A new season of Celebrity Rehab premiered on Sunday night featuring the likes of Michael Lohan and Bai Ling. Train wreck, right? Probably, but with the return of Steven Adler, one of the more relatable and heartbreaking cast members to appear on the show, it shows some promise too. Those extremes of the fame whores you love to hate vs the fallen celebrity you feel sorry for are what keep me coming back for more.
This is the fifth season of the show and yes, I’m admitting it here; I’ve watched from the beginning. Why, you ask? My answer is as contradictory as the show itself.
Many argue the show is simply a vessel for the likes of Michael Lohan to keep their name out there. Others argue it’s something worse, exploiting those with serious problems. I happen to think it falls somewhere in the middle. Throughout the seasons there have been casting choices to make me scratch my head. Rodney King? Heidi Fleiss? Rachel Uchitel? These people aren’t celebrities! They’re normal people turned newsmakers due to scandal, whether caused by them directly, or not, but it’s names like those that get people (read: me) to tune in. The more scandal, the better. The harder the fall, the better. The more outrageous and unlikable a person, the better. This is reality TV, afterall. It’s a hard market to compete in, gimmicks are necessary! And in this case, they work.
The controversial characters casted for Celebrity Rehab have created enough buzz and viewership to keep the show coming back year after year. In the culture we live in today, there is no shortage of people who are on the verge of disaster and there is certainly no shortage of video cameras and reality show producers ready to catch it all on video. The struggles are real and the personalities are larger than life. Add a mix of crazy and a dash of “holy shit this is uncomfortable” and, voila! Talk about compelling television! You just have to look beyond the “Celebrity” aspect …
I grew up with an addict for a father. He did drugs, heroin and crack, in his early years and drank like a fish. Scotch was his drink of choice, but because we were poor he settled for cheap beer between paychecks. My home life was dysfunctional at best, and it just got worse as I got older and more aware of what was going on. When I was 10, my parents had an especially bad fight and my mother kicked my father to the curb. It wasn’t unusual for her to do this and many times he would just disappear for a few hours before returning as if nothing happened. It was our idea of normal.
This time, though, it wasn’t normal. He was gone for weeks … and then months … and then, by my choice, years.
My father overdosed. He was picked up by police and, luckily, forced to get help.
He attended a rehab facility, then an outpatient program and was clean for 13 years before relapsing a little over a year ago. It’s a constant struggle and it requires a lot of attention. He never moved back in with his family after the overdose. I cut off contact with him for six years. He lost a job and business he loved. He lost countless friends and, though only temporary, he lost his children. He has to live with his choices for the rest of his life. Addiction isn’t something you ever get better from, you just try to manage it and life your life the best you can.
I think it’s that experience that allows me to view Celebrity Rehab the way I do.
I admit I started watching the show because of the “train wreck” factor, but it didn’t take me long to notice something more. The people on the show may have questionable motives, they may just be looking for fame and/or money, but they all seem to find something more: help.
Say what you will about Dr. Drew, but he has found a niche that works for him. He knows how to talk to people in the spotlight. He knows that it takes to get through to these people and he does it in a way that makes it easy to understand and relate to. He can make the most insufferable fame whore come back down to earth in a way that makes even the most jaded viewer cry. Yeah, I admit it. So what?!
The people on Celebrity Rehab aren’t on the show just to entertain us, they’re on the show to get better and they’re brave for letting so many people watch. Addiction is not an easy road and the treatment process can be hard, if not seemingly impossible. The rate of failure is high and the stakes? They’re even higher. I could not imagine would it would have been like to have cameras on my father as he underwent rehab. I could not imagine other people looking at him, watching and judging while eating potato chips on the couch. It’s easy to look at a show like this and laugh it off. It’s easy to lay judgement on these people, they’ve fucked up! Fuck-ups are the easiest people to judge! But if you look deeper, into the show as well as yourself, I think we can all learn a thing or two. If you’ve never experienced addiction yourself or through someone you love, this is an excellent view of what it’s like.
The Celebrity aspect is there to draw people in, to get the ratings and to keep the show on the air. But it’s not all a marketing ploy. The people appearing on the show are famous, but they are, first and foremost, addicts. Leave your prejudgements at the door. Watch this show the way you would watch an episode of Intervention. Look at the Celebrities as real people with real problems. I promise that once you do that, you’ll be in for quite an hour of television full of pain, tears, failure and hope. And when you need someone to talk to, because you’re confused about those tears you just shed for Michael Lohan, I’ll be here to guide you through.
(photo: VH1)
