So I was walking the dogs with my friend Kerry, and truly out of the blue, because she doesn't even follow the celebrity stuff like I do, she says, "How come Lindsay Lohan and Britney are drunken bimbos but with Charlie Sheen it's boys will be boys?"
With Lindsay out of rehab but back in trouble and Charlie, back in rehab, sorta, and still in trouble, I decided to ask around.
Bob Thompson is Director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University:
"Yes it's a double standard," he says, "Charlie Sheen is from the silent film era -- he's a rounder, he gets drunk and stumbles -- Chaplin played this character. This idea of the dissolute, drunken and fun-loving guy who always manages to get caught -- just out there sowing wild oats -- and he plays that character to great effect on his show."
In other words, he says, "What we hear confirms how we see him on his show -- there's a lack of dissonance that makes people just not that outraged, unlike, when Michael Richards (aka Kramer) went on that racist rant -- I was never able to watch him on Seinfeld again but if I turn on Two and a Half Men it's just like a scripted form of TMZ from the night before!"
Rationally, he says, "We should be more sympathetic to a Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, only because we can say Charlie's a grownup and should know better, but it just isn't so. We've watched these young women grow up, there is this "child star gone bad" element, and Lindsay has been quite contentious, said and done things that invite the desire to see her knocked down a few pegs."
Dr. Carole Leiberman is a Beverly Hills psychiatrist and author of Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them and How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets. She agrees there is a boys will be boys attitude versus a jumping on women for doing similar things.
"I'm wondering if it could be because men still have more control in Hollywood and feel more taken advantage of, more vulnerable and more angry at girls and women who are 'bad'."
She continues: "Men have been hurt by women like Britney and Lindsay, men who control what gets on the news, they have had their hearts broken by these bad girls yet continue to have fantasies about enjoying the life of the bad boys," she says, "and the news would be more skewed to naughty girls than Charlie just being a bad boy."
Yana Walton, Vice President of Communications for the Women's Media Center gets pretty specific.
"The media has always glorified men's misbehavior, and the underlying assumption is that women actually like the 'bad boy,' or that this behavior is somehow humorous. Yet what this does is legitimize violence and abuse of women," she says.
"Conversely, when women stars struggle with addiction and the destructive behaviors that ensue, the story is framed as a voyeuristic decline for viewers to generate entertainment value from, rather than addressing a society where women in the spotlight experience much more pressure than men to have perfect bodies, relationships, and behavior," she says, and adds, "Such coverage further exacerbates the problem."
Dr. John Sharp is a Harvard psychiatrist and Executive Medical Director at Bridges to Recovery in Los Angeles and the author of The Emotional Calendar. He emphasizes that has not treated Sheen, Lohan or Spears but offers this:
"I do have that sense that guys can get away with this more -- especially in terms of work. Charlie Sheen is showing up," he says, "and he seems to handle his PR a little better. He hasn't been an angel by any means but when asked about it he has an answer and a shrug."
Lindsay Lohan, on the other hand, "Has coming of age star struggles... and while Charlie has had his share of legal troubles Lindsay has had difficulty trying to face up to her legal problems, when she defies judges orders people react differently."
Dr. Sharp points to an extra edge to Sheen's popular notoriety. "His combination of alcohol, sex, drugs and porn is, in a way, consistent with a certain sub cultural idolatry."
Everyone I spoke to offered real sympathy and compassion for the difficult combinations of addictions and celebrity.
"It's like watching a train wreck, like Anna Nicole Smith," says Dr. Carole, "What's so sad about Charlie Sheen besides the fact he has these very strong addictions is that he's such a successful actor but really so miserable inside. For all his money and all the esteem he is held in he can't form fulfilling relationships, he picks these women who are Barbie dolls. There is a lot of comedy in Two and Half Men but even on the show he's wistful about wanting a relationship and not being able to have one. In real life it's not as funny."
