Like the drugs he’s taken, Charlie Sheen is an intoxicant himself. His interviews, filled with bragging, rambling non sequiturs, are already synonymous with ‘crazy talk’. We know he’s bad for us, but damn if he’s not a magnetic distraction.
And why not? The entirety of his appeal boils down to watching him do things you shouldn’t (or wouldn’t) do. It’s a vicarious thrill. In Wall Street, he broke corporate law and flew high on ill-gotten success. In Major League he was an outlaw rebel with a great pitching arm. Nowadays he plays an irresponsible lout on Two and a Half Men and people love him for it. (I think.)
And there’s no rush quite like the shock and awe that erupts from watching audacious behavior. “He did what? He said that to who?What’ll he do next?”
But the time has come to call it quits. Sheen’s life is resembling art waaaaay too much for it to be funny anymore.
At first glance, he may seem like he’s got it all: He’s a wealthy actor, a father of five, the iconic ‘bad boy’ and playboy, sharing his house with a pair of blondes. He has the luxury of an audience. People are hanging on his every word to see what audacious thing he’ll say next. His twitter account broke world records in sheer numbers of his subscribers.
This is not the whole picture, though. Over the past several days, Sheen’s been dealt enormous blows. The remainder of his show’s season has been cancelled. Following allegeddeath-threats to his estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, he’s now lost custody of his sons, Max and Bob.
This, this right here is where he crosses the line from ‘lovable rogue’ to ‘danger to himself and others’.
Let’s say you know a guy who’s burned bridges with his boss, lost his job, has repeatedly succumbed to a drug problem, makes obnoxious narcissistic claims about being special, alienated his family, lost custody of his children and threatened to murder his wife. Is this someone you’d want to know? Someone you’d want to be like?
Or is it someone you’d keep the hell away from?
