The Happiness Myth_ An Expose - Jennifer Hecht [126]
On the 1980s sitcom Cheers, the Sam Malone character is a playboy bachelor. Only the show’s hypereducated characters, like eternal graduate student Diane and the fussy psychologist, Frasier, seriously question Sam’s behavior and what it means about his happiness. Most other characters assume he is happier than they. As with Fonzie, Sam’s conduct does not cause him constant trouble. The women he sleeps with often have built-in reasons not to be annoyed by his behavior: a favored motif is the stewardess, in town only for a layover and so complicit in the brevity of their encounter. They come to him for what he is good at; they are women who want to have fun. Also, Sam sustains friendships with men and women, and is admired and respected as a group leader. Critical Diane argues that Sam’s behavior is a symptom of psychological disorder and plain old sadness, but she is depicted as an unreliable witness, too unhappy herself to be taken as a guide. Who is living a rich life, Sam, or his critics Diane and Frasier? Sam, by a long shot. Even these critics love and admire him; he has a life full of friendships and encounters, while they gripe of being impoverished in one way or another. In the world of the show, Sam is allowed to be happy.
In the 1990s Cheers spin-off, Frasier, radio-show producer Roz is a sexual player on the order of Fonzie and Sam, with few differences because she is a woman. She seems to want sex for fun and happiness; she likes it, and likes men. She is shown having a great time flirting, and she reports euphoric sexual encounters. But Roz is also often shown as disappointed. She is chided by Frasier and his brother, Niles, also an effete psychiatrist, and they often pathologize her behavior. She herself is a little sad, but she does not join in on their critique of her. She sees their sexual behavior as prissy and overthought. Even they cannot help admiring her sexual virtuoso skills now and again. It is interesting that Sam’s character from the show Cheers visits the Frasier show in 1995, and now he is deeply ensconced in a new identification as a “sexual compulsive,” with a therapy group and a commitment to change. Now too much sex is a problem that betrays unhappiness and requires the intervention of the medical community.
On the TV comedy Two and a Half Men, of the following decade, the many-partnered Charlie has a great deal of fun. His happiness is announced, explicitly, in almost every episode. Yet with the same frequency, Charlie and his family and friends all note that his hypersexuality is an emotional impairment—almost a psychological disorder. He pleases women a lot at first, but many of them end up hating him. They do not seem to have short-term desires for sex with a good-looking, successful playboy, and are often hurt when they find out this is all that is on offer. His seductions are more canned than the women realize, and when they find out, they are hurt. Yet in some ways Charlie is a particularly sympathetic character. For all Sam’s honesty, we never really see why he rejects romantic love, whereas with Charlie, his mother’s narcissism and overt sexuality are regularly on display. The eyes of a child don’t lie, and the half-a-man, the ten-year-old Jake, sees his sexual uncle as happier than his tightly wound, often celibate dad. But unlike Fonzie and Sam, who had a whole clutch of people who were unabashedly envious and impressed, Charlie gets only passing praise of his prowess. The only adult in Charlie’s life who supports his sexual behavior is his gruff, nasty cleaning woman, who likes it for its lack of sentimentality, though she, too, commonly treats it as a form of emotional retardation. There is a regular character, Rose, who represents the women who have