Justice for I Know Who Killed Me (feat. Shane Russo)
Justice for I Know Who Killed Me (feat. Shane Russo)
Lindsay Lohan deserves redemption from her tainted tabloid reputation
Hi readers! I’m so excited to bring you another podcast episode with our very first guest, Shane Russo. (We even met through the I Know Who Killed Me reviews on Letterboxd!)
In this episode, we discuss Lindsay’s harsh media reputation and how it impacted the reception of the film’s release. Shane is an actor, writer, and IKWKM fan. Find him on Twitter, Instagram, and Letterboxd.
If you haven’t read my essay—When Your Favorite Movie Is “Bad”—I recommend reading it to accompany this podcast episode, though it’s not required reading before listening.
Podcast transcript
This transcript was auto-generated and may contain minor errors.
Hi everyone, welcome to Adryan’s POV the podcast. Today I'm going to be discussing I Know Who Killed Me, my favorite movie, a psychological horror thriller from 2007 starring Lindsay Lohan. Today we're here with my friend Shane Russo. Would you like to introduce yourself Shane? Yeah, sure. Hi, I, my name is Shane.
I am an actor, a writer, and a fan of I Know Who Killed Me. Lindsay Lohan superfan like me. Yes, yes. And Shane and I met in a very unique way because we met on Letterboxd but we met specifically through the I Know Who Killed Me reviews on Letterboxd. Yeah. Because we went to the same 35 millimeter screening on 2021.
And that's how I actually, it was like a couple days before the screening earlier this year that I was like, Oh, Shane's on Twitter, let me go follow him. And then you were literally like, there's a screening at Alamo draft house in Brooklyn if I know who killed me. And I was like, what? Let me clear my schedule.
So I was so excited for that screening. had never thought I would see it in a theater. Yeah. The one in 2021. Yeah. Cause that was your first time seeing it like in a theater, right? Yeah. So that was at the Roxy. Um, and I had never seen it in a theater before and I didn't know if anyone would ever screen it.
We met at the Alamo draft house for the first time. Um, Was that last year? Of this year. Oh, that was this year? I know. Yes, it was this year. Oh. Okay, yeah. Oh, so I, okay, yeah. So that was 2023. Mm hmm. Okay. That is the year. It's, yeah. It's weird though. I don't know why they were showing it in February. Oh, it was, um, it was like, well, what was it?
It was like a series that they were hosting. Yeah. I had assumed it was for Halloween, but then no. I think it was just people making fun of the movie. Yeah. That was kind of sad. I know, which we can talk about that. But I first want to talk about how we found the movie or like maybe the first time, if you recall of like the time period.
When you first watched it. Yeah. So I, I remember when I was really little when I kind of first had internet access. Um, I would go on Wikipedia a lot. I would read a lot of Wikipedia. And I was very interested in celebrities and I remember reading Lindsay Lohan's Wikipedia. And I remember Seeing the movie title, I Know Who Killed Me, and I had never heard of it.
I don't think I had even seen Mean Girls at that point. I just, in my mind, I remembered Lindsay Lohan from movies when I was really little. Like, I remember watching The Parent Trap and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen when they would play on, um, Disney Channel. And I really liked them, but I only I remember that point, and then I remember seeing Lindsay.
On tabloid covers in, like, the grocery store. Um, and I know What year was that, around? Um, I was probably in, like, fourth or fifth grade. So, I'm trying to remember what year that would have actually been. Was that, like, late aughts? Yeah, like, it wasn't, not even 2010 yet. Okay. So, maybe 2010 at the latest. But, maybe 2008 or 2009, maybe.
Okay. Um, and And I remember not knowing what happened in between. Like I remember the very young Lindsay and then I remember the tabloid cover Lindsay. And I, in my head, I was like, what happened in between? When I was little, I was like, there has to be like a reason or an answer. I didn't really understand psychology where like, it's not as simple as like, Oh, one thing happened.
And then all of a sudden you're on tabloids. Lots of things happen. But I remember. I remember. I saw the title, I Know Who Killed Me, and I thought it was so interesting, and I read the, um, Wikipedia page of it, and I was so fascinated by it, but also, like, so horrified, like, I was so scared. Because I hadn't, I was never, like, a fan of horror movies growing up, like, I was so afraid.
I had this weird thing where I really liked things that were, like, dark or scary, but I would watch them and be really afraid of them, and then would, like, cry, and then I would be like, Mom, I really want to watch this again, and she's like, but you keep like getting yeah She's like so I don't get it like but I would be I would like watch it and then I would cry and be like shut It off.
