What really happened to Charlie Sheen?
As a grandparent with young children who are easily influenced by what they see and hear, I am especially appalled at the news coverage of Charlie Sheen. After all, he is displaying the exact opposite behavior that any of us would want to see in our own children or grandchildren.
And he’s being seen everywhere.
No matter the age of your children, they are likely to hear some comments about the deranged actor. A glimpse of a news clip, comments among adults, one-liners, or places where people talk about Charlie — and trust me there are plenty of places where he’s talked about. Older children and teens are especially mesmerized by his behavior — and his videos, Twitter rants, and the media circus around his every move make it impossible not to catch a glimpse of his behavior.
But what really went wrong with Charlie Sheen?
He says it’s all about tiger blood, warlocks, and other absurdities. He compares himself to God and sees himself as a rock star, and he has somehow found two women willing to live with him as his “goddesses”. His foul language and appearance are hard to hear and look at — but we can’t look away.
The once dashing, adored actor has now become the ridicule of most households. The jokes and laughter directed at his ridiculous behavior are overtaking the airwaves and the Internet all at once.
And he’s gained more popularity now than ever!
Is there a road back?
We have to wonder if there is a way back for Charlie through all of this ridiculous behavior. But we also have to consider that he is potentially at high risk of not recovering from his antics and many have dared to utter their concern that “he is killing himself”.
The sad truth is that this may be true.
Charlie is like a train wreck right now and we are only human. We don’t want to watch the wreck and the carnage, but we can’t help ourselves. We know that it’s wrong to poke fun at someone in such a debilitated condition, but we can’t help it. We capitalize on the jokes and continue to feed his desire for more publicity by joining in (just as this article is doing!).
Bonding and judging
People bond over talking about Charlie and it makes them feel better about themselves. After all, most people don’t have “tiger blood”! Talking about the woes and ridiculous behavior of Charlie is even stress-relieving for those facing difficult life challenges, and even for those who perceive that they live a relatively “normal life”.
And it’s easy to be judgmental of what’s happening with him, while our own family problems pale by comparison.
Charlie Sheen was once a great actor who could humanize characters, bring laughter to the screen, and entertain in many ways. He was dashing, handsome and well-liked. He had the ability to remain grounded even when there were ridiculous situations occurring around him.
But can he find his way back to this place?
Is there hope?
I have to agree with an NBC commentator who pointed out that it’s like asking women to find Mel Gibson sexy and desirable after years of seeing him drunk, abusive and belligerent while filled with foul-language that cuts deep. Just like Mel, Charlie has a lot of baggage to carry around now and it seems as though he has decidedly checked out on reality.
There is always hope as long as a person chooses to seek that path — but for Charlie, that path is fraught with challenges that he is unlikely to overcome because of his lack of living in the ‘real world’. This is a very sad situation and Charlie is in a very bad place right now.
His life hangs in the balance.
But there have been incredible recoveries and inspiring stories in our lifetime, and maybe — just maybe– Charlie will be one of those.
As grandmothers, mothers, and family members, we know that being grounded in reality and having a loving family support group around us is critical. Let’s just hope that Charlie can one day find his way back there too.
Until then, we’ll just have to watch the train wreck continue to unfold — simply because we can’t look away.
