Are You Not Entertained?

I am certain that each day on the spinning orb many human souls are rapidly unravelling as their mental illness grows and becomes them. In my town I see evidence of this claim almost daily. Rarely is this private process presented as a spectator sport, but for mega-star Charlie Sheen it would seem like he chose it to be this way.

I had been hearing about it for some time and finally saw a 'Dateline' expose the other night. With media holding vigil in his yard, Sheen is giving interviews to anyone and everyone, one at a time. His lunatic quotes are spilling faster than can be printed on t-shirt canvas and sold as memento. In an article entitled, 'Sheenglish', Christopher Beam dissects Sheen's spell of recent statements categorized by the persona's he has played out in movie roles/L.A. life; Stoner surfer philosopher, Sports commentator, Military buff, English professor, Self-help guru, Cult leader, and Slam poet.

What is it though, that makes all of this so fascinating? Why play into this sad, high profile sideshow (clearly if I'm taking the time to blog about it I have). Yeah, I know, the shelf life for antics of this magnitude is quite short, but a bit longer than the 15 minutes Andy Warhol afforded the common man. If you become a culture jamming folkhero by stealing their arsenal and throwing it back at them I think you get a week and a half of fame. Soon this will be a passe event though memorialized as a bizarre occurrence that stole our attention in the late winter of 2011. The media will pull their tents and move on to the next sideshow that steals all attention from real unfolding news.

Distraction is a sad drug indeed....and bearing witness to a man's slow descension into madness should not be entertaining. So why then am I entertained? Yuck!

Sheenglish: http://www.slate.com/id/2287380/
A quote generator has been built at: http://livethesheendream.com/