I was like that. I would want to watch it again so I don't know but um, I was so interested in I know who killed me and Eventually I Started watching Lindsay's movies besides the ones that I had seen when I was little and I know who killed me was one I had never seen so I was like Okay, I guess I have to watch that one.
I was really excited. I had read the, um, the whole plot on Wikipedia. So I knew every beat that was gonna Yeah, I was like trying to prepare myself. I read like the, um, do you remember like They might still have it but like the parents guide on IMDB where it was like it would tell Okay, so it's like I guess for parents if you look at a movie, it's like a very specific right up of why it's rated the way it is.
So it'll be like in this scene, this happens. And in this scene, this happens. So like, yeah. So I was so prepared. I was like, so I was like, yes, I was ready, but I was still horrified. And I remember. I rented it on my iPod touch on iTunes. Did you watch it on your iPod touch? Yes, and I was so afraid. I literally was like watching it with the lights on and like skipping over the parts that were like a little more graphic or scary.
And I was like, but I had, I watched it and I was like, okay, now I know. She's an incredible scream queen. Yes. Yeah. Um, yeah, I first watched it when I was 15. It was like the summer after. It came out so it was the summer of 2008 because by that point I didn't really go to movies to have like seen it especially like even though I technically was over 13 I could have seen it when I was 14, but I just didn't really go to the movies to really like, you know, growing up in the Jersey Shore things that are like 25 half hour away, like especially in South, South Jersey.
So I watched it for free on demand and like it totally blew me away because during this time I was also watching like Dexter reruns on demand and I was just like fascinated with Eerie, psychological thrillers, because I don't think Shutter Island had just come quite out, but it was like, that was kind of the vibe of what, what I was like really interested in that like thriller kind of horror.
Yeah. And did you know of the movie at that point or like when did you become aware of the movie? So I think I was just scrolling and trying to find something cause I remember being in my living room super late. My parents had already gone to bed. And I was up like in the summer like until like 4 a. m Because I was 15 And I was like, oh lindsey lohan is in this.
So yeah, I think that's like why because I was super into her um, and I remember just like Being really drawn to lindsey's music career Yeah, and especially at that point like I didn't know to the extent of like what we'll talk about today of like kind of her Stints in rehab and all of just the tabloid news that kind of set her up to fail, like I knew the vibe of the climate of just like something didn't seem right in the way that like, um, you know, like I always resonated with Kara Cunningham's like, don't leave Brittany alone video because I was just like, I don't know, we just need to leave her alone, but I couldn't like articulate why, especially cause I was like a teenager, but I just knew something.
Yeah. Was up and, um, all, and like, we kind of talked about this before we started recording, but just like the first kind of positive female role model I had in my life was Britney Spears. I think for you it was Lindsay. Yeah. So I felt an emotional connection. Where we didn't really have the terms of what we do today to describe, um, what that relationship was like, at least emotionally.
Yeah. Yeah, that's so interesting. So when the movie came out in 2007, um, originally, it didn't do well in the box office. So I was wondering if, do you remember, like, seeing ads for it at the time? Or like, okay. No, I have no idea. I had I didn't, I don't think I even paid attention because if anything, what anything at that era, if they spoke poorly of Lindsay, I'm like, it's bullshit.
Yeah. So I knew that. And I knew like not really listened to it. And also I didn't really have a fully formed taste in movies like I do now to really like know what, you know, to me, what's the standards of a good and bad movie. Yeah. Sure. Cause I was like, Crossroads is a great movie. Yes, and you were right for that.
Yes, exactly. So when you watched the movie originally, had you seen a lot of horror films besides that at that point? No, I was like, yo, I was terrified. Okay, yeah. I didn't even know. I was like, I didn't even know it was gonna be scary. And I'm like, it's literally called I Know Who Killed Me. Yeah. So I didn't really know what to expect.
But I will say, so not horror movies, but I was fascinated by Dexter. And that was like a really messed up show. Yeah. Because it's about a serial killer who kills other serial killers, but like it's still very eerie and creepy. So I think I was starting to get interested in like macabre concepts and just like kind of from like the emo interest of like, I like dark and creepy things that are like could be found in Hot Topic and like thinking so edgy when I was 15.
