"I probably took more than anybody could survive. . I was bangin' seven-gram rocks and finishing them because that's how I roll. I have one speed, I have one gear, Go! . I'm different. I have a different constitution, I have a different brain, I have a different heart. I got tiger blood, man. . Dying's for fools, dying's for amateurs." - Charlie Sheen, February 2008.

Charlie Sheen is without a doubt one of Hollywood's most colourful characters and made headlines worldwide recently following a series of unusual interviews and outbursts. Drugs, rehab, destruction of property, violence and prosecutions have all followed the turbulent star in recent years and have culminated in him being fired from the hugely popular TV show, Two-and-a-Half Men, for which he was being paid a reported $1.8 million per episode. But where did it all go wrong for the Hollywood star? Or has it even gone wrong at all? Were his rants, like the one above simply an audacious trick played on us all by a merry trickster to show us the ridiculousness of the modern day media? Is Charlie Sheen really 'winning'?

Sheen was born into an acting family and has been a performer since a very early age. His father, Martin Sheen, is a fellow Hollywood A-lister along with his siblings, his two brothers, Emilio and Ramon and a sister, Renee. The young actor dropped out of school to focus on his stage career, a gamble that was to pay off as Sheen became a star after appearing in two iconic Oliver Stone movies, firstly as idealistic young soldier, Chris in Platoon (1986) then as Bud Fox the following year, the protege of decadent banker Gordon Gekko in Wall Street. Sheen had reached the big time but as he recently noted "Fame is empowering. My mistake was that I thought I would instinctively know how to handle it."

Controversy began to follow the actor; he broke off his engagement to Kelly Preston after accidentally shooting her in the arm, he was named as a client of the infamous Hollywood madam case and in 1998 was hospitalised after overdosing on cocaine. There are critics that claim the actor is another casualty to the hedonistic Hollywood lifestyle, his erratic behaviour is the result of life without limits, money, fame, success have left a man detached from reality and someone that is in need, not of adoration or scorn but help for an illness, with his father recently telling the UK's Telegraph "I know what hell he's living in. I've had psychotic episodes in public. One of them was on camera - the opening scene of Apocalypse Now. So I know what Charlie is going through. And when you do something like that, that is out of control, that's the most difficult thing. You have to have courage." Adding that he believes his son is suffering from addiction, "Charlie's 45 years old. He's not a kid. Emotionally he still is. Because when you're addicted, you don't grow emotionally. So when you get clean and sober you're starting at the moment you started using drugs or alcohol. You're emotionally crippled."



However, despite this Sheen still draws in the crowds, take for example, Lindsay Lohan, the actress has steadily seen her career slide after being involved in several Sheen-esque shenanigans such as drink driving and drug abuse, her job offers have declined and the once promising actress is now starring in low-budget, straight to DVD movies. Tiger Woods was also recently exposed after a string of infidelities; he was immediately castigated and saw several lucrative sponsorship deals withdraw their support for the golfer. Sheen on the other hand has been an executive's dream, the resurrected Two-and-a-Half Men saw 27.7 million people tune in to watch the show bury Charlie's character. TMZ also reports the actor will receive an immediate $25 million settlement which could potentially rise to over $100 million, these kind of figures make it difficult to argue that the star needs help, "For now, I'm just going to hang out with these two smoking hotties and fly privately around the world. It might be lonely up here, but I sure like the view." In a recent interview with Eonline.com the Hot Shots! Star was quick to point out that he didn't crave the media attention and believed that there were more news worthy stories in the world "Egypt about burned to the ground, and all you people care about is my bullsh-t....? Shame shame shame."

Earlier this year the 46-year-old actor took his madness on tour appearing in his own one-man stand up tour named 'Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option', the tour sold out in 18 minutes a Ticketmaster record. Huffington post reported $7 million was earned from the North American tour. Following his April 2nd performance in Detroit which left the audience unhappy and even booing ,Sheen reworked his show for the next date in Chicago "I just got back to basics," Sheen told E! Online "Gotta go with what got you to the dance and give the people what they want". Appearing in theatres with no opening act Sheen simply spoke to sold out audiences, often getting standing ovations much to the surprise of critics who failed to make any sense of the performances.

So has the recent erratic behaviour been an elaborate ploy to highlight the media's obsession with celebrity culture? Or a practical joke to amuse just himself? Whatever the real reason, Sheen was quick to praise his former bosses on Two-and-a-Half Men as well as his replacement Ashton Kutcher at the Emmy Awards on Sunday (18th Sept 2011) where he seemed sober and calm, if not a little ironic saying "From the bottom of my heart, I wish nothing but the best for this upcoming season. We spent eight wonderful years together, and I know you will continue to make great television."

Its easy to the condemn the gratuitous drug use, but his fearless determination to speak his mind should be commended, its a refreshing antidote to the usual mundane reality TV and the fickle drawl of the celebrity world. He has earned admiration over disdain for his ability to speak his mind and get a few laughs along the way; the future seems unclear for Sheen, we are nowhere nearer to understanding the inner workings of Sheen's fascinating mind, but its been one hell of an entertaining ride and we will be waiting with intrigue to see what Charlie Sheen does next.

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