Seeing "Two and a half men" through a morality prism, or Dear Charlie

“Two and a half men” starring Charlie Sheen, sticks to a recipe that flaunts a hedonistic portrayal of relationships in order to get laughter. Instead of boycotting the show for its 'in your face' hedonism we somehow forgive Charlie and laugh away at the jokes. Why? Well there is(was) a little cute boy in the show(who has since grown up) and Charlie's philandering are a result of him being raised by a doosie of a narcissistic mother. Also, the comedy and sarcasm is so good that we hardly notice the serious moral glitches paraded throughout the show. The show is smartly couched against an outcry with many shades of Grey that makes it blend into a strange normalcy we have become used to in the current cultural atmosphere. It's only when put against a white background(scripture) that its moral fuzz begins to differentiate and become visible. In it's bare form it insidiously challenges the very fabric of society by shall we say, "daring the male ego to seek to go to heights of debauchery".

It's true, the character Charlie has some identifiable likability; he has bouts with his conscience and he is certainly way cooler than his eccentric brother played by Jon Cryer (who Charlie generously allows to live with him along with his son). Just don't bring your fiancee within 50 yards of him or your wife for that matter. Yes, Charlie also commits adultery and once had gotten a black eye to prove it. He also usually drowns out his downturn in mood by drinking profusely and needs to see his therapist quite often. Can't even Charlie see that he must stop somewhere?

Getting away with murder

"That Charlie, 'har har', I tell you, is a smooth criminal." And so the mockery continues with Charlie laughing it up all the way to a ratings heaven and to a syndication blitz of a show about gross immorality. To be fair, Charlie Sheen is just an actor in the show who is only lending his 'academy award' caliber acting ability to such an inspiring production(sarcastically speaking). Assigning blame may not be easy in these situations. Is it the writers, the producers or the audience who is at fault? It suffices to say something is wrong and we are still waiting for the moral of this show to emerge. Is it that a life of philandering makes you hate yourself or that you should never grow up to stop chasing women? We give up; trying to find a moral in this show is like trying to eat spaghetti with a spoon. I don't think they are even trying Vern; are they?
It would seem as if every excuse possible is being created to corroborate the premise that Charlie's hedonism is cool or justified.

Analyzing Charlie

A conservatively minded, family oriented audience might find itself getting drawn in for a little while and might even occasionally sympathize with Charlie's pathos, only to end up being let down and infuriated as it watches the story lines descend extreme south very fast. Therefore the show should be visited and convicted with the old and yet still valid charge of being a corrupter of morals and promulgator of indecency. And yet, if there wasn't too much crude suggestive language and behavior and blatant debauchery put on a lot of the(ratings week?)episodes, we would have liked to give the writers more credit to having documented the classic American neurosis of wanting too much more than what this life can give, or what can be described in a simple term as selfishness. "How much is enough?"; "Remember that line from 'Wall Street', Charlie?" Which leads to the crux and apex of man's spiritual quest that says, "Where is satisfaction to be gotten for the human heart?" We will volunteer a clue to the answer; It's to be found at Jacob's well (read John Chapter 4).

Can Charlie be redeemed? Yes, we hope

It's obvious Charlie is stuck in a loop, why don't the producers seek a new direction for the show by finally giving Charlie a solid moral dimension instead of the fake 'eyes raised to heaven' prayers we see him do in a mockery of true spirituality. Maybe this time around, a 'new' Charlie can be written as an upstanding guy trying to stay on the straight and narrow, vending of the temptations that come at him and guarding himself from a relapse into 'old Charlie'(That would be a wonderful exploration if anyone is listening). Some of the other characters could also be written to having their own epiphanies. Charlie has grown and is currently in a monogamous relationship but keeps having double and triple visions which is an improvement still over his heyday when he used to bring home a new girl or prostitute every night. However, he keeps coming short of the promised land called fidelity even with the best of candidates. His fear of commitment we are told is due to him having mother issues having to do with, what else, but one of the religions of modernity, Freudian principles.

One can always dream

Maybe someone will write in an ending where Charlie has a conversion experience, even if only in an alternate universe, but we are only dreaming (sure, anything but that, as it would effectively kill Charlie the depressed "horn-dog" the bread winner of this show). And anyways, a show called Fringe running on another network is using that angle; we might have to tune in there next week instead.

Our 'beef' with the show

Someone will say, "There are fine, subtle points to these shows we need to appreciate, along with the biting sarcasm and a well written and acted comedy." To which we will reply, "Subtle points, really?! which ones?" Sure, it's superbly written and acted with a type of comedy that makes a farce of those things we all should hold sacred. Whatever other subtleties there might be are drowned out completely or forgotten while we unwillingly laugh at the sheer suggestiveness of the lines spoken in the show. Someone else might even suggest that these shows are the last bastions of a straight entertainment, as if God were to carry a bigger stick for one sin over against another. The truth is, a bold sin encourages other even bolder types of sin. Can someone please establish boundaries for sexual conduct for Charlie and the other characters in this show? If doing so makes it boring then we will at least have laughed without guilt being mixed in. Yet someone else will say, if you don't like it just don't watch it. We say, "Amen!, perhaps we won't"

The sign of the times: Repent

Once we have lit the barn on fire, there is no point in trying to save the hay. That's what sin does to our communities; it spreads like fire and ultimately it destroys lives; so we don't compromise with it, we put it out, by repenting(meta-noeo: greek for turning or changing of our mind) and turning our backs on it once and for all and embracing Christ's wonderful offer of his own pure and righteous life instead. Unlike when our buddies tell us to quit something, the power of the word "repentance" has great authority because it's heaven's council to someone living a wayward lifestyle. It's a council which we pray Charlie would also heed as God would accept and love and change him also.

Comedy and redemption

If you were to ask what hat the devil was wearing these days, comedy has to be one of his favorite five. What we as a people find funny can serve as gauge as to where we are in the history of western culture, where once upon a time Christianity held sway. Today, both seemingly and apparently, people want their fill of selfish indulgence as a right of passage before having to commit to any relationships. Comedy more than any other single art form encourages that. The way back from our dark digressions can be as simple as a genuine turning of our hearts to God who loves sinners. Charlie, we hope you will one day find redemption also.