I recently saw the Oscar-award winning movie “The Fighter” which
starred Mark Wahlberg as boxer Mickey Ward and Christian Bale as Dicky Eklund,
Ward’s brother who was a former boxing phenom turned washed-up-crack addict.
It was a great, inspiring adaptation regarding Ward’s true
life story, his relationship with his brother, their dysfunctional family and
redemption.
However, Bale’s haunting portrayal of an addict and the
subsequent denial of all wrongdoing reminded me of an individual in my life who
had similar problems. There was a time
when this individual and I were close and I looked up to him.
I guess when we’re younger we want to believe the best in
people and simply don’t know any better.
But as I matured, I saw this individual for what he truly
was a selfish manipulator and chameleon who shirked his responsibility as a
father; ignored the legion of broken lives and people left in his abusive wake
and a masterful addict who managed to elevate drug use to Charles Sheenian
levels.
