So, I admit to watching a couple Charlie Sheen interviews and spoofs over the last couple of days. And I’ve laughed, and tsk-tsk-ed and shaken my head. but on second consideration I’m wondering why we’re all stunned, shocked, amused or sad for the guy?
It shouldn’t be remotley stunning, shocking, funny or sad that Charlie is riding this particular ride. What’s amazing, given our current culture is that most of us are NOT.
I got in the car to drive my daughter to a cheerleading competition today and in the drive over (40 minutes including the 10 we spent driving in circles) I heard Nicleback reminding us for the millionth time that:
…. we all just wanna be big rockstars
Livin’ in hilltop houses driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap
We’ll all stay skinny cause we just won’t eat
And we’ll hang out in the coolest bars
In the VIP with the movie stars
Every good gold digger’s
Gonna wind up there
Every Playboy bunny
with her bleach blonde hair
And we’ll hide out in the private rooms
With the latest dictionary
in today’s who’s who
We’ll get you anything
with that evil smile
Everybody’s got a
drug dealer on speed dial
well..
Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar
I’m gonna sing those songs
that offend the censors
Gonna pop my pills
from a Pez dispenser
Get washed-up singers writing all my songs
Lip sync ’em every night so I don’t get ’em wrong
And then not 10 minutes later Ricky J just had to tell us about his wonderful life:
oh-oh what a night
i’m feelin’ fly
we got the party started and we goin’ over-time
we at the bar, we doin’ shots, shots
we with these girls
you know they hot, hot
oh-oh what a night
you got your hands up high
we gonna party like it nineteen n-n- ninety nine
we at the bar, we doin’ shots, shots
we with these girls
you know they hot, hot, hot…
So, we’re pumping our kids (and ourselves apparently – I knew all the words) full of the idea that their heros spend their lives getting high and getting laid, we laugh along with Charlie playing himself on Two and A Half Men – and admit it, you like Charlie way more than his goofy nerd brother what’s his name. One of my daughter’s favourite shows is watching a housefull of mentally pre-pubescent adults drink them selves stupid every evening on ‘Jersey Shore’ with the sole life purpose of obtaining tight abs, clean clothes and fake tans so as to up their chances of hooking up at the aptly named club “Karma”.
And we have the extreem hypocracy to diss Charlie sheen for unapologetically adopting this very lifestyle with all the resources at his disposal (resources we handed him delightedly for being exactly who he is may I remind you) And then we shake our heads in wonder that he doesn’t feel BAD, TERRIBLE, GUILTY for doing so.
Come on people.
Which ones of us are more messed up here? We all know there’s actually something rather compelling about Chuck. Here’s what I think it is. He’s unapologetic. He’s made his choice he takes full responsibility for it and he doesn’t give two flying hoots what the rest of us think about it. We keep sending him money and fame so why should he? Charlie Sheen, you have to admit it, is living life at full permission. It may not be a life I choose for myself. Mostly because I make up that I enjoy the rush of a full speed downhill run in command of my senses more than I’d enjoy banging one of Charlie’s 8 gram rocks. But what do I know? I’ve never banged an 8 gram rock.
He’s living at full permission, guilt free. Now maybe his ability to do that is a little drug induced but you know what? We’re all a little jealous.
Now, I’m not advocating going on a drug and porn-star-filled tear. (Unless that is your true sole ambition in life) but what I AM advocating is that we take a page from Charlie’s book of no-apology. How many of us have dreams we’re not allowing ourselves to dream? How many of us are allowing our true, full, self expression to be constrained by guilt and fear of judgement or fear of failure or fear of being judged for failing or Gawd only knows what else. How many of us have hopes and aspirations that might even be valuable to others, to our culture, to our world and we’re immobalized because we won’t allow ourselves to live at full permission?
That’s how to admire Charlie Sheen. Come on out of the shadows, we’ve all got a little tiger blood!