I must admit, and I am a little ashamed of it now, that I had a few chuckles at Charlie Sheen’s expense a little while ago when some of his rants were published. Vatican Assassins, F-18 and such.
I am not laughing anymore because this isn’t funny.
The pictures above (via Drudge) are from a web cam video Charlie did tonight after news of his formal firing aired earlier this evening. This is a man in deep deep trouble and in desperate need of our prayers and help.
There is a really troubling article in the New York Times today about the coterie of enablers that have surrounded Sheen for years and have done nothing to help. They have done nothing for one simple reason. Money. Long-time recovering addict Tom Arnold tells it this way.
“I went to a person close to him and said, ‘This guy is in serious trouble with serious drugs. We’ve got to help him,’ ” Mr. Arnold recalled in an interview. “And this person flat-out told me to my face, ‘We make a lot of money from him. I can’t be part of it.’ That tells you everything you need to know.”
Wow. What an indictment of everything. The culture, the industry, you name it.
This is a man in serious trouble and who is going to die unless someone can help him .
When I made those jokes two weeks ago, I thought it was simply the rant of a man on drugs. That doesn’t excuse it, but I had no idea the trouble he is in. I probably still don’t understand fully now, but I know it’s bad.
A while ago, when Britney Spears was going through something similar, comedian Dennis Miller remarked that he no longer does Britney Spears jokes because he doesn’t want to be the last comedian to joke about her before she dies.
Fortunately Britney did not die and I pray that Charlie Sheen will not either. But I can say one thing, it is no laughing matter.
March 8, 2011 at 5:43 am
Tom Cruise bouncing on a sofa and spouting off with Scientology is one thing. Watching a man go through a meltdown on webcam and E!TV is another thing entirely. Cruise is simply wierd; Charlie is in the grip of something truly evil.
I'm thinking the BVM and St. Jude (as this is truly a desperate situation).
March 8, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Charlie looks like he's possessed by the devil in those pics… although it's probably the demons of drugs and alcohol, rather than the 'horned one'.
I must admit I do like Charlie Sheen's work in movies and TV-shows. I hope he'll manage to win the fight over his addictions.
March 8, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Celebrity reporting and reality tv are the new gladiatorial games. We will not be happy unless they entertain us by destroying themselves or others.
March 8, 2011 at 1:06 pm
I can't help but think go Michael Jackson and Howard Hughes, both of whose mental illness was enabled and covered up those who would profit from it. Truly sad, and makes me glad that I'm not rich. Sometimes it is healthier to be without.
March 8, 2011 at 1:07 pm
"go" = "of"
March 8, 2011 at 1:44 pm
Watching Sheen the past couple of weeks really makes you appreciate the stellar job Christian Bale did in The Fighter – he nailed the addict persona.
Martin Sheen's heart is breaking. Nobody wins in this situation.
March 8, 2011 at 2:08 pm
May we ask Mary the Queen of Heaven to intercede on his behalf and on behalf of all those who are enslaved by sin to repent and return to the love of the God; Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Only Mary can summon the Seven Choirs of Angels to defend the defenseless in this ancient spiritual battle. It's not just Charlie or Hollywood who needs help. It is everyone of us who is enslaved to sin.
March 8, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Other people's misfortune is not our entertainment
March 8, 2011 at 3:01 pm
Yeah, I agree.
I never found all of this funny in the first place, and the fact it's gone on this long is just sad. Shame on Hollywood and shame on the people who enable this behavior.
March 8, 2011 at 4:36 pm
The other thing is I think the Sheen / Spears incidents show with celebrities what is wrong with our country's mental health laws. These aren't people who are just slightly off, rather many a commentator has expressed concern regarding their deaths. Unfortunately, they cannot be forced to get help until after they have actually tried to harm themselves and by then it is often too late.
March 8, 2011 at 6:37 pm
Mr. Archbold, great post — never too late to say, "Hey, sorry we laughed, now let's rally the prayer warriors!" Karen from Denver
March 8, 2011 at 7:03 pm
Wait, you're not really saying that there's something WRONG with the profit motive, are you? Why, it would be SOCIALISM to say that people shouldn't be free to make money any way they can! You don't want someone to LOOK AFTER Charlie Sheen (seeing as he can't look after himself) do you? Like a nanny or something? Next thing you know, we'll have a NANNY STATE providing health care and full employment and all kinds of social justice that will JUST MAKE PEOPLE SOFT!
