Two and A Half Men by Chuck Lorre - 9 out of 10

 

Two and A Half Men by Chuck Lorre

9 out of 10

 

 

For as long as Charlie Sheen was Charlie Harper this comedy series was exhilarating for yours truly, but when Ashton Kutcher took his place, I realized that I have an allergy to this actor, and could not really watch him do…well, anything, he just destroys any motion picture he would be in for this cinephile

 

On the other hand, it is clear that the Talented Mr. Ripley aka Sheen is eventually impossible to work with, however gifted he is, his participation in a good number of films has brought them to the status of classics, from Platoon to Wall Street http://realini.blogspot.com/2018/08/wall-street-written-by-stanley-weiser.html

In Wall Street, we have some lines that have entered the mainstream, ‘Greed is good’, says memorable Gordon Gecko aka Michael Douglas, and the whole narrative, with its look at one the most rapacious tycoons, a ruthless Donald Trump, with brains and skills, which the idiot candidate does not have, he just has the greed

 

Charlie Harper is a writer of jingles, successful in his métier, which has provided him with a large house in Malibu, on the beach, worth quite a few million dollars, surely…however, we learn from Stumbling on Happiness http://realini.blogspot.com/2013/06/stumbling-on-happiness-by-david-gilbert.html about this aspect

the author of this glorious classic of psychology is Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert, who has looked at the myths of happiness and concluded that we assume that we would be happy if only we were to move to California, a Caribbean Island, but once we get there, we spend some time with increased wellbeing, and then return to the base level

 

This is due to the phenomenon called Hedonic Adaptation, the downside is that we get used to good things, especially the material objects – which is why if you spend, better do that on experiences, travel and such – but the upside is that we also accept the negative, once time will have passed, we can even get accustomed to a deterioration of health

Charlie is however quite joyful, due in part to the state of inebriation he is in quite often, if not most of the time, the frequent sex he has with casual partners, or what he calls ‘hookers’, and would be addressed as sex workers today…indeed, the show would look and sound different, were it to be made now

 

If they would give the green light to such display of sexism, macho behaviors, what can be seen as abuse of women, although we must take into account the changes in rules, standards, moeurs, which have taken place in the meantime, social acceptance of the boasting that is key for Charlie has come down to near zero.

 

However, we could also see that this is a comedy, which implies that satire is at play, you target an individual who misbehaves, and then you laugh at him, showing how ludicrous, laughable his style, attitude is, Charlie exaggerates and eventually pays the ultimate price, the character dies, because he has to…

Charlie Sheen has had very public, discussed in the media conflicts with Chuck Lorre, the creator of the series, and he was clearly difficult, then impossible to work with, due to his real life intoxications, he would be late, or not present for filming and the production would have to halt, until someone else was brought in

 

If I understand the logistics, the need to have the camera rolling, and for that the star of the show present, I still do not see anything worthwhile in the seasons that have Kutcher as the rich guy who buys the Malibu house…this is just a personal, subjective look, and let me hope that it will not be reported as spam

This has happened to me with Cleo between 5 and seven http://realini.blogspot.com/2023/07/cleo-from-5-to-7-aka-cleo-de-5-7-by.html which was such a ridiculous thing…look, there is a fellow in this realm, who is the #1 reviewer, only what he posts on Goodreads are just copy paste notes, he brings No contribution

 

When reported, nothing happened, Goodreads still has him as the top reviewer (in terms of number of posts) which is absurd and insulting, in that he has placed Hundreds of reviews during single days, and as mentioned, these are not his creation, so how can you vouch, approve of that, and then delete something I worked on

Admittedly, quite often, or always, what I put here is not really relevant, for the good reviews, one should look for the professional perspective, books of the critics that know what they are saying, it is their job, but nevertheless, I try and put in some effort, while some arrogant dude just mocks the idea of trying to make a difference

 

Which means we are back to Charlie Harper, who is selfish, narcissistic, and yet likeable, due to the charm of Charlie Sheen, who is obviously a very remarkable actor, when sober, but extremely objectionable as a human – the example I use so frequently is from Intellectuals http://realini.blogspot.com/2014/06/intellectuals-by-paul-johnson.html by Paul Johnson, who gives us details from the lives of Leo Tolstoy, Ernest Hemingway, Henrik Ibsen, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and others

We see that people with fabulous minds are pernicious, harm family and friends and this is similar to regression to the mean, explained by Daniel Kahneman in his brilliant Thinking Fast and Slow http://realini.blogspot.com/2015/07/thinking-fast-and-slow-by-daniel.html

 

 

Now for a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world   – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

Some favorite quotes from To The Heritage and other works

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

‚parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”