss on your cover means people won’t buy it, that Paris Hilton can no longer carry a show, then guess what would happen?

"Now that would be a message worth sending. It might even save some lives."

I really cannot argue with Estrich. I'm struck by the irresponsibility of the rich and the famous that puts other lives in peril and also by other people who are not so blessed by talent, fame, and wealth. But it is more than a lack of responsibility. It is the dogma that they cannot act responsibility, that their actions are the remorseless result of forces beynd their control-- "sickness". "genes", "early family dynamics", and more mystically and no less fallaciously the "stars" or the "permissive will of God." These are all lies that people use to absolve them of personal responsibility and even the capacity to make any moral choice. If they are drunk, they chose to be drunk, and our legal system correctly renders the judgement that they make that choice that led to that behavior.

As Estrich notes, however, there is also a broader context. Hollywood needs to understand that it is a force of tremendous influence, that it creates products that shapes thoughts and thus behavior. I recently read that Disney has finally agreed to not allow actors to smoke in its movies. That's about time, and I hope this kind of self-censorship will spread to other companies and media, especially the interent and music. But since these kind of decisions are driven by the bottom line, I somehow doubt that they will.