Yeah. Because it's interesting, like I So, when I watched the movie, I think it was either the first horror movie I had ever seen or, um, the roommate from 2011 was. I know it was one of them, so I can't remember which one I actually watched first. But, I remember watching I Know Who Killed Me and thinking it was so unlike anything else I had ever seen, but also not really knowing the horror genre at that time.
It's interesting because now as I've seen so many more horror movies. I still think it's so interesting and so unique and it's like Back then I didn't really know what to compare it to so I thought it was it was unique to me because I hadn't seen Horror films but even now when especially when I watch more around that time that were coming out and that had come out by then It was like it really is not like anything that was coming out around then No, not at all You lovely listeners probably have never seen this movie and that's okay because we want to encourage you to watch it So we're not gonna give away any spoilers Yeah, so Lindsey plays this character named Aubrey Fleming and she's a She's supposed to be in junior college, it could, some people think it's high school, some people think it's college, I guess it's in between, but she I never thought about that.
I thought it was community college, to be honest, but she's too good for community college. Yeah, it's like, it's weird, she's like She's too rich for community college. Yeah, and where is she trying to go, does she say where she's Yale. Yeah, yeah, so she She's like in California, right? Or something like that?
Yeah, she's in New Salem, I don't know where that is. Which I always thought that was like, okay, maybe it's Massachusetts, and Yale is kinda like right around the corner, but then like, it doesn't It's unclear. Um, or from our, um, understanding at least. But, um, so Lindsey plays this character who is pretty much like the stereotypical, like good girl, um, in a movie.
Like she, she's a good student. She's a writer. She plays piano. Um, she has a boyfriend on the football team, but she doesn't want to have sex with him. Like, she's like, Reserved. Yeah, she's like very like, oh I'm just trying to do my school and my work and go, like get out of home. Very good girl. Very stereotypical.
Type A. Yeah. Yeah. Um, and we learn through, I guess, the news that, um, there is a serial killer going around. One of the girls. I guess had been thought to have been killed by him went to her school and that girl's found So everyone's kind of like a little freaked out like nobody knows who it is or what's going on And they were like, is this a serial killer?
And they're like, there's only one dead girl. Yeah Yeah, the mayor is um, very sensitive to the victims. Yeah Lindsay's character is the next who is abducted by the serial killer and we still don't know who the killer is. A few weeks later, a few days later, Lindsay is found on the side of the road by some woman in a car who kind of looks like Fiona Apple.
Talking to her friend about a breakup and then like animal runs in front of her car. Yeah. And she like dramatic and she's like, hello. And then it's Aubrey Fleming, like look at all like decrepit on the side of the road. She finds her like you don't even see her at first in the shot. Yeah. She's, it's kind of like.
What is that? It's sort of just like a Something is in the leaves on the side of the road and I think that does speak to it So like this movie gets a bad rap because it has so many cheap shots because it's definitely trying to go for that Twin Peaks Mystery vibe, but it's like very it's like a lot of corny stuff it's very like early digital where it's a little bit like Too clear almost like it's like everything is almost like you could see every pore on lindsay's face and it's almost like We don't need to like it almost looks like when you would have a home video camera at home and like would shoot something and Be like, oh my god, this is so fun.
Like it's like that kind of digital a little weird looking They find who they think is Lindsay. They find Aubrey Fleming on the side of the road and she wakes up in the hospital she's missing an arm and a leg and Her parents are like, oh my god, we're so happy. We found you Aubrey and she's like Who's that?
Like, I'm not Aubrey. Like, who's Aubrey? Basically, the rest of the movie is trying to figure out if this girl is actually Aubrey and she kind of has like some sort of PTSD from like what she's been through or if there's some other explanation. Because she is, like, she does have the wounds that the other girls who have been found from the killer have.
Yeah, I think that's a great place to say You can go watch it if you want to find out. Yeah, and you should watch it. You should. I want to kind of revisit the height of Lindsay's media antagonism. So, the film was released in 2007. In the mid aughts, she had Freaky Friday, Mean Girls, she had her album, Speakin a Little More Personal.
And amidst this success, she attracted a lot more attention that brought the attention to her Hollywood party girl identity from going out in the L. A. club scene. Particularly in July 2006, there was a big event because there was a letter leaked from a site called The Smoking Gun. And it was, that was a website dedicated to posting legal documents, arrest records, mug shots, things about celebrities that didn't make it on to TMZ right away.
