On Ozzy and Sharon

Ozzy has spoken, to bash Bush.  Thankless jerk he is, considering that in his MTV program, Ozzy not only went to the White House at the President’s  invitation, but also said something to the effect that he (Ozzy, not Mr. Bush) when he was a kid trolling the streets of Birmingham, England (or wherever Ozzy hails from) never dreamed of coming as far as he had, even being invited by the President, imagine that.

 

(Yes, I come down from my high-culture horse and watch MTV at times.  The truth comes out)

 

Watching The Osbournes is like watching a burning building.  You might be horrified, but it holds its own fascination.  Ozzy, in my eyes, is a poster boy for what happens when you do drugs.  He’s got obviously substantial neurological damage that affects his speech and his motor skills, he can’t drive a car, and sometimes can’t even microwave himself one of his beloved burritos.  However, his children (and probably many young people watching the program) don’t see much wrong with him because

a.  he’s “old” (born in 1948).  When you’re in your teens, anyone over 25 is old.   Old people are supposed to be doddering

b.  he’s making $20million/yr

c.  he’s still rocking

In the program one finds that the LA house is sometimes decorated with lots of crosses and other (Christian) religious imagery, which I suppose is meant to go with the Satanic undercurrent of Ozzy’s music, and there’s lots of faux-finishes, drapes, and floral prints.  Ozzy calls himself the prince of darkness, but he looks pretty transparent.  Ozzy cares about his wife and manager Sharon, and nearly drugged himself into a coma when he found out she had cancer.  Sharon (who must have avoided drugs enough to keep her wits, since she’s very much a business manager) recovered from cancer and now has her own talk show (I haven’t watched that, thanks — even I have standards).  The 2 younger children, Jack and Kelley, are in the show.  The oldest daughter declined to participate in the “reality TV” program, which shows to me that at least one member of the family has some common sense.  

 

Nobody else seems to.  There are no boundaries in that family.  Never mind the vile language.  The underage children are allowed to drop out of high school, stay overnight in hotels with their lovers, smoke all the pot they want (at least that part’s not shown on screen, but Sharon always reminds Jack’s keeper to not allow him to smoke on business trips), and come home fall-down drunk.  Not even the dogs have boundaries — there’s a multitude of dogs that have never been house trained.  As a result, both Jack and Kelly have already been in rehab, even when they are both still under 21 years of age.

 

So the moral of the story is, it’s not enough to love your family.  You also have to be a parent.