Michael Douglas oldest son Cameron is in deep shit. He was busted in a drug sting at the Gansevoort Hotel in NYC trying to sell $18 000 in methamphetamine to an undercover cop. Not content with that kind of trouble he then got his girlfriend to smuggling heroine to him through open court. Now he's looking at some very serious jail time. Not surprisingly Cameron Douglas defense attorney has an explanation for his client's behavior, and that is that it wasn't his fault.According to Dan Gitner, the hired gun who'll be representing the younger Douglas in his trial, the poor lad never stood a chance in life because he was Michael Douglas' son.
"He didn't benefit from his celebrity. He was hurt by it in a variety of ways, including ways in this case. He has been sort of a reckless person since he was really young, endangering himself constantly. Not violent, just screwing up in every way - car accidents, motorcycle accidents, tattoos. I think a lot of it had to do with who his parents are."
Now you might think that this is leading up to the 'reality TV defense'. Fame is destructive and poor Cameron got a heavy dose at an early age. Not so, his lawyer has something else in mind. What they maintain is that his privileged position gave him a sense of entitlement, as if the normal rules didn't apply. He felt free to screw up because he knew that his father would be there to fix everything. Since this situation wasn't created by him, but was preexisting he can't be held responsible. Call it the accident of birth defense - "He's a Hollywood kid so what do you expect?"
The flaw in the argument is that a preexisting set of circumstances don't absolve a person of responsibility - since they are almost by definition responsible for how they 'respond' to those circumstances. By the same argument children of divorce, borken homes, etc could claim that their won behavior was predetermined by a set of prior conditions that they didn't choose. Ultimately it would be a get out of jail free card that could apply to everyone. After all, who asked to be born?
There is another theory, and that is that Mikey just isn't much of a father. He can't really be blamed for that since he too was burdened with a "preexisting condition". His father was Kirk Douglas and Kirk was the biggest prick in Hollywood in his day - which is saying something. So Michael came by selfishness and irresponsibility honestly. Mike became a drifter in his early 20's in part he says because of his won family situation. While his own brothers have had problems with drugs and the law, he adapted to the Hollywood life style, and became 'self preoccupied'.
While being interviewed about his son's misfortunes Michael described it as terrible and himself as being devastated. Then, in almost the same breath he went on to describe Viagra as a wonderful enhancement to life with Catherine Zeta Jones. The dirty old bugger's one track mind is beginning to wander in the same direction. Then again I think that Michael was always the sort of person to remain focused on the important things - what he wanted. Being exposed to that kind of selfishness might have made young Cameron feel nothing he did would make any real difference in his situation any way. Dad was gonna have it the way he wanted regardless of how that affected the rest of the world. He might as well let the bull run. Besides, I'm sure he knows that his Dad can take it. Life goes on, as long as the Viagra doesn't run out.
