RAMBLE: Help Rather Than Profit From Charlie Sheen



SOURCE: Huffington Post


The story of Charlie Sheen just keeps getting more bizarre with each passing day.  Frankly, I haven't been paying too much attention to the constant media buzz because the media is making money off of a man that is clearly sick.  The cameras and television interviews merely fuel Charlie Sheen's antics and weird behavior rather than allow himself and those who really do care about him to get help and hopefully heal.

Yes, the whole drinking of tiger's blood, his goddesses, porn star pals, and Two and a Half Men drama are making the headlines, but what happens when the cameras stop snapping pictures and ignore the crazy man on top of the rook wielding a machete and yelling, "free at last...free at last?"  Hollywood is unfortunately full of a lot of sick and self-destructive celebrities who crave the camera's attention, so Charlie Sheen is just one of many.  At the rate that he's going, some of the damage he's done may be irreparable.

Let's say Charlie Sheen gets sober, receives psychological help, and takes his sobriety and mental illness issues (I am only guessing this) serious.  Will that be enough for him to get his life back again?  And yes, again because this isn't the first time he had to battle addiction.  His two year-old twin sons were removed from his palatial home in ritzy Mulholland Estates by California Child Protective Services.  I don't think CPS workers get many calls to remove children in that neighborhood.  This is not a mere custody dispute between him and his ex-wife because now the State of California is involved.  He will eventually have to prove to the State that he is healthy enough to gain and maintain contact with his children.  This is not so easy to prove when you are on the roof waiving a machete in the air.

Charlie Sheen was recently fired from the hit television show, Two and a Half Men on CBS.  Warner Bros. Television submitted an 11-page letter to Sheen's attorney to justify terminating Sheen from the show.  According to People.com, the letter describes various attempts made by the show producers to help him by visiting his home, reaching out to his family, giving him time off and even making a private plane available to take him to rehab after his partying ended with him in the hospital.  The letter goes on to state that along the way, he has lost considerable weight, missed rehearsals, flubbed lines, and made inflammatory comments directed towards the show's co-creator, Chuck Lorre.  Even after considerable rehabilitation and therapy, it will take Charlie Sheen some time to prove himself hire-able rather than a liability.

And then there is his family.  When Charlie Sheen ended up in the hospital after complaining of severe stomach pains about a month ago, his father, Martin Sheen practically cried for help.  His son's spiraling behavior appeared all too familiar for the elder Sheen as he's seen his son go down this destructive path one too many times.  His ex-wife, Denise Richards has two little girls with him and is reportedly very worried about her former husband and wisely keeping their daughters away from their father for the time being.  What must the girls think and how will all of this eventually affect them?  While you can never sever the love you have with your family members, trust can be broken.  It will take Charlie Sheen some time to rebuild that trust.

I'm not saying that it will be impossible for Charlie Sheen to get his life back.  Robert Downey, Jr. was a raging drug addict a long time ago and considered unemployable in Hollywood after he got sober because hiring him was too risky, not to mention the high insurance price tag attached to that risk.  However, he persevered and is now back on top.  Anything is possible because when there is a will there is a way.  The question is whether Charlie Sheen has the will and wants to find the way.

As the cameras continue to camp outside of Charlie Sheen's mansion and his Twitter followers anxiously wait for his next tweet, I think the whole situation is sad and very disconcerting.  NBC and ABC have hit record number of viewers for their Dateline and 20/20 exclusive interviews with him and as a result, have profitted from his illness.  I say, turn the cameras off and stop following his every move so  that he may get the help that he so desperately needs.  That's just my humble opinion.