Poor Charlie Sheen ?

I really don't know if I should feel sorry for Cahrlie Sheen or not. I mean he's 'winning' right and who feels sorry for winners? No one, because they won, and we are supposed to feel bad for losers only. Maybe  I should just feel bad for laughing at him and  the ridiculous things he has said.

Maybe I am feeling a little bit of  Schadenfreude  (the term in German for taking pleasure in the misery of others, often translated as 'shameful joy'.) I feel like I shouldn't be laughing, but I am anyways, which reminds me of Hoschilds idea of 'feeling rules'. According to Arlie Hoschild (1979), our emotions and reactions are governed by 'feeling rules.' this theory basically says that people will manage their emotions in order to feel the emotion that is appropriate to the situation. But what am I supposed to do if I can't figure out if my reactions are appropriate in the first place. I'm going to blame my lack of knowledge of appropriate emotional behaviour on my culture.

 This dilemma, I am arguing, has been created by a culture that regularly derives joy from watching the once successful fail. We love to read magazines about who has 'gotten fat' and who's husband cheated on them. We can get pleasure from knowing that someones else's life, at least for the moment, is worse than our own;  but only if that person once occupied a status better than our own. If Charlie Sheen had never been famous and was simply a (possibly) recovering addict, I certainly would not laugh at his situation.   When I laugh at someone, like Charlie Sheen  (who I would argue is in need of some psychological guidance) I do feel a bit guilty, but only a little bit. I think that I have decided that that tiny bit of guilt can be successfully stowed away so that I can enjoy myself if only for a minute.  I think I will continue to make jokes about being 'on a drug named Charlie Sheen' and 'bi winning' and having a brain that "fires in a way that is not from this particular realm."

For the Charlie Sheen interview that this blog is based on, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSa4tmVNM