A Moment of Clarity.

"Same script. Different Cast(?)."

Words.

"... none of this is really about the drugs, or the ugly contract disputes, or the hints of racism, which are all things we’ve gotten from other celebrities and/or Sheen himself before. It’s about Sheen willingly undoing all the artifice that a celebrity is asked to adopt—which as of right now, anyway, continues to prove totally captivating. Sheen’s statements are all infused with this aggressive, evangelical seeking of the “truth” and the idea of creating a “movement”—and while a lot of that is just plain old narcissism and hyperbole, tonight’s 20/20 reminded us that, yeah, it’s somewhat revolutionary to watch a rich and famous person on this level come right out and say, “Yes, I’m rich and famous, and that means I can do rich and famous person things like party all night and have sex with porn stars” and not give a damn about whether it ruins him. As Sheen averred, his fans like him because he’s “honest,” and in the sense that his “fans” right now are the people who want him to keep saying outlandish things and gloriously self-immolating for their amusement, it’s true.

Of course, Sheen’s sobriety is most likely temporary and certainly based in the arrogant and dangerous belief that he’s stronger than anything, and inevitably, his “bitching” world will become less bitching by the minute (like, say, when the police come to take his sons away), until his peak turns once more into a deeper-than-ever valley. At that point, Sheen’s filibustering may once again become less the honest ramblings of a free man and more like the familiar, pathological patter of a guy who just doesn’t like consequences. But even after his death—whether it comes next week or when he’s “90 or beyond”—“Charlie Sheen: In His Words” will remain a rare “moment inside the moment” when a celebrity strayed from prepared remarks and decided to just say, as 20/20 promised, all the crap that was really going on inside his head. And for that reason, it will remain horribly fascinating. It just might not be all that funny anymore, even to more evolved brains."

A.V. CLUB: 20/20 - "Charlie Sheen: In His Own Words"