Saturday, February 5, 2011

Sex, Drugs and Rock n Roll

Villainizing Charlie Sheen is not the answer.  Or Lindsay Lohan.  Or Paris Hilton.  Or Mel Gibson.  Or any of those other celebrities who do what people with too much money and time on their hands do.  Hell, one of the reasons they're celebrities in the first place is because we've been glamourizing the Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll lifestyle for the past century.  We live vicariously through them, well, maybe not those examples I gave specifically but who hasn't at one point looked to someone famous and thought, "That's what I wanna be when I grow up."  At least for a minute or two before they died in a pool of their own vomit or something.

Celebrities, actors specifically, have historically had reputations as amoral vagabonds and thieves. For hundreds of years they were disrespected and treated near about the same as sideshow freaks.  Charlie Sheen, for example, has probably been doing lines off the ass of anything dressed as a cheerleader in five star hotel rooms since 1984.

But NOW...now that we "invite them into our living rooms" (gack btw) via TV each week, we feel like we should have some jurisdiction on how they live their private lives?  I say no.  It's none of our business.  They get up on stage or in front of the camera, put on the show we paid to see and that's that.  You got your money's worth and that's all you're entitled to.  You want a say in what they do off camera?  Mind your beeswax.  Now go make sure your kid isn't reenacting last week's episode of Skins.