Forums >Off the Beaten Path>Sorry my life is so much more bitchin than yours
Why is it sideways?
I am not sure that you are right here. Honestly, like CliveFenster I skim most of the active threads just to see what's going on. I really haven't paid much attention to this one, but I saw your question and posted. I am not sure I get your question here. Who's pretending? How can you not look at it? It is shoved in our faces (and I don't mean just this thread). I'd be more concerned about the people that look for it.
I am not sure that you are right here. Honestly, like CliveFenster I skim most of the active threads just to see what's going on. I really haven't paid much attention to this one, but I saw your question and posted.
I am not sure I get your question here. Who's pretending? How can you not look at it? It is shoved in our faces (and I don't mean just this thread). I'd be more concerned about the people that look for it.
You are doing a bad job of faking your disinterest, tater.
See, I think that there is no one who is looking for it. You think there are people out there who are looking for Charlie Sheen. I think that Charlie Sheen has come looking for us. He's haunting us, a cultural specter. There's got to be a reason.
Maybe I'm just nuts. But truly I believe that we are interested in Charlie Sheen exactly because something in our national psyche wants to pick him up in order to reject him. Pick him up angularly, never directly. Be interested, but only as a mode of rejection.
Am I just a nutty philosopher here?
an amazing likeness
Gawd, no one gets the question. Obviously he is relatable and quotable -- this is the fact. I want to know what makes him relatable and quotable instead of invisible and forgettable. Again: I am asking about US, not him.
Gawd, no one gets the question.
Obviously he is relatable and quotable -- this is the fact. I want to know what makes him relatable and quotable instead of invisible and forgettable. Again: I am asking about US, not him.
He's white - we like people that look like us.
He speaks (sort of) english -- we feel kinship. He's one of us. He's our tribe.
He's rich -- we're taught to venerate and "ohhh" and "ahh" over people with money.
He's from Hollywood -- there's a whole industry telling us these are people worth our attention. We should want to be like them. Dress like them. Drive their cars. Have their plastic surgery.
He's an actor -- we're conditioned to think that people are their roles.
He's been on throne and may now be falling -- we like to watch others fail.
His issues are issues we can understand and comprehend -- we don't like having to learn what it means to be a 12-year old copper mine worker in Boliva.
Its all about the ease of access; fast food in another package; manipulation of what we consume rather than the consumer choosing.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
I like the color red. I don't know why I like the color red. But I still like the color red even though I don't know why I like the color red.
Sure, but maybe this is only because you have never inquired into the reason why you like it.
I know I like to run. Upon inquiry, I can discover a multiplicity of reasons why I like to run. I'm asking us to inquire.
Lazy idiot
http://www.slate.com/id/2287228/
MTA: Crap, I just posted in the Sheen thread.
Tick tock
Jeff, I think it's because much of what Sheen himself says about the average person is true. The "US" is comprised of many different people. Some really want to see if his brazenness is sustainable. He's like a crash dummy. If it works out, then, cool, maybe they'll try it, too. Others are waiting, even biting at the chomp, for him to crash, so they can be vindicated in their choice of a super-safe life.
I am confident that I am indifferent.
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
He's white - we like people that look like us. He speaks (sort of) english -- we feel kinship. He's one of us. He's our tribe. He's rich -- we're taught to venerate and "ohhh" and "ahh" over people with money. He's from Hollywood -- there's a whole industry telling us these are people worth our attention. We should want to be like them. Dress like them. Drive their cars. Have their plastic surgery. He's an actor -- we're conditioned to think that people are their roles. He's been on throne and may now be falling -- we like to watch others fail. His issues are issues we can understand and comprehend -- we don't like having to learn what it means to be a 12-year old copper mine worker in Boliva. Its all about the ease of access; fast food in another package; manipulation of what we consume rather than the consumer choosing.
Okay, this is better.
You wanna know what I think? I think that it's because we ARE Charlie Sheen.
Except for us, it's not hookers and blow, it's credit cards and coffee. But it's the same emptiness. The same mania. Running around looking for the next high, not quite sure what's next for us. Charlie Sheen is America: amped up on narcotics, teetering on the brink of total destruction. He is a perfect image of all of our fears about America. That our freedom and democracy were just a sitcom act--that underneath it was really all about the nihilistic pursuit of pleasure and instant gratification.
So, we laugh at Charlie, we mock Charlie, we spit on Charlie--we make him into someone else. We pity Charlie. So we don't have to see the Charlie in ourselves.
That's what I think.
Prince of Fatness
As it concerns my view of the Sheen situation, yes, I think that you are reading too much into what I am writing. Of course I can only speak for myself.
I only know about this because it's all over the media. I look at it and I find it sad. Nothing else, really. I hope that he gets help.
Not at it at all.
