In trying to decide what to write about today I surprised myself when I realized I hadn’t done anything on everyone’s favorite poster boy for an anger management class (not to mention domestic violence, rehab, racial, cultural and religious tolerance classes and maybe a few other problems we haven’t learned of just yet). The reason I thought of Mel and court ordered anger management classes is that he has by the latest count missed out on at least two depositions for allegedly assaulting his former girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva this past January.
I’ve done a lot of posts and articles lately on recognizing the difference between someone who needs an anger management class and someone who is struggling with a serious mental illness. The last thing I have any right to be doing is diagnosing somebody from afar, but everything that I’ve seen of Mel over the last several years just screams of a deeper problem being wrestled with, possibly bipolar disorder. He appears to come from a very troubled home in which his father who, like his son, has basically been characterized in the press as a drunk, paranoid bigot is rumored to have beaten him.
Now, I’m not making any excuses for Mel – his behavior has been appalling and whether he has a more serious mental illness or not he needs to man up and not only take responsibility for his alleged actions but to get treatment for whatever the real underlying issues are. From afar it appears that learning some anger management techniques should certainly be a part of that program.
What is interesting to me is the public reaction to him. Most have become angered by his actions and seem to out and out hate him now. Maybe holding Mel up as a poster boy for how we deal with things we don’t like is not the best example, but he is part of a larger picture. Look at the delight many took in Britney Spears when she was clearly struggling with mental health issues a few years back. She really did no harm to anyone except herself and yet there was such an undercurrent of meanness. Lindsey Lohan, Gary Busey, Axl Rose, Ozzy Osbourne – the list of people in the public eye struggling with emotional problems that we have enjoyed laughing at or vilifying is a very long one.
Why is it that we humans enjoy being so mean to people we don’t even know or who often have such little impact on our lives? Post a comment, let me know what you think.
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