Psychiatrist: We've Raised a Generation of Narcissistic, Entitled Monsters
And, Completely Unrelated, What It's Like When You Cast Lindsey Lohan In a Movie

As JohnE. says of the Lohan article, it's long but interesting, in a "Will it never end" sort of way.

If you want the short version: She's late a whole heck of a lot and often calls in sick for no good reason, except that she's hungover and exhausted from partying all night with Lady Gaga. Or, as she calls it, "an ear infection."

The writer (whose presence on-set was objected to by Lohan, because she... uh, Lohan knew she'd wind up writing the story for the writer by behaving badly) goes out of her way to keep saying things along the lines of "Well this is the upside of Lindsey Lohan -- she's just a tremendous actress when she nails it."

Really? When has this been, since The Parent Trap? (The hottest movie of 1992, I always say.)

One anecdote is about them attempting to film, without a license, at a mall. Filming without a license is cheap -- you don't have to pay anyone for the right -- but if security sees you doing it they will demand you stop and call the cops if you don't. So this entire scene, shot on the sly, required a low profile.

Over at the mall, Schrader paced nervously. “We need to get three shots, and we’re not going to get a second chance.” He was worried about attracting the attention of mall security. An hour later [late -- ace], Lohan arrived in her black Porsche trailed by four or five paparazzi. Schrader threw up his hands and said, “That’s it.”

Lohan told him, politely, to shut up.

“Paul, we can do this.”

She climbed out of her car and turned to the photographers.

“I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll give you a good shot, but then you have to go.” Lohan turned to her good side and hiked her floor-length skirt up to show a little leg.

“O.K., five, four, three, two, one. Now you have to go.”

The photographers backed away. Lohan walked into the mall, and Schrader started shooting. But they were quickly apprehended by the matronly head of mall security.

“You have to stop.”

Lohan flashed an innocent smile.

“He’s just taking stills. I promise.”

The matron snorted.

“You were wearing the same outfit when you were filming upstairs at Sonoma Wine Garden last week. You have to stop.”

It was over. Defeated, Schrader headed back to the hotel. Lohan walked to her Porsche. G

...

“I lost a bunch in traffic on the way over to Loews. Then when I got to the Loews, there were more, and it was completely different cars, it was X17 and Splash,” Lohan said, speaking rapidly. The paparazzi chase had animated her in a way I hadn’t seen before. “They were already waiting at the hotel, they were already there.”

I asked why she didn’t try a less conspicuous vehicle.

“I’ve tried everything, I would wear wigs . . . we’ve had Wranglers, old Cadillacs — I’ve tried everything.”

"I've tried everything," she says, while driving around in a Porsche. "I'm just too famous to be unrecognized!" sounds suspiciously like "I am very afraid I am growing less famous and more unrecognized by the day so I'm going to do everything humanly possible to draw attention to myself." The Sally Fields character in Soapdish did this too... also at malls, actually.

What could possibly explain this behavior, apart from the obvious?

A new analysis of the American Freshman Survey, which has accumulated data for the past 47 years from 9 million young adults, reveals that college students are more likely than ever to call themselves gifted and driven to succeed, even though their test scores and time spent studying are decreasing.

Psychologist Jean Twenge, the lead author of the analysis, is also the author of a study showing that the tendency toward narcissism in students is up 30 percent in the last thirty-odd years.

This data is not unexpected. I have been writing a great deal over the past few years about the toxic psychological impact of media and technology on children, adolescents and young adults, particularly as it regards turning them into faux celebrities—the equivalent of lead actors in their own fictionalized life stories.

...

[A burst bubble is] really the unavoidable end, by the way. False pride can never be sustained. The bubble of narcissism is always at risk of bursting. That’s why young people are higher on drugs than ever, drunker than ever, smoking more, tattooed more, pierced more and having more and more and more sex, earlier and earlier and earlier, raising babies before they can do it well, because it makes them feel special, for a while. They’re doing anything to distract themselves from the fact that they feel empty inside and unworthy.

He goes on to say the country had better be prepared for this generational bubble-bursting, as we'll have even further psychological problems when self-created fictions can no longer be sustained (depression, etc.).

It's an odd thing but the most truly narcissistic people are also the most dangerously insecure. I think they know their self-estimation cannot possibly withstand a blow from reality so are incredibly alert in detecting any kind of incoming threat from reality, and reacting angrily and strangely to it.

Thanks to @johnekdahl and @rdbrewer4.

Update [JohnE.]: I might as well put up the trailer (below the fold). It looks, um, what's the word? Abysmal.

posted by Ace at 08:11 PM

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