Charlie's Darker Angels

As one of many bloggers in the overcrowded blogosphere spewing out personal observations and opinions, I am often challenged to find topics that either have not already been covered relentlessly in the media, or to find a new angle on that same story. In the strange case of Charlie Sheen, it's almost impossible to achieve latter, and just as impossible to avoid the former.

Sheen's apparent sojourn from reality, be it drug induced or otherwise, is perfect fodder for the multi-billion dollar tabloid news industry. It is a veritable cache of diamonds in the usual scrapheap of celebrity narcissism. Sheen's rants are a gushing oil well of soundbytes, and as the author rightfully contends (for different reasons) are pure gold.

What's troubling in all of this, is that the story has becoming so deeply entrenched in the current news cycle, it's hard not to address it. It's provided more that a few entertainers, and even smart-asses like myself, great comic material. In fact there seems to be a rather long line up of media outlets feeding ravenously on the hype trough courtesy of Sheen's career meltdown.

I recently saw an ESPN documentary titled simply June 17, 1994. The film, part of ESPN Film's 30 for 30 series, focussed specifically on the police pursuit of O.J. Simpson in the now infamous 'White Ford Bronco.' The doc revisits the circus like atmosphere that fell upon the city of Los Angeles that day. People crowded onto overpasses and at the side of the freeway, cheering Simpson on. In a piece of news footage captured just after Simpson returned to his Brentwood estate, two people could be seen running gleefully down the street to witness the action. At the time, Simpson was in the back of the vehicle purportedly with a gun to his head, threatening suicide.

The O.J. Simpson story is not just a celebrity train wreck, it was about two violent murders. Yet somehow that aspect seems strangely secondary to the story. Something clearly changed in popular culture in the aftermath of the O.J. Simpson case, something that has widened the chasm between celebrities and the general public.

Since then, there have been more than a few career meltdowns, rebounds and relapses. Witness Britney Spears, Whitney Houston and the multiple career implosions of Mel Gibson, among others.

It's no surprise that when Joaquin Phoenix told the world in 2009 he was walking away from his successful acting career to become a hip-hop artist, celebrity-watchers bought into the ruse hook, line and sinker. It was a hoax of course, a creative deception to create the Casey Affleck mockumentary I'm Still Here, which followed the disastrous results of Phoenix's fake career choice. The film ultimately bombed, but the point was made that one more celebrity losing their marbles in the glare of the spotlight is virtually irresistible to media and entertainment consumers.

Charlie Sheen's predicament is just another, perhaps more fascinating, but no more unusual, celebrity tailspin. These days, knowing the extent to which celebrities will go to garner public attention (ie: sex tapes) who knows what's true any more? Maybe this just be another ruse for publicity's sake?

Should we even care?

Well, the ancient Greeks certainly enjoyed a good tragedy, and with today's technology we can watch it all unfold in the comfort of our living rooms. And since reality has become the new fiction, what's the harm?

I don't know Charlie Sheen the person. Not sure I want to. But because his reality is one I could never know, or understand, because he is rich beyond what any one of us could imagine, does that make it okay for me to dismiss him, or those around him?

Sheen's rambling speeches have, of late, sounded increasingly violent, and his self-portrayal as some form of earth-bound deity are enough to raise a few red flags. Maybe it's an act, can't say for sure, but this is a man with children and several devoted hangers-on, so what if it isn't? If this were someone without celebrity status, I doubt any one of us would find it very entertaining.

By now, our society ought to have figured out that mental illness, drug-induced or not, can lead to dangerous consequences if left untreated. I have known people who have lived with schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, and they will tell you that if this is the case, Sheen truly believes in what he is saying and that his actions will follow whatever that belief informs him to do. As the borders between delusion and reality eventually dissolve so too does the ability to distinguish between right from wrong.

People keep referring to this situation as a train wreck, but my concern is that the real wreck is yet to come.

I just don't want to be caught track-side cheering it on.