Like anyone who watches television talk shows or reads newspapers, I have been fascinated with the almost-daily drama associated with America's latest celebrity train wreck, Charlie Sheen. He is a well-known television and film actor, born Carlos Irwin Estevez in 1965 to the actor Martin Sheen, who adopted the stage name Sheen in honor of the phenomenally popular 1950's television preacher, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Unlike other professional "Sheenologists," I shall not discuss which DSM diagnosis Charlie's (apparently escalating) symptoms best fit. Instead, I shall discuss Sheen in relation to my favorite topic: social competence/ incompetence.
Mr. Sheen himself opened the door to this discussion, by exclaiming "I am a winner" during several recent interviews. In saying this, he indicated that those who criticize him are losers who are jealous of his lifestyle, specifically his wealth and the beautiful and willing young women that his wealth attracts. He also used the winner/ loser analogy to justify his refusal to be "held hostage" to 12-step substance abuse programs, arguing that they rely on a non-working method developed by and for losers, and are not suited to a winner such as himself who possesses the ability to stop using drugs whenever he wants. As part of this winner metaphor, Sheen also alluded to his superior physical constitution, which allows him to consume quantities of drugs large enough to kill most people, and to smoke two packs of cigarettes over many years and still possess "the lungs of a nonsmoker."
As mentioned, I will try and avoid using applicable psychopathology terms, such as "narcissism" or "hypomania," when discussing Sheen. Instead, I shall address his stated belief that he is a winner, using my ideas about social competence as an organizing framework. Social competence can be addressed in two different ways, as a set of outcomes, or as a set of personal qualities (inputs, if you will) that contribute to those outcomes. Whichever approach one uses, I believe that the following analysis shows that Sheen is far from being the winner that he claims to be. Finally, in a concluding section, I shall examine the Sheen saga in relation to my evolving theory of "foolish action."
SOCIAL COMPETENCE OUTCOMES WHICH SUGGEST SHEEN IS NOT A WINNER
Social competence, from an outcome perspective, refers to the degree of success one attains in various social roles and goals, both those valued by society and those valued by the individual him or herself. There are many such goals that could be discussed. I shall pick six: personal relationships, career success (including financial status), reputation, school completion, legal freedom and health/ longevity. In discussing these concepts, I shall be stressing that social competence, just like one's sobriety, needs to be assessed over the long haul, and not just at one point in time.
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
An important outcome indictor of social competence is maintaining positive and stable interpersonal relationships with valued people, in various categories (colleagues, family members, friends, romantic partners) over a period of many years. Sheen certainly seems more of a loser than a winner in this area of functioning. As example, he has been married three times, and all of these marriages ended badly. An earlier engagement was called off when he shot his then girlfriend (supposedly accidentally) in the arm. He has had many short-term liaisons with porn stars or paid escorts. I am not privy to information about his family relationships but his father has publicly referred to his son's drug addiction as "like a cancer." Sheen's current friendships seem to be made up mainly of hangers-on, who enable and encourage him in his self-destructive behaviors.
In the area of work, Sheen has been unable to sustain positive, reciprocally-satisfying, relationships over the long haul. An example is the very public falling out he had with Oliver Stone, the movie director who started Sheen on the road to stardom by casting him in prominent roles early in his career in the films "Platoon" and "Wall Street". Stone's offense was his daring to hire Tom Cruise, rather than Sheen, for the featured role in "Born on the Fourth of July".
More recently, Sheen went on a very public warpath against Chuck Lorre, the creative force behind many successful sit-coms, including "Two and a Half Men". That is the show which since 2003 has made Sheen one of the best-known and highest-paid stars in the history of American television. Lorre's chief offense appears to have been his strenuous efforts to get Sheen to admit himself once again into a drug rehab program. As a result of Sheen's tirades, Warner Brothers and CBS announced initially that the show would be suspended and, more recently, that Sheen's contract was being terminated. As reason, they mentioned, in particular, the actor's inability to interact respectfully with his colleagues, particularly the show's boss, Chuck Lorre. Spin it as Mr. Sheen might, it is difficult for me to understand how behavior that gets one fired from a job that paid in excess of forty million dollars per year is an achievement worthy of the term "winner."
CAREER SUCCESS
Ability to hold a job, support oneself and one's family, and accumulate a nice home and other assets are all important outcome indictors of social competence. This is one area where Sheen has been extremely successful and it is in fact the main thing that he pointed to when describing himself as a winner. However, it only takes one spectacular act of incompetence to make all of that go away, and it appears that Charlie Sheen, whether intentionally or not, has succeeded in doing just that. Not only has he ended an employment arrangement in which he was the highest paid television star ever (earning almost $2 million for each of 24 annual episodes) but it is very possible that he has made himself unemployable, certainly at anything approaching his former level of remuneration.
It is very unlikely that any major film studio or TV network would now be willing to take on the risk or aggravation of hiring Charlie Sheen, even if an insurance company could be talked into issuing a policy for the endeavor. Furthermore, Mr. Sheen has made himself so toxic that it is unlikely that any major corporate sponsor would wish to be associated with a show in which he stars. Charlie Sheen was, until recently, a very successful actor who made a spectacular living. I am not suggesting that Charlie will end up destitute anytime soon. However, he has certainly managed to increase the likelihood that in the future he will be pointed to as an object lesson in how to destroy a once-flourishing career, even if he is able to keep a new career on the concert circuit as a one-man curiosity/ freak show going for awhile.
REPUTATION
Most people, including undoubtedly Charlie Sheen, want to be thought of by others in positive terms. Except for his small (and ever-shrinking) circle of supporters and enablers, Sheen is thought of almost universally as a clown and a lunatic. Being a nightly butt of jokes by comedians is hardly the hallmark of a social competence winner.
SCHOOL COMPLETION
Success in school, or more precisely avoidance of failure (through expulsion, grade repetition, or dropping out), is an important outcome indictor of social competence. This assertion may seem strange to those, including many psychologists, who tend to think of school success/ failure mainly in terms of cognitive capacity. However, avoiding school failure is mainly a function of social behaviors such as showing up, paying attention, completing assignments, controlling one's temper, following rules, respecting authority and persevering in achieving a goal. It is for this reason, more than whatever academic content one might have mastered, that causes most employers to require completion of high school as a minimum requirement for all but the most menial of jobs. This reflects the fact that people who cannot complete high school have a higher than average likelihood of failing in various other challenging life tasks.
