But one day I watched. And I laughed. But more than that I realized, this guy Ferguson is really smart. I came to realize he has directed films, he has written an acclaimed memoir and novel and his stand up each night appears largely improvized. This kind of intelligence I have envied in others all my life.
Leno makes obscene money reading mediocre jokes off cue cards. Ferguson is at his best when he is obviously just riffing.
Really intelligent people often seem a bit crazy.
Ferguson is a famous recovering addict and alcoholic. He mentions it often.
Recently of course, Charlie Sheen has been all over the news. And it is entertaining, to a point. "Im not bi-polar, Im bi-winning." I mean thats a quote for the ages. But really, I find that whole situation sad.
And I bring up Ferguson in part, because he seems to have decided the same thing.
He recently said he would not make any more Sheen jokes. If you have not seen this clip I would ask you to watch; it is not very long.
I dont begrudge anyone making Sheen jokes, really. I dont want to sound holier than thou. Its hard not to laugh at the absurd spectacle.
But are we not encouraging the man's own self destruction?
He just got on Twitter and broke a record for over a million followers in one day. And the reason he admitted he is on twitter? He is getting paid for his usually odd ball tweets.
Would he be making this much money if all his tweets sounded, well, normal?
But we should recognize these people need serious help.
What a tragedy the whole Anna Nicole Smith saga turned into. You can not tell me she was not mentally ill. There is even now an opera about her. Many of her "people" are upset over this. But they helped create her. Are they not only upset because they are not seeing money from it?
Isn't it interesting, maybe some of the best help Sheen has currently gotten, is from Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson?
In Sheen's own words, "they just offered love to me." It seemed to resonate with him on some level. Maybe if he was only hearing from friends like this, and not being rewarded for his wild antics and statements, the right words would truly get through.
It is hard not to crane your neck when you see an accident. I simply hope we are not encouraging him to get back in the car drunk.
Right on, brother. This whole sorry media circus has gone on without a bit of media self-analysis about how they're feasting on Sheen's self-destruction.
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