“Whenever Americans learn that I come from “the Land Down Under,” they mention Crocodile Dundee, kangaroos, koalas, surfing and throwing “another shrimp on the barbie.”
“But there is much more than just kangaroos and koalas when it comes to the Aussie way of life, something that is enjoyed by 22 million people spread across 3 million square miles.
“On Australia Day – January 26th – the day my country commemorates the establishment of the first settlement in 1788 at Port Jackson (which is now part of Sydney) Aussies take time to celebrate our unique spirit and culture. Here are my observations about some of the lessons my adopted country the United States of America could learn from Australia.
Read the full article by Patrick Wanis PhD on FOXNEWS.com:
From NPR (National Public Radio) “Sweat lodge tragedy highlights lack of self-help industry regulations”:
PATRICK WANIS: I’ve been called guru and stuff. And I say I’m not a guru. Please don’t place me on a pedestal. Just listen to my message follow your instinct if there’s something valuable here, use it.
LAUREL MORALES: Wanis says gurus manipulate and claim to know what’s best for you. They create a relationship where your unquestioned obedience is demanded.
PATRICK WANIS: Anytime we experience a major crisis, we are susceptible to seeking out spiritual healers, gurus and other people who claim they have the answer that will satisfy our sense of wanting to find an explanation for chronic suffering and mortality.
If it were up to Santa, a lot of celebs would not be getting any presents this year!
The celebrity list of who’s naughty and NOT nice is a long one: Fake marriages, quick divorces, infidelity, shoplifting, sexting, jumping from balconies and falling into trees, becoming a groupie at age 45, wanting to kill the Pope, throwing tantrums on a plane, carrying $10,000 cash in your purse to a house party, illegal gambling, drugs, violence, racism, and just plain, stupid nasty comments! These are just some of the bizarre behaviors that landed celebrities into the 5th annual list of The Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns of 2011 by Human Behavior Expert, Patrick Wanis PhD.
“Bad behavior is on the rise amongst celebrities because we glamorize and create idols of people who have truly made little or no contribution to society and we reward them with money, fame, attention, prestige and undeserving significance’ says Wanis. “And by rewarding bad behavior instead of punishing it, we only serve to encourage and nurture it.”
“The media is also responsible for rewarding and encouraging bad behavior: as more and more media outlets fight to get attention and to get the scoop, they ignore all sense of responsibility, morality and integrity by willingly agreeing to interview, promote and thus glorify accused pedophiles, criminals, cheaters, mistresses, liars, addicts, misogynists, and self-promoting narcissists.”
“Meanwhile, women are also responsible for nurturing of female bad behavior. The paradox is that while we are obsessed with being politically correct in our language, women continue to undermine and demean themselves by promoting demeaning, derogatory and sexist terms and viewpoints with books authored by women with titles such as “Skinny Bitch” “Prairie Bitch”, “Yoga Bitch” and “Good Christian Bitches”, reveals Wanis.
“This is an example of the way the Hip-hop culture and its sexist and misogynistic language and paradigms have pervaded all strata of society (including celebrities), resulting in the dissolution of all boundaries of morality, the sexual objectification of women and violence against women. Snooki and the cast of MTV’s Jersey Shore are but one example of the glorification and rewarding of extremely negative role-models.”
“Part of the solution is to awake and stop viewing celebrities as leaders, role models or people to follow; and instead celebrate the artistic achievements and contributions of those people who actually make a positive difference and not the narcissistic ones who demand to be rewarded for simply being in existence on this planet and for their parasitic behavior.”
Here is Wanis’ fifth annual list of The Top Ten Celebrity Meltdowns of 2011 along with his expert insights into their antics and dangerous behavior.
Can you guess the number 1 Celebrity Meltdown of 2011?
Here is Patrick’s list along with his insights.
