6 Things We Hope to Learn From Lindsay Lohan’s OWN Documentary

Lindsay Lohan was the first child star that people of my generation – the late ’80s born who are too often called ’90s kids’ – got to watch self-destruct. I say “got to” because of the predominant culture of finding celebrity downfalls entertaining.

She was a notable member of the children’s movie world of the late ’90s, then totally killed it in Mean Girls as a young woman. Then she started to noticeably slip, bringing the public on a bumpy ride of law trouble and Made-For-TV biopics.

A lot remains unknown about what went on–or is going on with–with Lindsay. What drove her to the behavior she’s shown in the last few years?

OWN hopes to uncover some of that with a multiple-part interview between Lohan and Oprah herself.

I think a major reason why people get so fascinated with celebrity gossip and get to the point where they find bad news and suffering exciting is because they forget these celebrities are people. They idolize the famous so much that in their mind celebrities become mythic, so mythic that–in the mind of the average celebrity news hound–they are no longer humans to be empathized with, but rather a source of entertainment and drama. They forget that the Lohans and Kardashians are real people with internal lives, and focus on turning their lives into entertainment.

Hopefully this interview will serve as a way to rehumanize Lohan.

What kind of insight into Lindsay do we hope to see in the Oprah/Lohan interview?

1. How ya doin’?

Oprah is a talented interviewer, and she should be able to get a lot of interesting stuff out of Lindsay. One of the things we should want to know most is the simple question of how her life is going right now and how she feels about it. She’s been through a lot, and I hate to say it but The Canyons is going to be an embarrassment to her. The trailer already is… so what’s going on inside her head?

2. Speaking of which, what’s the deal with The Canyons?

It’s produced by a somewhat dream team: Director Paul Schrader and writer Bret Easton Ellis, starring Lindsay and hilariously likable porn star James Deen. Why is it almost as awkward as The Room? Behind-the-scenes stories of movies have always interested me, and this set would probably be fascinating. 

3. What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made?

This would be an interesting question for anyone to answer, but I want to know what Lohan regrets most. Is it her first journies into narcotics, or Herbie Fully Loaded?

4. How does it feel to have your mistakes be so public?

The average person doesn’t have to deal with the same scrutiny as Lohan, so some  insight into the incomprehensible lack of privacy would be interesting

5. How bad was Mean Girls 2 – am I right?

I bet you’re glad you had nothing to do with that…

But Lindsay, remember when you were in one of the greatest comedies of the last decade?

What happened? You’re on the verge of disappointing Tina Fey who remembers you being “beautiful [and] healthy” during shooting, and no one wants to disappoint Tina Fey.

6. Will your “currently untitled docuseries [chronicling] the young starlet’s effort to rebuild her career and stay healthy” keep you in line or pull you out of it?

You know how attention and fame affects you, how will full on reality stardom affect you?

The OWN documentary should be enlightening.

There is a lot to learn about the enigmatically fallen actress, but how much do we want to know? When dealing with suffering celebrities, we must remember that they are people. Fame isn’t magic, they’re just as lost as the rest of us.