And this was a letter from a 70 year old Georgia Rule producer, James G. Robinson. And in the letter, he called Lohan irresponsible and unprofessional and just generally criticized her for missing shoots without notice. It was very harsh and, you know, I think Lindsay has had really high expectations because she was a child star and now she's 20, she's coming to her own, she's trying to like make a break into these quote more adult movies and more matured roles to kind of phase out of the Disney movies and all of the kind of grow with her audience and as she's growing up.
At this point, when the letter leaks, Lindsay is still, like, pretty respected as an actress, I would say. Like, she had always gotten really positive reviews for her performances as a child and as a teenager. Like, I know, like, a lot of people kind of group her in with people like Hilary Duff, and, like, this obviously isn't supposed to be mean to Hilary Duff, but Hilary was never really considered, like, a great actress.
She was kind of, like Like a teen idol more where Lindsey was like also a teen idol, but Lindsey was also always really praised for her performances and her work ethic. And like, Lindsey was always, I feel like also at this point, she was trying to do like some independent films. She was working with like respected directors.
Like Lindsey was like serious as an actress, like at that point, like really committed to her craft. Yeah. Like where I feel like it kind of differs from a lot of the teen stars at that time where, um, I feel like she had a little bit more of a reputation as someone who was a good actress. And I think that also made people more angry when it seemed to them, from reading tabloids and things like the letter that you just shared that was leaked, that Lindsay wasn't taking things seriously anymore.
She was going out with people like Paris Hilton who the tabloids were like mad about because that whole culture shift where all of a sudden people who aren't like Actors are, I'm doing air quotes, do anything, are famous. Yeah, famous for being famous. Right, and Lindsay was not really like that, but she was hanging out with those people and I think that made a lot of people mad.
Yeah, it like hurt her brand as an actress, right? Yeah. Because she's hanging out with reality TV stars and the attention was farther away from her as an actress and more of her as a party girl now. Yes. Especially because the movies that had come out after Mean Girls weren't very successful. There was, um, Just My Luck in 2006, which kind of, it was supposed to be like a big rom com for her, and that kind of flopped.
And that was Disney, right? I don't know if that, I don't think that was Disney. I think it was, um, PG 13 maybe. So this was like her first, like, maybe a little more, like, adult. Mean Girls wasn't Disney either, was it? No, that was definitely PG 13. Because I wasn't allowed to watch it when it came out. Yes, yeah, but she did go back and then did Herbie that same year, which was Disney, so.
Which they had to edit her boobs a size a cup size smaller, by the way. Yeah, because Disney thought they were too distracting. Oh my god. She also was shooting, um, just to give a context for people maybe who don't remember or maybe didn't live through that time. While she was shooting Herbie Fully Loaded in 2005, Lindsay was shooting the movie and then at night going into her trailer and recording her second album.
And recording and writing a whole album. So DIY. Yeah, and then just going to set the next morning. Oh my god. So she was working really hard and then also maybe partying very hard too. She also had that deal with Mattel with the Barbie, the Herbie Fully Loaded Barbies. Yeah. So she's like a girl bossing. I don't really know where she's finding the time to do all this.
Like, it seems like a lot of things are happening all at once, and so maybe she literally isn't sleeping. Yeah. Well. Yeah. Like, I don't know what's, I, it's a lot for anyone to do. Um, so by the time I Know Who Killed Me starts filming in the end of 2006, the letter had been leaked from the Georgia Rule set, which is a film she was working on before with Jane Fonda.
Yeah, Jane Fonda. It was Um, Gary Marshall to director of pretty woman. It was supposed to be like a pretty big deal for Lindsay in my opinion It's one of her strongest performances I think she is amazing in that movie and really does show like how good of an actress she is So at this point when I know who killed me starts filming Lindsay's name is a little bit on the rock.
She still is a huge name but I think she goes into this really wanting to prove that she can act and that she can Be in adult roles and be serious, like, as an actress. Be dynamic, too, as a screen queen, too. Yeah, and do things that are She's taking risks, definitely, by taking on this kind of role. The beginning of 2007 is what I wanted to talk about, because that whole year was not kind to her, and that's when the movie came out.
But I also wanted to point out that while this movie was being filmed early 2007, right? A friend of Lindsay Lohan's, Britney Spears, experiences a mental health crisis in February, all within the public eye, thanks to intrusive paparazzi and all of the tabloid headlines. And I think that that is really important to mention because Britney is finally getting the justice that she deserves and the cultural reckoning that everyone has about that time period.