Don't you see, Pat, as soon as you question that profit motive you are embracing SOCIALISM!!!!!!
March 8, 2011 at 9:15 pm
Medical intervention to prevent someone showing serious psychological problems from committing suicide does not require SOCIALISM tin the government permitting the medical intervention.
TeaPot562
March 8, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Like Charlie, I was in the grip of alcoholism; alcohol had become my master. But surrendering to the love of God freed me from this obsession, an obsession that finds its base in egoism, seeing self as radically different from others. I believe it was my mother's prayers that moved God to grace me and let me see the truth about myself. Let us all pray for Charlie.
March 8, 2011 at 10:35 pm
I stood on the sideline while my husband battled addiction. Yes, one night I thought he might die, his breathing was very bad. We went to the hospital once or twice because he was having a 'panic attack' because of the drugs.
Now, by the grace of God, he has stayed clean almost 4 years.
Having suffered through all of that, with young children, (I wouldn't wish that on my worse enemy), I find nothing humorous about addiction or the drugs that lead to addiction.
As to the commercial – 'you deserve it' – Nobody deserves being enslaved to addiction. Nobody wins.
btw, it's not socialism to step in when somebody is committing suicide, it's heroic; it's charity.
March 8, 2011 at 10:50 pm
People who do drugs are supposed to be the humble underdogs of society. – In your mind that is.
Charlie refuses to play that part.
He won`t bow down to anyone in a perverted society that has taken away his kids and his God-given right to be the master of hus family. No. No way. No how. No.
The bible says you should not bow down to anyone but God. Wether you are on drugs or not.
Charlie doesn`t bow down to anyone but God. Not to his ex-wife. Not to the media. Not to the wanna-be psychiatrist. No one.
Instead he does excactly as the bible tells him. He has given away a fortune to those in need, and he does not bow down to ANYONE but the Lord Himself.
March 8, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Charlie needs to give up the refined cocaine and replace it with Coca leaf.
March 8, 2011 at 11:09 pm
Anonymous said 'he has given away a fortune to those in need' — yep, he gave away his children, his life, his dignity…
Come on… He's not bowing down to God, but to Satan, by destroying his body and any one who gets in the way of him and his drugs.
March 8, 2011 at 11:14 pm
One tends to forget that we all are addicted to something.
We are addicted to air, food and water.
This is not a problem as long as you have air, food and water. I my self is addicted to cigarettes and sleeping-pills on top of that.
As long as I have my air, food, water, cigarettes and sleeping-pills, the world is actually no problem. Some people are addicted to other substances. charlie may or may not belong to that category. We don`t know.
What we do know is this: None of us are free from the matter of existence it self. No one can live without air, food or water.
An addiction in it self should not be considered a sin. If you think so, just hold your breath until you change your mind. You need air and is thus an addict wether you want to face it or not.
What Charlie needs is respect for the fact that he needs a few extra substances in his life, to keep spinning.
There is no difference between someone who has diabetes and someone who needs heroin.
We all do things to keep the pain away. Some breathe, some shoot or snort.
So please, stop being so God-damned self righteous and respect Charlie inspite of him possibly needing a few extra things to keep going.
He should in no way be ashamed for what he is doing.
You should be ashamed, for trying to make him feel bad about himself.
Charlie does not hurt anyone. All he does is live his life and speak his mind unhumbly.
We should all respect this man for showing that you can be on drugs and live happily anyway, and remember that all the problems that supposed drugaddicts have, is mostly caused by a society that has already doomed them to failure.
If drug-addictions were viewed in the same way as diabetes is, we would say "here, take your drugs and be happy". Instead we have accumulated just about every possible stigmatic expectance there is, and when someone stands tall, despite a little extra substance-use,
you all go off your rocker, wanting him secretly to end up dead to proove yourself right.
March 8, 2011 at 11:28 pm
And before you start to condemn ANYONE for needing extra stuff to keep going, try to keep in mind that the only reason we are not under nazi-rule today, is because Winston Churchill managed to keep his cool througout the war.
And he did so with the help of an entire bottle of whiskey a day.
Had you taken that bottle away from him, you might as well have joined the third reich voluntarily.
Hitler, on the other hand, did not drink. Or do any drugs at all. Witch one did you prefer?
The alcoholic, – or The Anti-christ?