Let’s start at number ten and work our way up to the top Celebrity Meltdown of 2011…
10. JOHNNY DEPP, SUSAN SARANDON & SINEAD O’CONNOR.
We have all had a moment where our emotions have taken over and we have lost control and said something stupid that we later regret. But giving interviews that express verbal violence or demean women and rape is absurd and indicates how fame and wealth can disconnect and isolate a celebrity from reality and the challenges that the everyday person experiences. Johnny Depp – AKA Captain Jack Sparrow told Vanity Fair magazine that he compares photoshoots with rape: “Well, you just feel like you’re being raped somehow. Raped…It feels like a kind of weird – just weird, man.” Meanwhile Johnny Depp also angered religious activists by teaming up with British rock band Babybird to record “The Jesus Stag Night Club,” about a boozing Christ-like figure in a strip club.
Susan Sarandon spoke out against the death penalty but referred to Pope Benedict XVI Joseph Ratzinger as a Nazi (his biography states that he was once involuntarily enrolled as a member of the Hitler Youth.) Meanwhile, Sinead O’Connor went further tweeting that that she would perform a “bloodbath” if Pope Benedict XVI visited Ireland. Celebrities could promote their cause by using appropriate language and metaphors instead of polarizing people or distracting from the topic at hand.
9. ALEC BALDWIN
In 2007, Baldwin made it into the Top Ten List of Celebrity Meltdowns at no. 8 when he threatened and insulted his 11-year-old daughter, Ireland, in a phone message, calling her a “thoughtless little pig,” threatening to “straighten your ass out when I see you”, telling her she doesn’t have the brain of a human being and then verbally bashing her mother and his ex-wife, Kim Basinger as “a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn’t care about you.” But in 2011, Baldwin violated FAA regulations and threw a childish tantrum that one might expect from an 11-year-old but not from a father; behavior that reflects immaturity, entitlement, arrogance, selfishness and irresponsibility. Alec Baldwin was kicked off an American Airlines flight for ignoring flight attendant requests to power off his iPad for departure and for using offensive and violent language: “with the seat belt light still on for departure he took his phone into the plane’s lavatory. He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed even with the cockpit door closed and locked.”
Federal Aviation Administration rules prohibit an airline or pilot from allowing passengers to operate “any portable electronic device” on an operating aircraft. Baldwin’s choice to respond in a “violent, abusive and aggressive” way was a selfish action because it inconvenienced so many other passengers. Alec Baldwin did Tweet an apology for inconveniencing passengers but he refused to fully accept responsibility for his inappropriate behavior and example, and instead he wrote at length about the bad state of the airlines and then went on SNL and spoofed, ridiculed and belittled American Airlines, the captain and crew, by playing the role of the airline pilot Steve Roach. Dressed as the pilot, Baldwin proceeds to apologize to himself, calling Baldwin “a treasure” and “an American Hero.”
But a hero is usually someone who displays tremendous courage and saves a life – not someone who throws a tantrum, acts in a violent and abusive manner, locks himself in the lavatory like a spoilt child, inconveniences other passengers, and refuses to accept any responsibility for his behavior. Thus, again, in 2011, Baldwin displayed behavior that is a bad example as a father – belligerent, rude and unable to restrain his emotions just as he did in 2007 when he called his then 11-year-old daughter a “thoughtless little pig”; words that might now be a better description of his own behavior.
Ultimately Baldwin’s behavior and subsequent responses stir resentment towards flight attendants (whose priority is safety) and do nothing to help change FAA regulations. In other words, Baldwin will still have to turn off his iPad, cell phone or other video games when on board a plane preparing to depart or land. No matter how many times he cries, stamps his feet or locks himself in a bathroom, the rules will still apply to him.
(Other celebrities who have displayed wanton entitlement in 2011 on flights include actor Josh Duhamel, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong and diva Whitney Houston.)
8. GEORGE LOPEZ.
He’s been married and divorced and still George Lopez doesn’t realize that one of the most offensive and hurtful things you can ever say to a woman is to call her ugly or fat. On his TV show “Lopez Tonight”, he made a joke about former “Cheers” actress Kirstie Alley’s appearance on “Dancing with The Stars” – but he compared Alley to a pig. “She did a nice job, her little hooves tapping away. Before the show she went to the market, then she had roast beef, and this is her going all the way home,” he said and then cut to a video of a squealing pig. Alley responded by comparing Lopez to the Big, Bad Wolf, saying she would laugh as he suffered in boiling water. Lopez apologized but Alley Tweeted back to Lopez whose ex wife donated a kidney to him in 2005: “I don’t need or want ur apology…I want your kidney dude..on behalf of ur X and all the women uv insulted…give it back.”
