Over Marilyn’s Dead Body: Lindsay Lohan Cheapens Icon
Above is a photo of Lindsay Lohan’s best Marilyn Monroe impression for a shoot she did for New York Magazine. The shoot, was a tribute to the famous last professional photos taken of Monroe six weeks before her death in 1962 by photographer Bert Stern.
Maybe it’s the pose, the tat, or the weathered, but not necessarily worn look on Lindsay, but these photos made me feel kind of nauseous. I can’t believe Bert would agree to such a thing.
Generally speaking, I try to not give Lindsay Lohan too hard of a time. She’s young (21), her parents are total farking deadbeats (especially her pimp-whore of a mother), she has addictions, she’s surrounded by users, the list goes on. But I draw the line at her defiling the memory of Marilyn Monroe. Some icons deserve more reverence than others, and as far as I am concern, Marilyn Monroe deserves to never have the dishonor of being mimicked, and certainly not by the likes of someone as young and immature as Lindsay Lohan.
A person would have had to have lived a few more years, survived a few more broken hearts and grown into what I like to call an “adult” in order to capture not only the inimitable outer beauty of Marilyn Monroe, but also her vulnerable, unique and ethereal inner beauty as well. Lindsay Lohan, however talented she may be, just doesn’t cut the mustard. Plus it doesn’t help that we’ve become used to seeing Lindsay is such dignified poses such as this one below, so that it makes it hard to transition to the top photo.
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I think your critique of Lindsay Lohan is misguided if not too harsh. No, she is not Marilyn Monroe and no she may not fully comprehend or hold in the same category Marilyn’s memory. However, if naivety is her greatest fault with the photoshoot perhaps the criticism should first be pointed at the person looking to recreate it in the first place, the photographer. From the interviews done it doesn’t sound as though Lindsay was looking to in any way tarnish the memory of Marilyn Monroe and while we all respect Marilyn memory for the talent and beauty she gave us in her lifetime she was far from angelic herself.
Comment by wendy — February 18, 2008 @ 7:15 pm
i agree, lohan just looks gross in that wig.
she looks like a cow as well.
this is more like a parody than a tribute to the icon.
can’t believe the original photographer would agree to the shoot.
Comment by sam — February 18, 2008 @ 7:17 pm
Meh. It’s okay.
I don’t think Lindsay is as fugly as some would like to make her out to be…but that’s when she’s working with what her natural beauty is, not trying to recreate poses and a look that just isn’t “her”. Marilyn had her own, special sort of beauty, Lindsay has hers, and never the twain shall meet.
I read an interview where the photographer said that Lindsay and Marilyn share some things in common, mostly the tendency to choose bad movies that shortchange their abilities and the ability to use the press. Maybe that’s the parallel he was trying to draw, I don’t know. It fell short, in any case. Lindsay is a pretty girl, but she’s no Marilyn. Of course, there is also the obvious parallel that both women were very self-destructive with their lives, relationships, and drug/alcohol use.
Oh…did you know her 13-year-old sister Ali was watching the shoot? Way to set a good example as a big sis. “Now watch closely, Ali, and you’ll learn just how to position your tatas so that the nipples show tastefully but not vulgarly. And if you cross your legs just so, nobody can see your coochie. See, if I lay like this, you can see my lady parts, but if I cross my legs so, you can’t. Are you taking notes, Ali?”
Comment by k — February 18, 2008 @ 7:39 pm
Wendy: I agree with you that Marilyn Monroe was not purely angelic.
However, Monroe was never trashy, and most of her lapses in morality were in private and were not carried out in the public eye.
In contrast, these Lohan and Paris Hilton types are happy to act out in public or on video (e.g., Hilton’s sex tape) which they know will get distributed on You Tube or wind up in tabloids. Today’s entertainers have no shame or intelligence.
Marlene Dietrich, another movie star from the past, lived a very tawdry private life, but she was careful to keep it just that: private.
Dietrich didn’t show up in public sans panties, stumbling drunk on sidewalks and in clubs, nor did she stick her tongue down another guy’s throat while out in public. You can’t say the same for Lohan, Britney Spears, or Paris Hilton.
Check out the link in my post - it’s a page defending Marilyn Monroe from charges that she’s nothing but a bimbo and so forth.
Comment by Snowfall — February 18, 2008 @ 7:43 pm
Oh, agreed, Snowfall…Marilyn was so much more than the public at large ever gave her credit for. I’ve been fascinated with her ever since I found out we share a birthday, and I’ve tried to learn as much as I can about her.
Comment by k — February 18, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
My God. Is she kidding? She looks gross. She looks like a duck trying to imitate a swan. If somebody is going to immitate Marilyn, throw Charlize Theron or Scarlett Johansson in there. Lindsay Lohan???? Nasty.
Comment by Angela — February 18, 2008 @ 8:24 pm
Icon? Really? Defiling the memory of Marilyn Monroe?
