好萊塢美女 Lindsay Lohan VS. 馬基雅弗利 （圖）

Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469-1527)

Lindsay Lohan

　

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好萊塢美女 Lindsay Lohan VS. 馬基雅弗利

Thumbing through the just-arrived Time magazine after work, as usually I do before I can sit down and do a serious reading, a brief news containing words, “Lindsay Lohan” and “Machiavelli” caught my eyes. What the……….The word “weird” does not even begin to express my odd feeling. The fact that those two figures, one is among the most notorious Hollywood bad girls, and the other the classical Italian political philosopher lived several hundred years ago, appear neck and neck in the same article is so odd that I could not help but read it through right away. Here it reads as follows:

"LINDSAY LOHAN may have finished her stint at rehab, but her search for self-help has just started. The tabloid princess told Britain’s Tatler that after a period of unhappiness, she began reading Machiavelli’s The Prince for guidance. 'It changed my life,' says Lohan of the ruthless treaties, which was also a favorite of Napoleon's and Mussolini's."

Is this for real? For a split second, I thought it might be someone else sharing the same name, Machiavelli. --- and maybe one of those Hollywood pundits wrote a fairytale-type book that also happens to be titled, The Prince. That sounds like a better-suited picture with Hollywood bag girl Lindsay Lohan in it. Then I realized I was wrong after I carefully read the news again and scrutinized the very last sentence: so, it is that Machiavelli back to the Italian Renaissance era of 15th~16th century.

As widely reported by media, many times with the headline news, Lindsay Lohan, the bright yet problematic Hollywood young actress, is probably only second to Paris Hilton as the "Hollywood Bad Girls." She parties day and night like there is no tomorrow, drives under influence and also has a drug abuse history. It was just a week ago that she got released from rehab where she tried to get help with her drinking problem. And now she has to take her sobriety coach with her when she goes to party, according to the news. Reckless as Lohan, she definitely needs some help on a spiritual level besides rehab. People should feel relieved when she claims Machiavelli’s book changed her life, as long as she is not just saying it for the purpose of vanity. But nonetheless, what got me going is: what exactly she is looking for in Machiavelli’s book, The Prince.

As one of the most influential funding fathers of political philosophy, Machiavelli lays the groundwork for political science, especially in the area of laws of power. In The Prince, he illustrated the arts of power control, much of which were generated from his personal observation when he was on diplomatic missions to France and from his readings about ancient history. Among these principles regarding how to retain and control power in the arena of politics, a most important argument Machiavelli established is “The ends justify the means.” By which, he implied that any evil action can be justified if it is done for a decent purpose, to put it in brief.

Okay, it seems we're getting somewhere. Maybe this is something inspirational, in Machiavelli’s book, that Lindsay Lohan is looking for: all those bad things she’s done, there is a good purpose behind; and thus her eccentric, anti-societal behaviors are therein ultimately justified. Otherwise, given that the whole book is full of brutal, callous accounts about political struggle, I just don’t know what else in that book would be able to provide remedy for her problems better then a rehab. Well, whatever works! As long as she is looking for help, no matter from a saint in history or from a pundit, that’s at least a good thing to do. Now, I can for sure rest my case.

Just when I thought I had enough excitement from the media for the day then another episode of the Lindsay Lohan drama unfolded, and it’s got even more dramatic --- after supper, there is a headline news breaking out, on CNN's Larry King Live, that Lindsay Lohan was just arrested by police for DUI this morning. This is her second bust in less than just three months.

At this moment, I am at total loss wondering how Machiavelli would feel about it if he still lives. Obviously, neither rehab, nor Machiavelli could save her, the Hollywood bad girl Lindsay Lohan.