I am not really a follower of pop culture. I think things like “The Jersey Shore” are a waste of time. But, something noteworthy caught my eye on Thursday. Comedy Central is hosting a roast of Charlie Sheen.
At first, I didn't think anything of it. There have been roasts of all kinds of people from David Hasselhoff to Bob Saget. For some reason, the fact that Sheen was going to be on niggled at me.
I suppose if this roast had happened a few years ago, I wouldn't have cared, because a few years ago Charlie Sheen was just another actor. But now, he has become an icon in pop culture, and not for any actual reasons.
Sheen went a little crazy publicly, talked about doing drugs, and said a bunch of stuff that made no sense.
Tiger blood anyone?
Now, I can understand the freak show mentality that would make people fascinated by this man's rapid fall from grace, but what I don't understand is why we idolize him.
He's a nutcase and a drug addict, but Comedy Central is going to have him on and treat his psychosis like it's a joke.
That really irks me. People can write books or make scientific discoveries and no one notices. No one from outside his or her field really notices.
But man, Sheen gives a few crazy interviews and gets fired from his job and presto! Instant fame.
There is a note of seriousness behind the Sheen-mania. By making light of whatever is wrong with Charlie Sheen, and there is clearly something wrong, we are making light of a serious problem. Whether it's the drug abuse or some sort of mental fault that makes Sheen act like he does, it's nothing to laugh at.
And having him on national television to poke fun at his crazy only exacerbates the problem. He clearly loves the spotlight, and acts up in bizarre ways to get it. So perhaps the best idea is not to focus it on him.
While Sheen may never have to face his issues, while he may be able to continue doing interviews and going to roasts for himself and sleeping with his goddesses, thousands of people who suffer from the same issues are not as lucky.
And we don't laugh at them like we do at Sheen. Those are the guys muttering to themselves on the street corner that we awkwardly walk past and try not to see.
Now, I don't mean to be a fun-sucker. I watched Sheen's interviews too.
I actually have a Charlie Sheen soundboard on my phone, so I have participated in the national joke. And it is funny. Winning, tiger's blood, the goddesses, it's all hilarious. But as a nation, we have to admit that it was like laughing at someone falling off their skateboard — hysterical, but at some point you stop laughing and go help them up.
The time has come to help Charlie Sheen up off the ground, and giving him a roast is not the way to do it.
Reach the columnist at omquarr@asu.edu