Because that also really set the tone for Lindsay, because during the first week of production she was hospitalized for dehydration, or shall we say, appendix surgery. She was recovering from surgery, and that's when she checked into a 30 day drug rehab program for the first time. Right? I'm pretty sure it's the first time.
She continued shooting the film by day, I Know Who Killed Me, and going back to the rehab every night. And while on set, she couldn't leave her trailer without being greeted by paparazzi, so much so that the photographers ended up being in the background shots of the movie. Yeah. Have you ever seen them? I haven't, and I always look.
They're really edited out. Yeah, I wonder what, like where exactly it would have been, um, but I am definitely, I always try to look. I know. Every time I see it, I'm like, where could they be? I'm always looking. Yeah. Cause that coincides like eventually when she's arrested. On July 24th, 2007, two weeks after checking out of a different rehab.
So she's already been multiple times and at that point, charged with junk driving, cocaine possession, driving with a suspended license, and that happened three days before. I know who killed me. Came out because she even had a canceled tonight Show appearance. Because her arrest interfered with the premiere too.
Yeah, and I think that, so, that arrest also was her second DUI. Yes. Of that same year. Yes. Yeah, so, just to point it out, like, I Know Who Killed Me starts shooting, I don't want to say she's not doing well cause I don't know her, but I mean, she's in rehab shooting a movie. Also just had surgery. She had appendicitis and the incision is going on for, yeah, it becomes infected.
She, um, has to, it's like a whole thing. There's a lot going on in this movie set that still nobody really knows. Like nobody's really talked about it. We don't know, but a lot has had is going on in Lindsay's personal life. When the movie stopped shooting a few months later, she's, arrested for her first DUI, then a few months later, after that, it's the other DUI, and I know Hylne comes out three days later.
So, this movie didn't really have a big chance of existing outside of the narrative of Lindsay Lohan's public tabloid, um, I'd say in quotes, downfall, because that's what it was kind of referred to as that time. And that's where we get And the Razzies, we get a creation of an entirely new Razzie award category, worst excuse for a horror movie.
There's eight nominations. Yeah, Lindsay ties with herself for Worst Actress for both the characters that she plays. Um. Absolutely brutal. And just like, when you look on Wikipedia of the worst films ever made, this is on its list. Yeah, it, the reviews were horrible. Um, on top of that, nobody really went to see it.
It bombed at the box office, which was almost worse for Lindsay because I think even if it had gotten bad, there's a lot of bad reviews. Like reviewed films that like can still make money and it's all the studios don't really care The combination of both of those things on top of people now viewing Lindsay in a very negative light in the media Really affected this movie's legacy performance in the box office.
Pretty much everything about this movie was tarnished at the time and almost Taken as a joke if for the people that even saw it Yeah, and maybe that's a good segue to talk about our experience actually seeing the movie in theaters because like I Remember seeing it for the first time at the Roxy. I was so excited It was like this really big event for me to go into Manhattan to see this movie my favorite movie ever for the first time on 35 millimeter film I remember at the end their credits rolled and there was a laugh in the room like at the end and my heart sank because it's like this is my genuinely favorite movie and it's like that experience of like someone laughing at something that you like that's just mean and also just on top of it like Throughout the movie, they're laughing at Lindsay, especially because she's making, I'm thinking of when the psychiatrist.
Asked her like, how did your mom die? And Aubrey's like, OD or something like that. Yeah. But I'm like, that's not her bad acting. That's like her being like a bitch on purpose. And also the script. Exactly. Yeah. Which I will say though, there are some moments that are supposed to be funny in this movie. I think this movie, it challenges people's, the viewer of let's say like, If you go into a horror movie knowing Lindsay is in it, it's definitely not what you would expect because it is drawing on inspiration of like Giallo and like David Lynch and like all this like weird reference points that aren't really a multiplex movie theater, um, like a moviegoer of that.
would really know necessarily. And I think it's drawing on inspiration from things that people aren't familiar with, people who aren't maybe in the horror world. To those audiences, to see something like that, it seems like it's doing things like by accident. Yeah. And it's not like every choice in this movie is really like made specifically to get the mood and the inspiration and the vibes of the films that it's being inspired by.
Like, I don't think it's accidental that it like is almost like dream like logic in the movie. Like that's the point and that's what they were going for. Yes. So I think There were some reviews at the time from like horror specific writers and blogs and websites that did get the movie. Like Fangoria.
