LITTLE ROCK — During a two-hour layover in the Atlanta airport last week, the TV in the noisy chain restaurant in Terminal D announced that it had “breaking news.” Lindsay Lohan would be going to jail. Lindsay Lohan had arrived at jail. Lindsay Lohan was seen entering jail.
Marc and I looked at each other and shrugged.I shook my head dismissively. “Who cares?” we all but said to each other. As the footage of a stylish Lohan arriving to serve her time played over and over, it became apparent that lots of people cared. By the end of our lunch, the only changes in the repetitive format were those that allowed “expert commentary.”
Meanwhile, a single soldier in desert camouflage was seated a few tables away. He was one of at least a dozen servicemen or women we’d seen traveling that day. Like the others, he was alone. I looked at the TV recap to my left and saw Lohan, surrounded by her entourage, looking worried, pouty and pretty. To my right was the soldier, sitting by himself, looking tired, tough and hungry.
On the day we traveled, a busy American checking thenews would have been bombarded by coverage of the troubled, famously addicted starlet being held somewhat accountable for her troubled, famously addictive behavior. Without more effort, that’s all a quick check of TV news would have shown.
The next day, after reading the A section of this newspaper, I discovered that, in fact, other events had occurredthat day. Unemployment benefits that will affect 2.5 million Americans were extended, but not without much debate. The latest results from tests around the BP oil well cap suggested progress. In Britain, the former head of the MI5 domestic intelligence agency gave her frank opinion on how the war in Iraq affected the conflict in Afghanistan during her tenure.
But none of these stories was considered breaking news on any of the televisions we saw. Nor, if I remember correctly, did they make the captions rolling across the bottom of the Lohan screen. It takes work to be well-informed, I told Marc. He agreed, adding something about the popularity of work.
If I had to guess, I’d say that at least 85 percent of American adults are aware of who Lindsay Lohan is and that she’s going to jail. I’d also guess that maybe 15 percent of American adults can locate Helmand province on the map. Even fewer understand why the rural communities ofMarjah, the site of the largest counteroffensive of the Afghan war since 2001, are considered strategic.
Given the amount of time we spend idolizing celebrities, I agree that it’s important to follow Lohan to jail. There’s a message there, something along the lines of “even if you’re famous and rich you can be held accountable - eventually, sort of.” The idea that fame, fortune and beauty don’t entitle you to ignore the law needs to be heard, especially by the young. But, thereare limits - or there should be.
If not for the soldier a few tables away, the slavering coverage of Lohan might have been merely ridiculous. His quiet presence changed that, anchoring the moment as though he were offering expert commentary. It isn’t just silly to devote hours to coverage of Lohan, it’s an affront to our intelligence. It’s not just a waste of air time, it’s an insult to real news, to anyone covering it, and to anyone making it - our troops, theunemployed, families along the Gulf of Mexico.
We’ll always be fascinated by celebrities, we always have been. We also have choices. Lindsay Lohan made her choice and so did the young man seated near us. Last week, it was clear who gets our attention.
Write to Jennifer Hansen at Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 7, Springdale, Ark. 72765. Email her at
Family, Pages 33 on 07/28/2010