Social Commentary: Charlie Sheen and Free Speech

There were so many important things that have happened over the last few days that it is difficult to high-light one as more important than another. We have discussed a few of them right here at TalkFrank. They include the labor dispute raging in Wisconsin and elsewhere around the country, the continuing violence in Libya, the murder of two American servicemen in Germany, and the Supreme Court ruling on Free Speech in the Westboro Baptist Church case (more on this later). With that much to write about, the challenge is to choose one.

Perhaps there is one, glaring omission to the aforementioned list; Charlie Sheen. Unless you live under the proverbial rock, you can't swing a dead cat without crashing into the Charlie Sheen saga (I'm loaded with hackneyed phrases today!). Therefore, I'm compelled to take a few moments to address it. I will attempt to do so in my customary, succinct, and modest way by asking this question, "do you REALLY give a rat's ass what Charlie Sheen has to say or why he chooses to live the life he has chosen? REALLY"? As evidenced by the massive amount of media coverage, some people obviously do. That would bring us to the next question: why?

I have written before on so-called celebrity worship and that's what's at work here. Celebrity has become a massive monster that invades every aspect of our society. I have shared my experience as a TV News photographer on hundreds of Red Carpet Movie Premieres with you on this blog. So, I see firsthand the hundreds of journalists, photographers, and news crews who get treated like cattle, packed into penned-in areas, hanging on every move one of these celebrities make. I also see the throngs of fans, also jammed into pens at a safe distance, sometimes in brutal weather, clamoring to even get a glimpse of one of their idols. There are numerous TV shows exclusively devoted solely to Entertainment News. There are hundreds of magazines devoted to it. Every other day there is another Awards Show honoring yet more achievement in the field of Entertainment, making celebrities even more celebrated. And, now, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of blogs devoted to signing the praises of the Entertainment World and the characters that inhabit it. When you live within that world, how can ANYONE achieve a healthy balance in their lives. That's why the few healthy ones shun that life style and live apart from it. Charlie Sheen embraces it. And, so, what you see is what you get.

I understand the appeal. It can be compelling to watch a mentally unbalanced person unravel before your very eyes. It's what I call the rubber necking syndrome, i.e. people can't help but turn to look at an accident. I've seen this syndrome many times before; from Anna Nicole Smith, to Michael Jackson, to, most recently, designer John Galliano. Anyone interested in human nature would be interested to know how fame and fortune affects those "lucky" enough to achieve it. It propels some to excel and others to self-destruct. With Charlie Sheen, we see the later.

However, the media attention it received FAR outweighed the coverage it deserved. Ultimately, what Charlie Sheen says and does has ABSOLUTELY NO BARING OR EFFECT ON MY LIFE OR HOW I LIVE IT. Therefore, why should I, or anyone else for that matter spend more than a passing moment on a two bit, over paid, obviously addicted, TV actor from a program that I have NEVER watched?! WTF?! GET ON WITH IT.

What is infinitely more important and worthy of discussion is the US Supreme Court's (SCOTUS) ruling (8-1) in favor of The Westboro Baptist Church. Briefly, The Westboro Baptist Church is headquartered in Topeka, Kansas and has about 70 members, mostly from the same family of the church's founder and Pastor, Fred Phelps. They are infamous for picketing soldiers' funerals with signs condemning America for its "support" of homosexuals and claiming dead soldiers are God's way of punishing us. They were sued in Federal Court by Albert Syder, the father of a young soldier killed in Afghanistan (who was NOT a homosexual) for pain and suffering caused by their actions at his son's military funeral. Mr. Syder won the original court case which was subsequently appealed all the way to SCOTUS. You can read more details by searching the web.

Writing for the majority decision, Chief Justice John Roberts said: Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of joy or sorrow and - as it did here - inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As the sole dissenter, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that our nation's commitment to free and open debate is not a license for the vicious verbal assault that occurred in this case.

I never thought I would actually agree with this conservative Supreme Court, but in this particular instance, I do. As a journalist, Freedom of Speech is at the very foundation of what it is to be an American. It is the well from which all others spring. Without the freedom to express ourselves there could be no Freedom of Religion, No Freedom to Assemble, etc. Today, there is ample evidence around the world of its importance as seen by the collapse of regimes who limit or prohibit it. It is sacred. Even when it is most vile and obscene, as it is in the case of the Westboro Baptist Church, it must not be prohibited. It must, in fact, be robustly defended. For without it there is the vacuum created by silence; a vacuum in honor, honesty, and truth that breeds repression. Either you believe in I may not agree with what you are saying, but I will defend to the death your right to say it or you don't. I do, literally. There is no grey area for me (and shouting "fire" in a movie theater is NOT Free Speech!).

However, as in all things in life, those worth having come with an element of sacrifice. And, so it is in the case of Free Speech. We cannot hear the uplifting words of a Martin Luther King without hearing the banal screeching of the Westboro Baptist idiots.

No, they must be allowed to speak. Our defense, instead of forcing their silence, will be our selective deafness to their rants. Let them rave. We will have no ears to hear them. Let them rant. We will have no eyes to see them. We will inflict upon them the ultimate insult; we will ignore them. And the incestuous, narrow minded, mean spirited fools will simply fade away.