Patrick Wanis PhD was cited in the article as a Human Behavior Expert (and contrary to claims by Bono’s attorney, Wanis was not cited or credited as a transgender specialist or medical doctor in the Enquirer article and no such inferences should be made.) Wanis was quoted as listing and revealing some of the obvious and not so obvious risks to Chaz Bono’s health.
Following Chaz Bono’s angry response to the article, Patrick Wanis PhD responded with a personal video message to Chaz. In the video posted on YouTube http://youtu.be/3zu64DvHhWU Wanis heeds Bono to ignore the sensationalism of the Enquirer headlines such as “liver damage agony” but still take action about his health and to surround himself only with people that really care, and beware of Hollywood’s parasites. Watch that video message to Chaz Bono here: http://youtu.be/3zu64DvHhWU
Weight and obesity “As a transsexual woman myself, the Enquirer is right to a point. Chaz’s weight should be a serious concern regardless of whether you are trans or not. I can’t speak for trans men but I know through my experiences on female hormone therapy, there is definitely a health risk where it comes to liver damage and blood clots. This is why I am checked out by a physician every few months as a part of my hormone replacement therapy. Chaz really needs to lose weight. This is not a transsexual/transgender issue, this is a health issue.” – Michiko
“The amazing athletes of the National Football League — bigger and stronger than ever before — are dying young at a rate experts find alarming, and many of the players are succumbing to ailments typically related to weight…The heaviest athletes are more than twice as likely to die before their 50th birthday than their teammates, according to a Scripps Howard News Service study of 3,850 professional-football players who have died in the last century.” http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Twenty-eight percent of all pro-football players born in the last century who qualified as obese died before their 50th birthday, compared with 13 percent who were less overweight.
The dangers of being overweight and obese would seem to be obvious but the same way that an addict can be in denial, overweight people still need to beware of falling into a state of denial and thus they need to become self-aware. “If sports players need to be aware of the threat to their life, then so, too, does the average person need to be aware of the imminent threats to life because of excess weight or obesity” says Wanis.
The same ESPN article (cited above) warned of the dangers of imminent death for anyone close to 300 pounds:
“Cheating cannot be excused, but it can be explained. According to behavioral expert Patrick Wanis, Ph.D., being unfaithful is more than merely a byproduct of libido-meets-opportunity. Although the details of each affair vary, there are common threads in a man’s biology and psychology that can be used to understand his betrayal. We asked Wanis to explain what’s really going on inside a cheater’s brain.”
Extra notes by Patrick Wanis PhD:
People also became attached and gave away their own happiness and power to the outcome of this case; people identified with a win but didn’t get the win they were so desperately seeking. But this case also represented the conflict with new morality or lack of – a young mother who seemed more interested in being a single, carefree party girl than a loving, self-sacrificing mother. In many ways, Casey Anthony represented to many people, today’s typical young woman – the narcissist – selfish, hedonistic, self-serving, only interested in herself, amoral and no sense of responsibility, care, compassion, meaning or purpose in life other than to engage in pleasure and partying.
Luxurious white bridal gowns, horse-drawn carriages, princes and princesses preparing to live “Happily ever after” – does the royal wedding prove that fairytales can come true? Human Behavior & Relationship Expert, Patrick Wanis PhD, reveals the link between the fairytales presented in the arts and literature, the roles society has created for men and women and, the evolving gender roles as women become more powerful and less financially dependent on men.
The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will draw an audience expected to be over 2.5 billion people, but as Patrick Wanis PhD also reveals (in response to questions posed by a journalist) the world has changed since Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s nuptials on July 29, 1981 – with a greater emphasis today on cynicism and a much more independent modern-day woman who has her own castle and expects the man to rescue her from a different kind of dragon from yesteryear.
Why are we obsessed with the fairytale wedding?
