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Sparkle (3)
After his sitcom Two and a Half Men shut down production, Charlie Sheen's public breakdown -- or whatever it is that's going in -- has been widely documented on a number of televised and radio interviews. And by "widely documented," I mean Charlie Sheen is everywhere. Everywhere. Just try to escape the Sheen this week. Go ahead, try.
© Ringo Chiu/ZUMAPRESS.com
In addition to a glut of media coverage, Sheen's outlandish statements have also become a Internet meme. Websites like Live the Sheen Dream have sprung up to generate quotes; parodies (fake New Yorker cartoons, Tweets, Sheen poetry) are flying; YouTube videos are being forwarded and Sheen's own newly created official Twitter account is in on the act. His follower count ballooned by at least half a million in a matter of hours, and he is using the very hashtags (#tigerblood, #winning) that were started as a parody of him.
Questions..? I'm here for my people..! Bring it!!
#Tigerblood
Charlie Sheen
charliesheen
A lot of rubbernecking is going on, and there is also a great deal of criticism about our own addiction to celebrity schadenfreude and the cynical attention we are giving what might be a manic episode, drug-related fugue, dangerous decline or ridiculously sick attempt at a celebrity prank.
It all prompts a lot of questions. Given all of the possibilities and his history of drug abuse and violence, is it wrong that we are directing our attention and humor at Charlie Sheen? What does it say, if anything, about our culture that so many are obsessed with his drama? Is social media focused on celebrity culture encouraging an environment of casual condemnation and inhumane response?
It certainly seems to be acceptable to laugh -- even the official Red Cross Twitter account joked about Sheen's #tigerblood. Is this the new normal?
We may not collect #tigerblood, but we know our donors & volunteers have fierce passion for doing good! #RedCrossMonth
American Red Cross
RedCross
New York Magazine published an interesting piece exploring our collective confusion about the ethics, repulsion and compelling draw of Sheen's crisis:
But what's really entertaining us? Did you see him last night on 20/20? When he said, "I'm different. I have a different brain, different heart. I have tiger blood, man. Dying's for fools. I'm proud of what I created [by partying so hard]. That was radical," you could laugh about his hubris or his tiger blood, but it's such a profoundly idiotic thing to say: Dying isn't for fools, it's for everyone! And, that's the real dark side of this whole spectacle: Dying is also for Charlie Sheen. Face it, this is a guy who could die. Just look at him!
You're taking this way too seriously. He's not going to die. I totally have him in my celebrity death pool just in case, though.
Part of what is happening with the Internet memes and Twitter trending at Sheen's expense might be some good old-fashioned gallows and black humor. Freud said that gallows humor was a human response to the need to protect ourselves from and process the head-on horror of traumatic topics. Breton said that black humor was a way of experiencing both discomfort and pleasure at the same time, which is both a way of embracing and making sense of the absurd and a way of approaching and metabolizing taboo topics.
That can be healthy.It can also be a way of distancing ourselves
