毒品与酒精: 矛盾与困惑的结合体

Some while ago a business acquaintance disclosed to me that he was both an alcoholic and addicted to cocaine. I was stunned; but then I realised that the recent unraveling of his life all made sense – the unexplained absences, the mood swings, the cash shortfalls, the ruined personal relationships. Sadly he lost his business, his marriage broke up and his health was permanently impaired before he gave up the drugs and drink.
前一阵子一个生意上的熟人和我透露说, 他经常汹酒而且有毒瘾. 我当时感到非常震惊. 但是我同时也猛然意识到他最近的一些反常行为, 如无故缺席, 情绪不定, 资金短缺, 人际关系恶化等等, 原来是有原因的.
 
I have been thinking about all that havoc in the context of the Charlie Sheen affair. There the stakes are much higher and it’s very public. The media coverage is notionally disapproving, yet much of Sheen’s popularity surely rests on his excesses with drink, drugs, prostitutes, porn stars and so forth. It made him notorious, dangerous – and apparently fascinating.
几乎同一时间, 我想起了最近闹得沸沸扬扬的查理．辛事件. 这件事情影响范围更广更出名. 媒体固然都在赞美他, 但不可否认的是, 辛的名气很大程度上是依存于其汹酒,吸毒, 嫖妓, 与色情明星交往等行为, 这让他成为一名臭名昭著的危险人物, 当然也让他变得对某些人非常有吸引力.

Many live vicariously through the madness of characters like Sheen – apparently 75,000 applied to be his intern. We are almost mass codependents in the game. If you are rich and a celebrity you can boast about getting high – and attract 2m Twitter followers.
很多志同道合的人想和辛一样, 过着疯狂的生活. 有这种想法的人起码有75, 000人, 因为这些人都申请做他的实习生. 在这场游戏中, 我们这一大批人可谓是相互依存. 如果你很富有而且是一个名人, 你可以将自己的名气推得更高, 吸引两百万的Twitter追随者.

I suppose it has something of the same appeal as dramas about vampires or gangsters – the allure of rebels and outlaws.
我想, 这与关于吸血鬼或者黑势力的电视剧一样, 具有相同的魅力---叛徒与亡命之徒的诱惑.