Good career move, bad career move? I think it just was a career move. Compared to seeing her drunk and half naked in public places, it was great, but then, anything not involving booze or inappropriate clothing malfunctions would be super for her at this point. I agree that with Lindsay it could’ve been more than it was, but that somewhere something lacked and we got what we got. I wasn’t impressed. When you’re going to go up against a shoot like that, with an icon and historical significance like that, you better be ten levels above incredible. She was not.

I think that any project Lohan takes, be it photoshoot, film, tv, will come under fire, no matter what it is. Just because she’s had all the problems she has. That and because her name sells tabloids and magazines. Seeing what she’s screwed up next. If they don’t find anything they nitpick. Like crashing down on Miley Cyrus for not wearing a seat belt in her movie. Seriously. Do they dis Bond when he’s not strapped into his Astin Martin?

Hm. Someone I think could pull off the Marilyn shoot? Christina Aguilera.

The thing that was genius about the Marilyn Monroe shoots is that she was on equal footing with Stein — it was her creativity and her comfort in her sexualized Marilyn role that made the shots so arresting. Part of this might be age and maturity, as Monroe was 36 when she met Stein in that hotel room.

However, LiLo is a 21-year-old who, for all her experience, has never come off as truly mature. This is why she looks so… directed. And I think you agree with me on this point, as you noted earlier that this recent shoot is not as inspired as the original.

Anyway, I think there’s some overlap between our opinions — thanks for the discussion, I love to get intellectual about this kind of frivolous bull.

First off, thanks for the comment.

I am in total agreement that Dina Lohan is a media whore.

But I think you made one of my points…that Lindsey’s inclusion in this project (if you will) gave it some artistic potential (though, not merit), and I wish more of what I was reading about the whole thing reflected that. Maybe my hope is pointless, given our media and what not.

I would say, however, that Lindsey Lohan is a tragic figure. As tragic as Marilyn? God no! But she was a fairly young child star, and I know that’s an easy thing to point to, but she started going the crazy before she was even 18. She did (or maybe still does) have a decent amount of acting talent, Freaky Friday was good for what it was and Mean Girls was flat out solid from top to bottom.

I hope, as you said, that the experience may have been some sort of clue that she’s at lease aware of the path she’s on. I wouldn’t call myself a fan of hers, but it is sad to see someone that young throwing away talent and opportunity that many people would kill for…

I agree with you that the original Bert Stern photos were pretty amazing. And I don’t have a problem with nudity. In art, more nudity, I say.

My reaction to the shoot is that Lindsay is trying to glorify herself to the Monroe level, but she is frankly a weak imitation. Monroe is an icon and a tragic figure (I recommend the book Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates for a true portrait of her background), whereas LiLo is a failed pop star who made a few Disney films before letting fame get the best of her.

Mandy Moore doing the same shoot would have no substance; we wouldn’t even be talking about it. How many actresses have posed as Monroe? It’s basically become a parody without any recognition of what it means to be Monroe.

LiLo doing Monroe, however, has the potential to be something real. It could be evidence of Lindsay’s deep self-awareness that she, too, might be on a path to a similarly tragic fate (and it’s possible that’s what Bert Stern was striving for).

But that’s not the sense I’m getting through the interview with Dina Lohan that I was commenting on yesterday. To me, it smacks of fame-whoring — a way to shock people and have some kind of cultural relevance, now that it’s becoming increasingly clear that she’s box-office poison.