The world was overwhelmed with important stories this past week, including war in Libya, labor protests in Wisconsin that have brought the state to a halt, and the battle over the federal budget. But one story captured the attention of Americans the most: actor Charlie Sheen. Sheen, of Two and a Half Men and Platoon fame, has been all over the news as of late. When Sheen got a Twitter account this week, he had one million followers within a day of making it. And despite all of his past drug abuse, domestic violence, and bad parenting, Americans seem to still love Charlie Sheen. A website that goes by guyism.com put it best, writing,
His appeal is that, while most guys — especially post-college — must reign in their ids and demure to society’s expectations to advance rung by rung up the soul-crushing ladder of corporate mediocrity, Sheen has reached the ultimate apex of manhood eternal: doing whatever he wants and speaking the complete truth, consequences be damned. (Even if the complete truth, as he perceives it, is “I got tiger blood,” “I have a 10,000-year-old brain,” and “I’m an F-18, bro.”)
Charlie Sheen, with his semantics, offers us a break from daily stressful activities, and gives us a chance to laugh. This thing is, people are laughing at him, not with him. His extreme drug use has gotten him to a point where his sense of responsibility and what is socially acceptable is completely skewed. Enjoying listening to his interviews is pretty much the same as laughing at a crackhead, except Sheen is getting networks sky-high ratings.
But now Sheen is, as he says, "winning." Is he crazy? Yes. Does he need psychotic counseling? Yes. Is he the ultimate showman now? Yes. Be he wouldn't be “winning” without us watching. The sad thing is, is that we're watching the self-destruction of a man, who's dignity is completely gone, his credibility running dangerously low, and who's idea of "winning" can only get him so far.
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