Society encourages women to be romantic, to place great emphasis on love, and its idealism. In fact, much of the literature that children grow up reading promotes the ultimate fantasy as the rescue of the beautiful woman by the knight in shining armor or the handsome prince. In other words, literature and the arts generally create roles for the genders: the damsel in distress for the female, and the heroic prince for the male:
The prince awakes Sleeping Beauty with a kiss
The prince revives and awakes Snow White with love
The charming and handsome prince rescues Cinderella from her tragic life and evil family
Rapunzel is imprisoned for her parents’ sins by the witch but Rapunzel grows the longest, most beautiful hair in the world. A prince falls in love with her and when trying to rescue her he falls and is blinded but later when he and Rapunzel are reunited, he is rewarded with his sight so he can gaze upon her beauty; they marry and live happily ever after.
Of course, these fairy tales have many themes and messages but nonetheless, there is one common strong message:
The heroine is the woman that is beautiful, kind and gracious but she is helpless, suffering at the hands of other women jealous of her beauty. Her only hope for happiness and freedom is the love of the handsome, rich and powerful man (the prince) who will rescue her, provide for her and bring her eternal happiness with his unwavering, undying love and worship of her.
Even much of the adult literature and arts continues this theme of the man rescuing, saving or fighting to protect the woman and offering her emotional and financial security. The modern day twist is that the woman is powerful and intelligent but still needs and depends on the man to rescue her (think of Leeloo in the movie, The Fifth Element: she is here to rescue the world because she is The Fifth Element (love) but she is still vulnerable and must be saved by the man who has had so many failures in his life Korben Dallas, and he will redeem himself by rescuing her and by releasing his cynisicm and believing in love once more. And yes, they also seemingly live happily ever after.)
In the romance novel (written by women for women), which represents the woman’s idealized version of love and relationships, the ultimate goal of the heroine is to win the hero and for them to become one; and in real life, the wedding represents a rite of passage for the woman as well as the grandiose means to announce, formalize and celebrate the woman and this union in a way that is hopeful of blessings and happiness.
Here now is the strong and clear idealism of love, namely romantic love, as the ultimate goal and objective for every woman.
And, of course, there can be no greater wedding and fairytale than the prince who marries his princess, and they both await to soon become king and queen, living happily ever after.
Fairytales and fairytale weddings offer us hope. Hope is a learned emotion or response that affects our behavior and even our results; studies reveal that we perform better when we are more hopeful that we will succeed. Many religions are built on hope.
When we talk about fairytale endings, we are focusing on hope of something blessed with unusual happiness. But the struggles we all face today (economy, natural disasters, wars, terrorism and general uncertainty along with the high rate of failed marriages and divorces) have made us more cynical. And with regards to a royal wedding, the tragic ending of Princess Diana may have made us even more cynical. Plus, there was a greater sense of innocence, naivety and pureness to Princess Diana which, in turn, gave the wedding a heightened feeling of love and romance.
But even in Britain where the people are still suffering from a weak economy and financial cutbacks, 45 percent of Britons are not planning to watch the celebrations, with 32 percent of people saying they would tune in, according to a survey by pollsters YouGov for online travel agent Lastminute.com.
Weddings, though, continue to be popular, in Las Vegas alone, each year, more than 150,000 couples say “I do.” And as long as people decide to get married a second, third and fourth time, weddings will remain popular.
Interestingly, sales of the romance novel continue to grow. The latest statistics reveal that romance fiction was the largest share of the US consumer market in 2009 at 13.2 percent, generating $1.36 billion in sales (almost double its next competitor Religion/inspirational which generated $770 million.)
Is it women who still wish for the fairytale romance?
The following is a transcript of Filippo Voltaggio – LIFEChanges with Filippo (LCWF) on the BBS Radio Network interviewing Celebrity Life Coach and Human Behavior Expert, Patrick Wanis Ph.D. for insights and analysis about The Oscars, the stars and the Law of Deservedness.
