This report is an account of Charlie Sheen's personality from the intrapsychic and social/cultural domains of personality. The two traits examined in this short paper were narcissism and anger and how the domains can demonstrate how Sheen developed these traits. The intrapsychic development is seen in how he deals with the pressures of celebrity, and the social/cultural domain shows his need for that celebrity.
Personality Psychology
A Personality Profile of Charlie Sheen
History/Biography
Charlie Sheen, born Carlos Irwin Estevez, is an American movie and television actor who has been acting for almost 30 years in some capacity (A & E. Networks, 2012). He is the son of Ramon Estevez (aka Martin Sheen) and Janet Templeton an artist. His early was typical of a youth growing up in California, but he quickly joined the family business. At the age of nine he had his first acting role with in his father's production of The Execution of Private Slovik (A & E. Networks, 2012). Sheen performed bit roles in many different productions as a child and teen, but his drive to be a star and his antics became apparent early in his life. He was expelled from Santa Monica High School just two weeks before he was supposed to graduate in 1983 because of his bad grades and poor attendance record (A & E. Networks, 2012).
Sheen began acting full time after that, and his life has been one of great successes in his professional life and failures in private. Early in his career he was given a starring role in Oliver Stone's Platoon. This role made him a star and catapulted him into many of the acting jobs (Wall Street, different spoofs, Spin City, and Two-and-a-Half Men) that would make his a household name. While garnering a great deal of praise as an actor, he had a troubled private life. Sheen has been married and divorced three times with accusations of physical and verbal abuse, substance abuse, and philandering following him each time. He did have four children from his different wives, but they all live with their mothers (A & E. Networks, 2012).
In 2011, Sheen's run as the popular character "Charlie Harper" on the show Two-and-a-half Men came to a very public end as he became belligerent and started making very strange statements during contract negotiations. Sheen was forced to leave the show and made a cross country tour explaining himself to his legion of fans. Sheen has parried that misfortune into a new Television show (Anger Management) and greater success than he had ever enjoyed before.
Enduring Personality Characteristics
The two most enduring characteristics that Sheen has demonstrated during his life as an actor are entitlement and a difficulty with anger issues. Sheen grew up in a privileged atmosphere and he was quickly thrust onto the national stage. From birth people would have known who he was because of his father and mother, but he was also noted as a gifted actor early in life also. The entitlement piece of his character can be seen in the fact that he has continually had run-ins with studio executives over pay issues such as that which happened at the end of his Two-and-a-half Men tenure. Sheen demonstrated that even though he was the highest paid television actor (making $1.8 million per episode (A & E. Networks, 2012)) he believed that he was worth more. He has also demonstrated this element of his character in his actions in other areas of his life also. Anger can also be seen to be a problem in the multiple accusations and arrests he has faced for domestic abuse. Sheen has sometimes had a difficult time controlling his anger regardless the situation.
Analysis
The required personality domain for this report is intrapsychic. This domain includes how a person develops internally and how motives for actions play a part in how their personality has developed. It is this perspective that Freud and developmental psychologists used in their analysis. Sheen is the son of a famous actor and was always in the limelight. He has always been fawned over and seems to believe that the world owes him that degree of worship. His preferred sexual relationship is admittedly with prostitutes because they are paid to please him and he does not have to show any amount of emotional attachment or attempt to ingratiate himself in any way. This likely stems from a deep seated belief in his own self-worth that is highly narcissistic. His anger also seems to come from this belief in that he is angered when he is seriously challenged in that belief.
Another personality domain, social and cultural, also explains a large part of Mr. Sheen's personality. Many people in the public do seem to worship celebrity, and this only fuels the narcissism that Sheen demonstrates. Since he has had this attention since he was very young, it has developed into a trait. His anger can also stem from this part of his personality. He is very driven by what society thinks of him; he demonstrated this during tirades he had against the public in 2011. Although some fans enjoyed his antics, many others were angered by his alternate reality. Sheen demonstrated that he is willing to use his anger as a catalyst to even more celebrity which feeds his narcissism.
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