Child Stars Collapse

I've been meaning to get this off my chest for a long time... What better time than in the wake of the collapse of Lindsey Lohan...

I told my sister a few weeks ago that Lindsey Lohan was hanging with Kate Moss, who had just been caught with cocaine, right... So now I hear that Lindsey Lohan has just admitted to drug use, and for some reason it's news. Go figure.

Look, I'll get to my point. When are cats gonna realize that Hollywood is no place for kids? I mean, it's no place for adults anyway, but for kids, how much worse? Take Lindsey for instance. I remember Freaky Friday and all that jazz; she was a cutie. So one week she went from cute to hot, and I'm seeing all these risque pictures. Next thing I know, she's a starlet. Next thing she's released an album. Now she's collapsed... Now she's on drugs...

This isn't the first time, nor is it the only scenario. There's the Christina Milian I saw in the Oscar the Grouch shirt hosting MTVs wannabe. Next time I saw her, she was in this sexy Japanese bath robe, sliding around in oil. There's Nick Cannon who went from Nickelodeon to MC "put the kids to bed". I never wish bad things on anybody, but pray for Hilary Duff...

Something is terribly wrong right now. I can't put my finger on it, but if you ask me Disney, Nickelodeon, MTV, and the Red Carpet are waay to close to each other. It's like, they raise up young talent in front of young audiences, then at some point they graduate to the pop scene, then they turn into starlets and totally lose their innocence. But what bothers me is that the young audience follows their heroes from start to finish. And no, "put the kids to bed" is not going to make those young eyes stop watching; if anything, you'll get their undivided attention.

Am I paranoid? It seems like the industry has this assembly line: they create performers and burn them out to generate profits. And it's nothing for them to take child stars and shape them into corrupted, older versions of their former selves. It breaks my heart and pisses me off at the same time to see the performers degenerate, but then to see their followers idolize them even in their decline.

That's why I love Raven Symone. She's managed to weather the industry's influence. And I don't doubt her scruples in the least bit; she's a talented young lady and I'm convinced she'll be a good woman, a real prize for whoever marries her. But I can't help but wonder, if she was Hollywood's ideal body type, would even she be still standing...

Of course I wish Lohan a speedy recovery. But there should be some kind of child-star advocacy group, or some laws or something to protect them and prevent them from self-destructing. Or at least strong families to protect them, which Lohan was short on judging by her album.

I still maintain that Hollywood is a beast that needs to be dealt with. The welfare of a child is worth more than any amount of profits they could ever generate.