And Dr. Sharp points to the near-crippling levels of enabling that go on in Hollywood. "One of the big problems with celebrity is you think you live in a consequence free environment with people who yes you and want a piece of you. It's easy to lose touch with reality."
Equal rights demons for the wealthy, hot and famous but it still seems like the guys get more of a free pass.
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Sheen represents megalomania, and now threats of violence.
Lohan exhibits some megalomania but I don't recall her threatening anyone with violence.
Sheen is clearly the more disturbed. I've joked with friends that he and Lohan are actually engaged in a competition, and he's winning the downward spiral.
I don't see anything like "boys will be boys" here. My friends, male and female alike, think he's a very sick and disturbed man.
Here's some more modern (and enlightened) alternatives:
"Even 'Wall Street traders' have achieved more civil rights..."
"Even 'hedge fund investors' have achieved more civil rights..."
"Even 'Halliburton' has achieved more civil rights..."
"Even 'coke-and-hooker loving sitcom stars' have achieved more civil rights..."
"Even 'The Real Housewives of (insert city)' have achieved more civil rights..."
You get the drill. I'm here all week.
While I don't consider any of these people role models - with the exception of maybe Robert Downey Jr. because he managed to get cleaned up and seems very happy and successful now - it is very hard to live in contantly in the spotlight with cameras following you everywhere and people willing to sell them out to any rag mag that will pay. It seems that especially with young stars they are not getting proper guidance, especially Lohan and her nutzo family, that they really need to live and work in hollywood.
Very much a double standard.
The double standard is fading as I can't find any examples of womenizers who the public actually likes. Look at the Jersey Shore. The men and women on that show are both extremely promiscuous and neither are favorably viewed. Nobody wants to be like any of them unless they're idiots. So I don't buy this line that these men have it easier in the media.
Sure, there are high profile playboy celebrities like George Clooney, but for the most part he stays in serious relationships and for each male celebrity you find, there is another example of a female celebrity who does the same thing and is also viewed well. Look at Jennifer Aniston. She's been in how many relationships in the past few years and everyone loves her.
John Goslin is one of the most hated men in America BECAUSE of his fooling around, same with Jesse James. You can also see Kelsey Grammar leaving his wife and now being the target of a lot of anger. I don't think it's unjustified, but I hardly think they're getting off easy.
Lindsay Lohan has had, I believe, more than one DUI arrest. Has been accused of being violent and actually assaulting people. And has been accused of stealing while in rehab. All this while a judge tells her over and over again that if she doesn't clean up her act she will go to jail. Yet the behavior, aside from the addiction, keeps getting worse.
Charlie Sheen on the other hand is pretty much in his own personal tailspin. Yes it's destroyed 2 of his marriages, and most likely damaged his relationship with his kids. But it's primarily destroying only his life. And the only incident of any alleged violence came with him yelling and punching a wall while supposedly yelling an unexplained racial epithet. No DUI's. No punching a woman in the face. No stealing while in rehab.
In fact Lindsay is 3 years further along the process than Charlie is. Now it would be fair if he keeps failing at rehab, and keeps getting arrested after this point.
It's more fair to compare Lindsay to Robert Downey Jr. And He didn't really get a pass. He spent time and jail, and had all sorts of stories pop up during his recovery. But, therein lies hope. Now that he has finally gotten his act together, he's very successful. Lindsay, and any who would use the double standard argument, should look to Mr. Downey, not Mr. Sheen.
Charlie Sheen's cocaine use has no doubt killed many many Mexicans
Stop paying attention to them. You are only feeding their egos and therby, their addictions.
I still think if Lindsey Lohan pulled her act together and did some quality work, she could be back on top. Everyone loves rooting for the underdog. But she also has to struggle with the shift from child to adult actress. A lot of child actors fall by the wayside, drug problems or not.
I think Lindsay's career fell apart at least partially because her fan base was all teenage girls, who are notorious for their short attention spans. They just moved on to the next big thing, and Lindsay was left without a job. Of course, showing up on set late, high, or not at all didn't help.