Yeah, and respected it for what it was trying to do. Like, whether or not you think it was successful at what it's trying to do, obviously is the viewer's own interpretation. But I think to fault it for certain things that it was doing on purpose, I think is not really a fair critique of the movie. Yeah, and I think of it as like, One, a Rorschach test for misogyny.
Yes. Because like, if you don't respect women, you're not going to get it. And especially in a way, like I saw somebody on TikTok, I can't remember what their handle is. If this TikTok user was saying, if you want to get a vibe check of a man and he has letterboxed, see what he rated legally blonde. To see what the vibe is, to see if that's a red flag.
Cause if he hates that movie, stay away. So, I have a super feminist read of the movie, but it was written, directed, shot by men because I think that Jennifer's body has had its own Reckoning and like coming from that time period that came out 2009 yeah, so two years after I never killed me. Yeah So which that film also for anyone who maybe doesn't remember or wasn't around that time also had a A similar backlash because of well because of marketing but also because of Megan Fox who Because she also had a controversial opinion in Hollywood because she Spoke back against the Transformers set.
Yeah, Michael Bay. Yeah. Yeah, cuz she talked back and was like, I'm not doing this shit yeah, and people like so she was like kind of smeared in the media for that and I think that movie suffered because of External factors besides the content of well, so how it was marketed. Yes, that's yeah Yeah, I will say though That Diablo Cody was a woman who made a movie for women, but it was marketed towards men Yeah, where with I Know Who Killed Me, you can't really make that argument cuz like I think when people see the movie Or if you have seen it, you will understand that Lindsay is very passionate this role a lot of this stuff comes very natural to her and even in media She is quoted saying like she was so committed to this movie when she was in rehab because she had a personal connection with the protagonist.
I think it's maybe important to say too that Lindsay also plays a stripper in this movie for that maybe will um, give some context to people who haven't seen it. So you can imagine basically the whole narrative around this movie is Lindsay Lohan is playing a stripper. To almost be like the only reason people would see it in the first place.
It's the DVD. There's like four extras and one of them is an extended strip dance. Yeah, it's like, how many like bra and panty sets do you want to see Lindsay in? Yeah, so yeah, unfortunately that was maybe a big part of the marketing around the movie before it came out. Um, and even in the beginning, like there's a very long sequence of hers, you know, stripping in a club in a very scandalous outfit.
Yes. And she does look very good though, I will say. Um, and I also think. The way that it's shot, I, is very sexualized and male gaze y, but I also think that's sort of the point of those shots as well. For those who don't know, the killer is supposedly watching her in these scenes. So I kind of, like, I do get it.
I don't know if Lindsay felt exploited on this movie or not. Like, that's obviously her, um, story to tell. Um, I don't think she's said, she hasn't really talked about this movie that much. I mean, Was she, did she go to jail for that? Uh, she was, she was going through a lot. Yeah, and like, I also think, too, that this period of, in her life, of just the movies, Cause she hasn't really talked much about Georgia Rule, labor pains, like these later aughts movies, and we really don't See, I mean, there's like her comeback in 2009.
I have a nylon magazine and she's like doing her leggings line. And I'm like, okay, girl. Yeah. Um, but she's talking about her comeback. And I think that that's like a big thing for her is that she's trying to constantly repair. Her relationship at this point. So like that was in 2009 and even you've watched the show the oprah Yeah, lindsey, which that's a whole other thing, but that was really hard to watch because you could see You could see the people that were involved on the business behind the scenes and she's like begging them to be like, please speak favorably of me.
I will do the work. And she's also in her later twenties, maybe even, yeah, she's in her later twenties. Yeah. What, what year was the show? I think that was like 2014. Yeah. After the Canyon. She didn't really do that much. Yeah. Which is unfortunate because I think she's so good in that movie. Yeah. And she finally does.
Some things. I mean, there was Among the Shadows, but she barely had anything that is on the cover. Yeah, that's a deep cut. Oh, I haven't even seen that one. I know, I haven't even seen it either, but I want to because of the deep cut, but We really don't hear from her after Oprah's reality show with her until Um, the show, the Lindsay Lohan's Beach Club.
Yeah. So she moves to Dubai after that, after the Oprah show. And that's a good tie in. I'm glad you brought that up because they're, you know, as kind of the title wave of I Know Who Killed Me past, she has a ton of other movies. She now has this attention in 2014, 2015. Of her reality show, got out of rehab yet again, and is really trying to restore her life.