[0:00:46]
Recording: In an ever-changing world, Life Changes Network presents a voice of truth and inspiration broadcasting on frequencies of love, light, and information, illuminating new paths for new directions as we as one strive for higher and higher planes of existence, and a better understanding of ourselves in the world in which we live. Always remembering this is Life Changes. This is radio like you’ve never felt before. This is Life Changes with Filippo with tonight’s special guest, Patrick Wanis, celebrity life coach and human behavior and relationship expert PhD. And now your host, our emcee, the master of change, Filippo Voltaggio.
Filippo Voltaggio: Ciao, everyone. The Oscars were yesterday. We’re going to be talking a lot about that with our guest, Patrick Wanis, tonight. But before we talk about the Oscars per se, you know, watching the parade of styles, what’s in, what’s not in, what’s fashionable, what’s cool, what’s looking great, reminds me of a little while back, I had some friends tell me, and granted, they admittedly call themselves shallow at times, tell me that I dress like their grandfather, and I needed to up the way I dress. Make it more cool. So we went shopping. And we were on this rack looking at jeans, and one of them said, “Now, this is the pair of jeans you should be wearing.” That pair of jeans had more holes in it than my old pair of jeans at home, and the ones that they wanted me to throw away looked newer than the ones they wanted me to spend, I don’t know, $200, $300 on. And I thought, “This is cool? This is hip? And here I was being criticized because my jeans had no holes in them.”
And then another pair of shoes that they had me looked at that were shoes that my parents could only afford to buy me at the time, and so I got teased because I wore those particular shoes or another pair of shoes that were all – they were all frayed like the shoes I used to wear because we couldn’t afford to buy new shoes as often as I needed them as a child, or thought I needed them. Who knew? I was really fashionable at the time. I had clothes that were starting to get holes on them, and my mother would patch them. I had shoes with holes on them, and I had shoes that had frays on them.
[0:04:59]
And I was not fashionable. I was teased a lot. And now, I’m being teased somewhat, it doesn’t hurt as much because my clothes are new, and they don’t have holes in them, and my shoes don’t have holes in them, my shoes aren’t frayed. Then I thought, “Wow, what happened? In a few short years, if I was wearing what I used to wear as a kid, I’d be cool.” But I grew up thinking I was uncool because that’s not what the kids wore back then. And is this really that important? Was it really important to tease me because I had holes in my clothes growing up or patched holes in some of them? Is it really important for me to dress with holes now in order for me to be cool? Is it really important for a star to be walking down the red carpet wearing this particular dress or that particular tuxedo made by this particular person or that particular person? And should we really be judging as who was the best dressed or the worse dressed? Those stars have feelings too, and we’re going to be talking about that. As a matter of fact, some of those stars probably got teased when they were kids too, and we’ll be talking about that I’m sure as well.
Exclusive podcast interview
In a contentious interview on Good Morning America, Robin Roberts asks singer Chris Brown about the assault on Rihanna and the restraining order. Subsequently, Chris Brown allegedly became violent in his dressing room, threw an object at a window smashing it, took off his shirt and after several angry confrontations with show staff and security, left the building shirtless. Following the incident Brown sent a message on Twitter “I’m so over people bring this past s**t up!! Yet we praise Charlie sheen and other celebs for [their] bullsh**t.”
Is Chris Brown right?
“The media continues to hound Chris Brown for assaulting Rihanna while Charlie Sheen still remains the golden boy even though he, too, assaulted a woman, pleading guilty to assaulting his wife Brooke Mueller” says Human Behavior Expert and Celebrity Life Coach Patrick Wanis PhD. Rolling Stone magazine in April 2011 issue refers to Charlie Sheen as being American as pie; Nancy Grace on CNN attacks NFL hall of famer, Lawrence Taylor for admitting in 2004 to often using 6 prostitutes a day but did she offer the same criticism to Charlie Sheen for the same behavior? Is racism an element in the different treatment by the media towards Brown and Sheen? Does the media give free passes to misogynists as long as they are rich and powerful; Lawrence Taylor, who was sentenced to six years’ probation after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute, openly and unashamedly said on FOX News with Sheppard Smith that he uses prostitutes because he doesn’t want to deal with women’s feelings and emotions.
