Lindsay Lohan is interviewed in this month’s Vanity Fair. In the interview she’s talking about the early years of her fame and says, “I would look up to those girls… the Britneys and whatever. And I would be like, I want to be like that.” She definitely achieved her goal and worse. In my opinion, her career is one of the greatest disappointments in show biz history. As a father of four, I still feel a mixture of happy and sad emotions when I hear her name. You see, the movie Parent Trap (1998) was one of the great family movies of the last 20 years. I have 4 kids of varying ages, and all 4 have watched it over and over. I remember many nights when my wife and I watched it with them and enjoyed it just as much as they did. Lindsay Lohan was nearly perfect in that movie in every way. I suppose she set expectations too high with that movie, for herself and for her public.
After Parent Trap she went steadily down hill. Lindsay did a few more watchable movies, but her personal life and her career slipped into a waste pool of wild parties, sexual hookups, confused sexual orientation, run-ins with the law, etc. That left me, as a parent, worried about the impact her antics would have, not only on my 3 girls, but on millions more around the world.
I don't mean to judge her personally or say that she is totally to blame. She is, after all, just a confused girl as vulnerable and misdirected as many young girls are these days. It's just that Lindsay was elevated higher than most and given farther to fall. My impression is that her family life was weak and dysfunctional, leaving her alone to face the hooks of Hollywood that were only too helpful in pulling her down to the bottom. When she was selecting her role models, someone should have told her that the “Britneys and whatever” are falling fast themselves and wishing someone had warned them before they'd made the jump.
In the Vanity Fair article, it sounds like she’s beginning to mature and re-think her life. I’ll be praying for her to take the right steps to get back on track. It doesn’t matter if she never does another movie. What matters is that she does grow up finally, and begins to make the right choices in life. I especially hope she’ll choose to give her life to the one who truely does love her, her Heavenly Father above. If she’ll make that choice, she’ll finally have the inner peace and joy that she’s been searching for during her wild ride of a life since Parent Trap.
All of this leads me to make a few suggestions for movies that I’ve found over the years that my girls have thoroughly enjoyed. and I have been excited about the positive influence these movies have had on my girls. I’ll begin with Parent Trap, because I still think it’s a great movie for families to watch together.
2. Akeelah and the Bee (2006) A great encouragement to kids to excell in school.
3. Nancy Drew (2007) This Nancy is smart and she makes being a good girl look cool.
4. Pride And Prejudice (2005) A beautiful movie. It's amazing how even young girls love a good romance.
5. Ever After (1998) Well made, fun Cinderella story. Drew Barrymore at her best.
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