Around this time of 2007, Brittany is in a conservatorship, and the same architect, Lou Taylor, who approached the Spears family about creating this conservatorship for Brittany, suggested the same to Lindsay's mom. And her parents were Never agreeing on anything. So, it never, luckily it never happened. But, that climate, that tone, really influenced her to just get out of the public face of like American Hollywood media.
Go all the way to Dubai, to a very wealthy country. There's so many wealthy people that they're not really phased by celebrities at all. So there's not really paparazzi culture there like there is here. There's so much more about Lindsay's life we could talk about. Yeah, that could be a whole podcast series just on Lindsay alone.
But something that also is important to note is that after this movie comes out, In theaters, and it doesn't do well, um, critically or financially. I know you mentioned the Razzies as well. Lindsay's career as a film actress is never really taken seriously in the same way and a lot of the blame In at least in write ups maybe at the time is on this movie like if the amount of times this movie is on a list of like 10 roles that ruined an actor's career this movie gets placed on ruining Lindsay's career when I think it's a lot more of like the media specific the way the media talked about her because this movie It wasn't really seen by a lot of people, but it also wasn't like a huge budgeted film.
Like this was a pretty low budget film. I think you could probably, the actual number, I think the budget was maybe like nine, seven to nine million. Maybe that's how much it made. It was definitely under 15 million, the budget. And so it wasn't like as big of a flop as it's. Remembered as like just because of the small amount of money it actually costs to make this movie I don't think this movie would have ruined Lindsay's career if the tabloid culture surrounding her wasn't also existing at the same time.
Just bringing it back to today, this movie is still being talked about, is being shown in movie theaters still. The tone that seeps in from when it originally came out to now is definitely perpetuated by like, film bro culture, for lack of a better phrase. Yes. It's just so frustrating to know of how good a piece of media like this film is to really care so much about Lindsay because she had an incredible performance in this and very dynamic and kind of expanding what she's capable of as an actress, people not recognizing it and just dismissing it because How often if somebody's like, oh, this movie is so terrible.
Do you want to go see it? Like, of course, you're going to think it's terrible if your friend thinks it's yeah And if they're laughing the whole way if they're laughing all the way through the movie, how are you going to perceive it? Yeah and if you've had no other positive representation of Lindsay to really know better to have the media literacy skills to decipher like what is toxic misogynistic tabloid garbage that still seeps into a celebrity's reputation today.
Because even when, even when the Netflix movie came out last winter, I was so excited. I remember being in a meeting and people saw it over the weekend because I told them about it and they were like, Adrian, this is awful. This had like poor representation. And I'm like, Why are you guys having fun? Yeah, like, of course it's awful.
It's a Netflix Christmas movie. It's a Netflix Christmas movie. And it's like, listen, Lindsay, like, when I first saw this trailer, I was like, okay, this is not her best work, but at this point she does not, we don't need another, I know who killed me from her at this point, cause she's kind of like not really doing movies anymore.
Even though I wish she would. Of course, I know that she, if she wants to grow and continue, she absolutely has that potential, but I think her, like, she just got burned so bad, so it's like, is this even worth it? You know, I don't want to speak for her, of course, but I can understand if she's just past this point in her life, even though, obviously, deeply, I would love her to talk about I Know Who Killed Me, I would love her, To have this cultural reckoning that she deserves in the way that Britney did.
Yeah, yeah, I really would love that too, um, And to your point too, I can see from Lindsay's perspective, like, I don't know if this is true, obviously, but I know she really put a lot of work into her performance in Films like this and films like The Canyons and Georgia Rule And all those films were really, like, critically trashed Yeah.
So from her perspective, I could see if she was just like Okay, well, fuck this. Like, I'm just gonna do, like, a Netflix Christmas movie, since nobody's gonna take me seriously anyway. Like, I could totally see if that was her perspective. Like, I would totally get it, and I would never fault her. But I know she's capable of so many amazing things.
Like, she her performance in this movie is so good. Especially this time, 2007, it's like that weird, like, the torture porn era of horror. Like, it's a lot of weird stuff is going on. So there's, like, a few scenes that are very, like They're honestly hard. They're hard to watch honestly. Yeah, she sells it so well.
Yeah, you really feel so much for her. And like, of course, like, the special effects in that are also really well done in the way that it's so disturbing because it looks so real. But Lindsay is doing such a great job in this movie, like In those scenes alone, like, in everything too, but especially in those scenes, like, she really sells it, and she really, like, you really feel for her character in especially those moments, and It was easier for critics at that time to just see this movie and be like, Oh, Lindsay's playing a stripper.
