Chuck Lorre - Hmm, Never Mind?

Let me just start by saying I haven't read his book myself - and I don't think I'm going to, considering the fallout that's occurred since it's release this past week.

So last week, I had written a post about his hilarious clapback to Trump, after Lorre's non-publicly-televised speech that the White House apparently heard about, commented publicly on, and then Chuck Lorre clapped back.

(Although admittedly,his speech was a bit crude and I don't think wishing anyone to die is ever okay, but the rest was funny.)

This week, however, Lorre's new memoir came out called "Sitcom" - and it has me changing my tune about him.

Okay, so - we all knew Charlie Sheen was/is an a-hole, partly caused by substance abuse and partly because he's just an a-hole with a huge ego. I mean, his antics sometimes played out in public for the world to see, we couldn't help but see it.

We also know that Chuck Lorre finally fired him from Two-And-A-Half Men after several chances to get clean and sober and be more respectful of himself and his castmates. 

However, at the same time, Chuck knew what he was getting into when he hired Charlie Sheen already, right?

I also wondered at the time why Chuck Lorre seemed to let Charlie  get under his skin and could push his anger buttons so easily, such that it would spill out so publicly, when others just quietly either refused to hire him/fire him..

I speculated that there was alcoholism around him already somewhere, such that it had this effect on him - and his new book reveals that is correct.

Hold that thought for a moment, though.

First, let's talk about what famous people should and should not talk about in a memoir, considering their power position.

Talking about his public feud with Sheen is fine - it was already public.

Talking about how somebody screwed you over when you were coming up can be okay, as long as you're calling out power abuse or predatory behavior in Hollywood - not just dissing other people in general that you don't like.

However, there's a couple of things you should never do in a memoir with still living/working people in your business - ESPECIALLY if you're still in a position of power versus them.

You do not out someone's sexuality.

You do not out someone's substance abuse struggles, especially if they've done nothing to you.

You do not diss someone else's lack of talent in your opinion.

Again - ESPECIALLY - if you're in a greater position of power like a filmmaker or mutlisitcom creators - because it destroys careers (and likely the person themselves, already struggling.)

For example, Quentin Tarantino calling out Paul Dano as being a terrible actor in Django Unchained was cruel and unnecessary - and fellow actors flocked to defend him.

Paul Dano can play some really good psycho creepers, though.

Sometimes people just aren't right for a certain role, but they do great in other roles - and it doesn't mean they're a terrible actor overall.

Even the best actors have taken on some roles they couldn't deliver on, they were just miscast.

But this time, it's Chuck Lorre calling out Anna Faris on "Mom" - a show which ran for 7 years (which I never watched, btw) for her private substance use and actually leaving the show because of it rather than "pursue other projects"  as was publicly stated. 

He also went onto say her doing so proved him right about his reluctance to hire her.

(After several years on the show?)

I have no feelings or opinions about Anna Faris, actually, but what he just did was NOT cool.

I get it that after Charlie Sheen, you're wary - but that woman was in that role for years and was quietly seeking help.

More importantly, Ana Faris is no Charlie Sheen.

I mean, we all wondered a bit as she got kinda loopy on interviews, but whatever. Some actors are just loopy even without a substance use disorder.

Ana Faris is what you might call a "functional closet alcoholic," she hid it better.

Unlike Sheen, she apparently always still showed up for work on time, always got her lines and marks right - and her castmates have rallied around her after his public outing of her, saying they loved her and every minute they spent with her on the show.

That is something Charlie Sheen's castmates did NOT ever do for him - they were glad to see him go.

Also, Mayim Bialik, from The Big Bang Theory, has just publicly said publicly that she didn't want to be around Chuck himself during that feud with Charlie!

Think about THAT, Chuck?

Then we discover that Chuck Lorre was an alcoholic himself, sober for many years now.

Aha - now we have a bit more insight into why he'd ever out Anna's substance abuse issues -  because he's never learned to forgive himself or have compassion for himself for his prior alcoholism - and thus has no patience or tolerance for anyone actively using.

Also, alcoholism is NOT just about drinking - it comes with a whole set of other behaviors that need to be addressed including boundary issues, abandonment issues, and unlearned coping skills; thus, just because you quit drinking doesn't necessarily mean you don't have other stuff going on that needs work.

Then he supposedly goes on to diss Cybil Shepard, on the show Cybil in the 90s.

He say she wanted "total creative control." 

Cybil has famously said she did want more creative control on a show named after her, but not total control - and I mean, she has a point - she might at least have a say on what her character would do and not do?

Regardless, why you dragging these actresses from your earlier shows names through the mud?

As IF actresses already don't have a hard enough time in Hollywood?

In fact, wasn't that what Cybil was about, how particularly aging women are treated in Hollywood?

Plus, you DO seem to have a hard time writing women and perhaps could use the feedback?

Oh, I see - he says he's been married 3 times and has issues with his mother - NOW we get it - he has no clue about women. 😂

Dude - perhaps you shouldn't write women until you understand them better and actually listen to them?

Then he tells this story about how the execs wanted him to cast a "hot, young, thin" actress in a fat suit for Mike and Molly (!) instead of Melissa McCarthy, but he stood his ground, saying she was a once-in-a-lifetime talent.

I guess we're all supposed to applaud him for that, but on the heels of the other stuff he's said about actresses, it falls a bit flat. 

So ... maybe no, on Chuck Lorre, after all.

Though never an alcoholic or addict (other than cigarettes), I was married to one previously, and I DO still have compassion for addicts and alcoholics.

And I do get refusing to enable them - that's not love or compassion, that's enabling. Sometimes with addicts/alcoholics, you have to love them with boundaries or from afar, to keep everyone safe.

However, when former addicts/alcoholics have no compassion or mercy at all for others still using, it reminds me of the parable of the merciless servant in the bible ... just ... ewwww.

(This behavior also goes against the 12 steps, proving Chuck has not had nearly enough treatment.)

Dude -  you're in a more powerful position than everyone you just outed/dissed and potentially destroyed the careers of.

What then separates you from being exactly like Trump, whom you just shot down a week ago?

Methinks you should go back to picking on MEN your own size.