Jim Peake of MySuccessGateway.com interviews Human Behavior Expert Patrick Wanis PhD about our biases towards celebrities and violence against women, and why we give Charlie Sheen a free pass while being tough on Chris Brown. Patrick Wanis PhD also reveals that we are sold and persuaded by people who are passionate and arrogant in their conviction. Wanis also says that Chris Brown was completely wrong in his response to the interview but also questions why Robin Roberts touched Brown on his knee during the interview – a body language sign of condescension, authority or over familiarity on the part of Robin Roberts towards Chris Brown.
In the past week, hard-partying “Two And A Half Men” star Charlie Sheen has given explosive interviews and gone on a rampage against CBS with a string of news outlets ranging from The Today Show to 20/20, all while managing to capture 1 million followers on Twitter.
Amid the madness, he temporarily lost custody of his children and was even dumped by his longtime publicist, Stan Rosenfield, who felt he could “no longer work effectively” as his representative.
But is his seemingly nonsensical behavior really that unusual by Hollywood standards?
Let’s not forget that not so long ago, rock stars like Keith Richards and Steven Tyler were lionized for their bad behavior – substance abuse, women, out-of-control partying. Like Charlie, they, too, had kids and wives.
So why is Charlie Sheen being so heavily criticized? Is it just because he can’t play guitar or sing?
“By Hollywood standards, Charlie Sheen’s partying, drug taking, and groupie sex isn’t so uncommon. It’s sort of the don’t ask, don’t tell of Hollywood: insiders know exactly what’s going on and participate in it, but don’t want the non-Hollywood folks to know,” New York-based psychotherapist, Jonathan Alpert, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts. “The problem is Charlie Sheen’s latest rants are doing just that: drawing attention to the bad behavior that runs rampant in Hollywood.”
And according to pop culture expert Scott Huver, Sheen doesn’t get a free pass because he was never really a member of that revered bad boy club of Hollywood hedonism.
“The most glamorized of the bad boy rockers existed in an era that was more permissive of their indulgence, and their stories were a part of an overall fantasy that goes hand in hand with rock and roll,” Huver said. “Charlie’s never really been part of that kind of fantasy mythos – at best his appeal came as a charismatic actor who seemed to eventually win out over his worst impulses.
“But the new, self-proclaimed ‘winner’ Charlie comes off as a huge disappointment, especially for a man of his age. And in an era of modern media, where every scandal and bonehead move is awaiting to be immortalized in blog posts and YouTube videos, Charlie’s indiscretions feel all the more real and unavoidable, rather than the naughty word-of-mouth tales that sprang up around rock stars.”
Sheen has also managed to make headlines based on his confession that he now has two live-in girlfriends that he refers to as his “goddesses” – yet the pioneer of multiple leading ladies, Hugh Hefner, has had as many as eight girlfriends residing in his famed Playboy Mansion and that never caused as much of a stir.
Nonetheless, Sheen’s fame and fortune came not from his ability to sell nude men’s magazines or sell out music venues and stadiums, but his ability to draw families to the television screen – and when you’re making headlines for all the wrong reasons, television advertisers are bound to back away.
And while there are Facebook groups dedicated to the very vocal actor and defending his wild personal pursuits, many experts believe this latest media blitz may very well have shot dead Sheen’s career as an entertainment industry professional.
“Many people loved and idolized Charlie Sheen and his bad boy ways because he represented the male adolescent who lives purely for pleasure; many men wrote on blogs how they wished they had his life of money, partying and girls – without rules or responsibilities; that’s why people had been so forgiving up till now,” said celebrity life coach and human behavior expert Patrick Wanis, Ph.D.
“Now, the limit has been reached as people witness the consequences of Charlie Sheen’s actions: he looks sickly, gaunt and extremely tired and overstressed; his show has been cancelled, he is becoming an outcast within Hollywood, he speaks with desperation and yet he is expressing narcissism and selfishness along with delusions and hallucinations of grandeur; his words, metaphors and speech are bizarre and frightening to the average person as he makes no sense, and seems to have lost control of his ability to reason.
“Even the adolescent alpha male must grow up and accept the responsibilities and accountabilities of life and become a real father.”
