If multiple network interviews could be combined into a series, Charlie Sheen would have his own reality show. After all, he is the star, the main attraction being his own mental plot, the journey of a singular man who keeps so many guessing, "what will he say or do next?!"
One of the attractions for viewers, readers, and listeners is the passion, the emotion, the intensity that fronts the interior combustion so apparent in Sheen's colorful and often disturbing verbiage. One of those emotions is anger, directed at the show's ("Two and a Half Men") producer, and other network executives, or "trolls", or "maggots" as he happily recalled them. Often times anger is caused by frustration, or from a sense of injustice, hurt, or simply personal demons out of control that are out of sync with the values and behaviours of those around you.
He is obviously not frustrated by salary - at around $1.8 million per show. Hmm, if he is angry at that then perhaps he is crazy. But not likely one would think.
He has been a very successful actor, playing his scripted roles convincingly, especially himself on the 2½. So he has been a winning actor, one of his favorite adjectives. This raises other mysteries, like what exactly is a winner! Is he a winner as a parent, a positive cultural role model, as a level-headed individual?
This new reality show Sheen is inventing and performing in each day could be called "One Man" or "Two and a Half man, Too". The latter can be rationalized by the mixed messages that Sheen's 2½ personalities sends to the public. For instance, he's a winner he repeats, but a crack proponent "if you can handle it." He respects women and says that they should be cradled rather than hit, yet he admitted to physical abusing at least one of his women.
After all the mileage comedians get out of Charlie Sheen's antics and words, there is still in reality a sad situation. Now without a steady hit series, a couple of children, possible withdrawal symptoms from drug and alcohol addictions, he has to deal with real reality, and an expectation to entertain his followers either by acting a scripted role or maintaining an exterior persona of strength, success and being a "quite the character to watch" amid the inner turmoil mere humans would experience after traumatic and negative events in their lives.
As a human being and not an entertainer I hope Sheen can find peace with himself, find enjoyment without addiction to risky substances, and simply survive with his life.
2 comments:
Charlie, it really is frightening to see the descent of a creative person and apparently good actor into what appears to be madness. There are many calls for intervention in his life, but no one seems able or willing to step up to the plate. His denial will continue until he reaches the place where he can no longer deny. Hopefully, that won't be shortly before his funeral.
Yes it is not a happy situation for him, and the guy seems whacked out as a side effect high, or withdrawal symptom. Right, hopefully he will catch himself before he meets the same fate of other recent celebs on drugs.
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