There couldn’t be a clearer contrast between Martin Sheen and son Charlie on the surface. The father was the President of the United States, Jed Bartlet, the morally stern and forthright yet loveable old coot from The West Wing. The son is the guy who popularised #winning for a cup of coffee before people got sick of it (and him).
But then you dig deeper and you begin to notice the similarities. Sheen the elder has said of Sheen the younger (the coke fiend) the following:
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.
Martin Sheen would know. He’s a great actor, but I’ll tell you something: one of his best roles was no acting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD1jkBL6NwA
That’s from a behind-the-scenes video on the set of ‘Apocalypse Now’, where Sheen was so addled with drink that he ended up having a heart attack. Bear in mind that his kids were pre-teens and teenagers at the time. That means there’s little wonder that Charlie Sheen has become such a nutcase.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5aSa4tmVNM
If you’re growing up in that sort of situation, there are bound to be bad traits that rub off onto you. It’s completely and utterly unsurprising that Charlie Sheen ended up this way. It’s practically in the genes.
But to be fair, it isn’t a foregone conclusion that you get passed down the crazy addictive genes. Emilio Estevez was in the Brat Pack, for Christ’s sake! He probably waded through cocaine like I wade through snow on Christmas morning. But he’s turned out to be a relatively level-headed person.
No, the problem is definitely that Charlie Sheen is just an alient from outer space. That’s the only logical explanation.