Charlie Sheen: cautionary tale or ‘work hard, play hard’ role model?

Steven Stradbrooke
January 30, 2011
3 Comments

RadarOnline is reporting that Charlie Sheen sent one of its editors a text message regarding his latest brush with indulgence. “I’m fine,” the Two And A Half Men star informed RadarOnline’s Dylan Howard on Friday afternoon, around the time that Sheen was entering rehab. This is Sheen’s third date with rehab in 12 months and means a production shutdown of his immensely popular TV series, which still has eight episodes to film in its current season.

charlie-sheen-work-hard-play-hardSince Charlie entered rehab on Friday, conflicting stories have emerged about specifically what preceded his trip to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center early Thursday morning. A loyal friend of Charlie’s bravely insisted that the actor had aggravated a hernia while laughing at something on television. But adult actress Kacey Jordan told TMZ that Charlie began having ‘severe abdominal pains’ at the tail end of a 36-hour party involving $20k worth of cocaine.

For us, the most notable aspect of this story was the part of Charlie’s text that read: “People don’t seem to get it… Guy can’t have a great time and do his job also? Bunch of turds.” Given that Charlie was texting, we would have opted for the much shorter ‘work hard, play hard,’ but he probably has a fancier and more capable phone than we do, so…

For the record, Charlie is 45, single and stupidly wealthy. He reportedly earns $27m annually from his top-rated comedy program. Frankly, we don’t get the appeal of the show, but whatever. The guy was in two of Oliver Stone’s greatest films and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Charlie’s credit is good with us.

The fact that Charlie’s rehab will interfere with the production of his show is regrettable. The spirit of ‘work hard, play hard’ is maintaining one’s balance. Enjoy yourself all you want, but you have to be able to answer that bell in the morning. Many of us (and presumably some of you) have learned a valuable lesson from partying with Calvin Ayre. He has an inhuman capacity for revelry and imbibing, and you don’t.

Calvin can drink like a fish all night, grab three hours of sleep around dawn and be back banging out emails at 8am, perfectly capable of functioning at a high level. Many of his fellow partiers find themselves functionally useless the next morning, if they manage to rise before noon. Most of these people eventually learn that just because Calvin can carry on that lifestyle, doesn’t mean you can, or should. Moderation may be masturbation, but remaining employed can eventually get you laid, so…

Calvin and Charlie are only a few years apart in age, and they appear to have similar constitutions. Charlie has been doing the TV show for eight years. Considering the excesses of the life he lives off-camera, two temporary work stoppages isn’t an unpardonable sin, it’s a badge of fucking honor. So rest up in rehab, Charlie. Eight more episodes and then you can really cut loose. That said, seriously dude, no more $20k blow bills, a’ight? We ‘work hard, play hard’ types need heroes. We don’t need martyrs.

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Tags: Article, Charlie Sheen, porn star, Two And A Half Men
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