Lohan shows the goods

By Erin Brodbeck
Collegian Editor
February 27, 2008

It was a debate for the ages: After Lindsay Lohan finally finished a stint in rehab, what would she do first? Star in a lighthearted comedy in the same vein as Mean Girls? Too pedestrian. Make a groundbreaking turnaround as a prostitute/junkie that would garner award nominations? Too cliché. How about stripping naked to pose as her tragic idol, Marilyn Monroe? Ah-ha. Now there’s something no one saw coming.

Everyone’s favorite rehabbed actress made a splash last week when she recreated Monroe’s nude “Final Sitting” in the Feb. 25 issue of New York Magazine. The shoot was modeled after Monroe’s work with photographer Bert Stern in 1962, featuring the icon posing with sheer scarves, jewels and strategically-placed flowers. While Lohan’s version of the spread is mostly tasteful and completely buzz-worthy, bloggers think it’s more than a little disturbing that Lohan cheerfully volunteered to participate in the role-playing when Monroe overdosed six weeks after the original shoot. But to these people, I can’t help but say: Were you really surprised?

It couldn’t have shocked many people that Lindsay “attention whore” Lohan was stoked to participate in the provocative spread. There was nothing out of the ordinary about any of it: the gushing interview where Lohan swore up and down she would never OD like the recently deceased Heath Ledger or Monroe herself; the obligatory cheerleading from Dina Lohan, mother of the year; and the creeped-out reaction of dad Michael Lohan, who refuses to look at the pictures (thank god). However, despite the “duh” reaction many folks had to news of the shoot, there is something somewhat groundbreaking about it, and it doesn’t having anything to do with Lohan’s, um, assests.

According to an article on Forbes.com, NYMag.com got about 40 million hits the day the photos were posted. Everyone from college guys to curious moms were probably checking out Lohan’s goods as soon as they got access to the Net. And why not? The 21-year-old has grown up before our eyes, and now she’s doing the nude shoot everyone saw coming. The au natural photos ended up raking in tons of cash for New York Mag due to the huge amount of online ad revenue it got. People turned to the site to catch a free glimpse of the photos in such large numbers that the sight temporarily crashed at one point. The huge amount of traffic they got that week is a pretty good indicator that the Internet revolution is hard at work.

While magazine revenues are down, the Web is booming. Advertisers are saying goodbye to glossies and hello to HTML. Now that businesses know that people will fly to their keyboards every time there’s some worthwhile information to seek out, they’re going to be turning to Internet advertising instead of print. And with the ever-increasing number of scandal-prone celebs who demand ’round-the-clock media attention, the Web will only become more vital to our voyeuristic society.

brodbecke1@lasalle.edu