I suppose if Lohan had an addiction to prescription drugs rather than coke, and maybe if she had slept with nearly an entire political family she would have been more worthy to don the platinum blond wig?
I don’t believe for an instant that celebrities are any more fucked up today than the were back in Marilyn’s day. The only difference is in how much evidence of just how fucked up they are makes it to the public.
And Lohan was way hotter when she was a red-head. God I love read-heads.
Comment by Anonymous — February 18, 2008 @ 8:48 pm
For some reason the quote by Jonathan Swift about “you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear” comes to mind.
Comment by crazymom — February 18, 2008 @ 10:38 pm
I think Lindsay is very pretty, truly. The blond wig, as someone mentioned, kills her appearance. Not everyone looks good as a blond. I don’t blame Lindsay only, I even say I can’t believe Stern would agree to do this, but she should have known the comparisons wouldn’t be flattering.
As for red-heads (or read-heads) I couldn’t agree more, but that’s because I am red-head and therefore biased
Comment by d — February 18, 2008 @ 10:47 pm
Well, #7 anonymous, let me ask you this: I can’t say as I disagree with your points. Celebs back in the day were definitely messed up, some even more so than the current batch of messed-up stars of today.
But what has Lindsay done in her life to cement her name in the annals of celebritydom? Yeah, Marilyn was definitely messed up in the head. But through her body of work (no pun intended) she earned her place. Lindsay has yet to show anything other than her nethers and her penchant for making really bad movies. And to try and compare Lindsay to Marilyn is just tacky.
Lindsay needs to be Lindsay, and make her own name.
I remember red hair. Well, reddish-brown. Then I had kids, the white hair started to show, the rest is history.
Comment by k — February 18, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
Bah, damn typo. But all else aside it’s a truly horrific set of photos. I’m more annoyed by the fact that Lohan’s first genuine nudie shots are equivalent in quality to high-school year book photos.
I’ve been robbed of my erection, and that is unforgivable.
Comment by Anonymous — February 18, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
lol!
Comment by k — February 18, 2008 @ 11:13 pm
Are you joking k? Haven’t you seen Mean Girls, or Herbie Fully Loaded… alright, you win. But she’s still hot.
Comment by Anonymous — February 18, 2008 @ 11:14 pm
You know, there are many people who think Lindsay is ugly (I’m not one of them), but at least she is a refreshing change from the emaciated twig-like figures many actresses sport today.
Plus, Marilyn was in her late thirties when those photos were taken, while Lindsay is only 21. I don’t know if that is good for Marilyn or bad for Lindsay or both. Lindsay looks like she’s seen too much, too young.
Comment by k — February 19, 2008 @ 1:58 am
absolutely agree with the article, and my initial first reaction was laughter ….
she looks absolutely ridiculous !!!
hilarious in fact !!!….very over-rated …..
AND not only dis-respecrful , but an utter defilement of the great marilyn …
copping marilyn’s identity …gimme a break ! …
i bet a mill’ he regrets doing this shoot ……
her ego must be the size of manhattan …she is UGLY …..
Comment by marty — February 19, 2008 @ 5:12 am
I couldn’t believe it when I saw those photos as well. I don’t have anything against Lindsay Lohan but as you have very eloquently put, it doesn’t seem right her trying to portray such an iconic lady. And, just to be plain shallow here, Marilyn looked a million times better in those photos than Lindsay.
Comment by Annie — February 19, 2008 @ 8:28 am
This isn’t the first time some “actress” or model has tried to copy dear departed Norma Jean.
It almost seems like the norm — everybody wants to be Marilyn. Everybody’s ALWAYS wanted to be Marilyn — from any post-Marilyn 1960s bottle blonde to today. From Debbie Harry to Madonna to Anna Nicole Smith to Nicole Kidman, Christina Aguliera, Gwen Stefani, and even Paris Hilton (ugh) the list goes on and on.
They want the persona, they want to be the icon. They should also know better — what Marilyn projected on film was because of who/what she was INSIDE. For all these starlets and models, no amount of makeup, lighting or (lack of) clothing will do that. They might be able to capture the superficial “look” but they will never get close to the true essence of the woman that was Marilyn Monroe.
Comment by crazymom — February 19, 2008 @ 8:52 am
Good heavens. I just got a real good look at the photos (follow the link above) and Lindsay looks like death reheated.
She not only doesn’t make a good Marilyn, in these photos she doesn’t even make a good Lindsay.
Comment by k — February 19, 2008 @ 10:32 am
I agree k. The photos of her small sized aren’t too bad. A little larger and closer, well….she looks too phony. Not at all flattering. The bad wig, the freckles, the tatoos, somehow just doesn’t seem “right”. Trying to be Marilyn is not a good idea for her.
Comment by D-Bomb — February 19, 2008 @ 4:31 pm