Some while ago a business acquaintance disclosed to me that he was both an alcoholic and addicted to cocaine. I was stunned; but then I realised that the recent unravelling of his life all made sense – the unexplained absences, the mood swings, the cash shortfalls, the ruined personal relationships. Sadly he lost his business, his marriage broke up and his health was permanently impaired before he gave up the drugs and drink.
I have been thinking about all that havoc in the context of the Charlie Sheen affair. There the stakes are much higher and it’s very public. The media coverage is notionally disapproving, yet much of Sheen’s popularity surely rests on his excesses with drink, drugs, prostitutes, porn stars and so forth. It made him notorious, dangerous – and apparently fascinating.
Many live vicariously through the madness of characters like Sheen – apparently 75,000 applied to be his intern. We are almost mass codependents in the game. If you are rich and a celebrity you can boast about getting high – and attract 2m Twitter followers.