Ha ha. She's a slut just like in real life. Totally. Pretty much. Which I don't think I'm saying that in air quotes because if you read the reviews, which you can go back and read them at that time, that's what half of them are literally say that. Yeah, like literally, like those are like the actual words pretty much.
Like, they're horrible and I think it was, it's a lot easier for critics to just say that than to actually put thought into what they're seeing. To actually think critically about Lindsay Lohan and see through her Tainted media reputation. Or to even want to at that point. It would probably sell more to be like, Oh, she just got arrested and now she's in this horrible movie.
And like you mentioned with Brittany, with the conservatorship happening around that time, the tabloid culture was like, that was definitely like peak tabloid culture. The roughest that it probably I would say like from around that period, like it was really ramping up at that point. It definitely climaxed around that time.
And I think like this year, if anything came out this year, it was just really difficult for women in the public eye. Yeah. I think this movie is really unlike anything else. Like it is so unique. It's so original. Like the script, the story, like, Everything is so strange, and like, for me, like, just imagining back to 2007, for Lindsay to read this, and to see this, and be like, I wanna do that, is such like a risk, and such like a bold move, and for all the filmmakers, and everyone to be like, yeah, we're gonna do this like, weird movie that like, is so out there, and so like, unlike anything else, and we're gonna release it.
To a, like, wide released audience, like, we're, like, they're, everyone just went for it a hundred percent on this movie and I think that should always be appreciated and looked at, especially how many movies do you see that come out in the year that you forget and you never think about because they're Pretty much the same movie as something else just with like slight differences and like People kind of were just doing it for a paycheck so many but this movie is so original and so unique and I think that There's a lot to it that hasn't been looked at in a fair lens and I feel like People now, maybe, a lot of that tabloid stuff is, I mean, the impact is forever, unfortunately, but I think a lot of people now have the media literacy, like you mentioned, to see that and to see something like I Know Who Killed Me and maybe watch it outside of that lens.
Kind of going to the vein of revisiting pop culture, and if you're definitely interested in Britney's cultural reckoning and the justice that she has had in her conservatorship being revisited, the media reputation she had, and people really feeling for her. I definitely want to encourage you to extend that to Lindsay.
She's not a perfect woman. But we still love her. She was really criticized, heavily criticized, and unfairly put under this spotlight, I think, because she was a child star, because she worked with Disney, and people just had a lot of Expectations projected onto her that if she, she's still human and made mistakes, but she was also 20 years old doing this.
And I think about what I was doing when I was 20 years old. I certainly wasn't making a movie like I know who killed me. Um, so I think from feminist media, critical lens, it is a really great portrait of what a quality film is. The cultural history of it tells a lot of what the culture was at that time.
So that's why I really encourage people to like watch it. I mean, Shane and I are biased cause we love this movie, but I don't have a problem saying that it's a really an awesome movie because there's so much garbage out there that if we said we were just neutral about it to you, it would be unfair because it's so unbalanced out of just how many like awful reviews.
out there, there are. And I definitely am defending I Know Who Killed Me always, um, because this truly deserves the recognition that it deserves. Yes, I agree. And I would ask the listener to watch I Know Who Killed Me and then go back and read the critical reviews that came out at, in 2007. Read them, and just, just look and see if you can actually find anything that they're talking about the movie itself.
I think that's a really interesting way, really understand what was going on in the media at that time. Um, and also, are people to be perfect? Lindsay isn't perfect like you mentioned, and And she is still a, a victim of a lot of circumstances and the media, and she's also not perfect and made mistakes and they both can exist.
And I would encourage people to understand, yeah, think critically and understand maybe like some sympathy for Lindsay and what she was going through at that time as well. Yeah. Well, thanks so much, Shane. Thanks for joining It was truly such an honor to talk about this movie with you. Yeah, and I'm so excited that you're my first guest.
And to the listeners there, thank you so much for listening. Subscribe to Adryan’s POV. Interact with this post by liking, commenting, share with a friend, appreciate your support. Hey, this is Adrienne from Literally Two Months Later. Thanks again for listening. Shane sent me a nice outro, so you can get the information on how to find him online.
You can follow me at S H X N E R U S S O on Instagram, Twitter, Or letterboxed, or all of them. I am working on a video essay on I Know Who Killed Me, so definitely stay tuned for that. Hopefully that will come out in the next year. Thanks for listening.