Ostrich runner
I actually genuinely like the guy. I do think he says what many of us want to, but then I also spend a good portion of my day helping addicts and crazy people. I'm not sure that if I had what he had through his younger years that I would have done it differently, and I doubt that if I had I would regret it. I mean Rob Lowe probably has pulled it off a little better, but Charlie sure showed River how it's done. Celebrities are better when the burn bright and then out. We could have watched Jimi get carpal tunnel and fat, heard Cobain sing beach tunes, and watched Notorious B.I.G. compete on Celebrity Fit Club, but we're richer for having not.
http://www.runningahead.com/groups/Indy/forum
Okay, this is better. You wanna know what I think? I think that it's because we ARE Charlie Sheen. Except for us, it's not hookers and blow, it's credit cards and coffee. But it's the same emptiness. The same mania. Running around looking for the next high, not quite sure what's next for us. Charlie Sheen is America: amped up on narcotics, teetering on the brink of total destruction. He is a perfect image of all of our fears about America. That our freedom and democracy were just a sitcom act--that underneath it was really all about the nihilistic pursuit of pleasure and instant gratification. So, we laugh at Charlie, we mock Charlie, we spit on Charlie--we make him into someone else. We pity Charlie. So we don't have to see the Charlie in ourselves. That's what I think.
...you are a professional thinker, it shows.
Sure, but maybe this is only because you have never inquired into the reason why you like it. I know I like to run. Upon inquiry, I can discover a multiplicity of reasons why I like to run. I'm asking us to inquire.
Yeah, I get that. And I understand it's in your nature to ask these types of questions. But not everything has to be an object of philosophical thought. Some things just "is." I'm not saying this topic just "is." But some things just are not important enough to attach a deeper meaning.
But let Jeff be Jeff. No problem with that. But not everyone is a Jeff—is that bad? Is that good?
I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves. The enemy was in us.
Runners run
Yeah, I get that. And I understand it's in your nature to ask these types of questions. But not everything has to be an object of philosophical thought. Some things just "is." I'm not saying this topic just "is." But some things just are not important enough to attach a deeper meaning. But let Jeff be Jeff. No problem with that. But not everyone is a Jeff—is that bad? Is that good?
It's good. Very good. And not everybody has to pay attention to Charlie Sheen. Not even Tater.
You wanna know what I think? I think that it's because we ARE Charlie Sheen. Except for us, it's not hookers and blow, it's credit cards and coffee.
Except for us, it's not hookers and blow, it's credit cards and coffee.
No, it's hookers and blow. For me, anyway.
I get your question. I disagree with your opinion that no one goes looking for Sheen news -- I think a sizable chunk of folks DO go looking on Yahoo, TMZ, People, and wherever the hell such news is found. Others have posted on possible motives: fascination with a celebrity life we'll never have, envy, satisfaction that someone with that celebrity life has problems, ...
I will admit to being briefly fixated by the whole Tiger Woods crash. But I actually played golf, and I had enormous respect for his immense talent and the way he dominated his competition. That someone with such an outwardly "perfect" life could piss it all away was unexpected (to me, at least). But the interest didn't sustain -- after a while, you just feel like you're a little too interested in watching someone else falter and you're maybe enjoying it a little. And that's not cool, even if the guy is a douche.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
GreyBeard
I am interested in Sheenmania, less what it says about him, more what it says about us. Why are we transfixed by Sheen at this historical moment? Answers, please.
I am interested in Sheenmania, less what it says about him, more what it says about us.
Why are we transfixed by Sheen at this historical moment?
Answers, please.
While acting manic, I do think he is being honest with his opinions. I think we all wish we had the b@lls to say what we think and for that I personally get fixated on what he says.
2020
No, it's hookers and blow. For me, anyway. I get your question. I disagree with your opinion that no one goes looking for Sheen news -- I think a sizable chunk of folks DO go looking on Yahoo, TMZ, People, and wherever the hell such news is found. Others have posted on possible motives: fascination with a celebrity life we'll never have, envy, satisfaction that someone with that celebrity life has problems, ...
Right. Maybe it is all just straightforward celebrity lust.
But these are all general explanations--nothing specific to Charlie Sheen. The Sheen phenomenon seems to me to have gone beyond the typical meme of the day status.
For example, Tiger Woods was easier to explain. The guy had talent that was never seen before. He is global news all the time.
But B-list actors blow up literally weekly. Yet, somehow THIS B-list blow up made it to RA. It's on letsrun. It's on talk radio, the news--my college students who don't even know that Egypt had a revolt know about this. It's on the basis of these sorts of special facts that I felt further, more specific inquiry was in order and more than general explanations are required to make sense of it.
A spade is just a spade. I get it. But I find it hard to write this off as just the next topic in the daily news. A B-list blow up is just a B list blow up. Except when it's not.