(brainaudit.com)
Not a good time to be a Tiger.(CEB II)
Mark another tally for Mr. Charles Barkley's 'athletes shouldn't be looked at as role models' quote. A good day to be a Denzel Washington look alike, or even Jack Nicholson. It's moments like this that reaffirm my belief of me rather being rich than famous. Looks as if Tiger Woods is the latest celebrity casualty of having his past extracurricular activities exposed for the world to see. Shocker? A bit. I'm disappointed in him like I would be with anybody else who engaged in this behavior. I mean, DAAAAAAAAAAMN TIGER! You have two kids with a beautiful Swedish model wife, and you decide to have a fling with a cocktail waitress? I admit, I'm a fan of his. In fact, I don't think I've ever watched a golf tournament that DIDN'T have him in it. But this affair debacle is another reason why I don't fall head over heels for any athlete, or celebrity for that matter. It seems as now more than ever, we are so obsessed with celebrity in this country. Celebrity dictates the fashion, the lingo and even some of the behavior of society at large, good and unfortunately bad. Hell, we get bored and even create celebrities out of privileged nobodies by documenting their lives on MTV (see Speidi, The Hills/Laguna Beach franchise). Even athletes are no exception to this worship, after all, they are making the same money as many of these movie stars nowadays. Just makes me ponder one question: We fought not to have a monarchy, why do we create it?
I remember watching the Barcelona - Rubin Kazan matchup and the commentators were literally calling the Barca "gods on the pitch", right before they got upset at home. I mean, does playing soccer really well allow for that kind of description? The problem with celebrity worship is that it sets an unrealistic image for those who are considered royalty, and sets a shady message to society that reaching that glory will erase all your shortcomings, public and private. Look at the logic for a second. Does being one of the greatest athletes automatically equal the greatest man in the world? Of course not. So why should we be shocked or blown away when these people do stray from the lines? We as a society have to be part of the blame, not for Tiger's act of betrayal on his wife, but for the deification of the individual. If you are told you are the greatest thing since Abe Lincoln all the time, you might actually start believing it, and thus start doing things that are outside the moral boundaries of our society. Explains why Nicole Ritchie would just one day carelessly drive drugged up on the wrong side of the road, or why Paris Hilton incessantly drove with a suspended license until she got jailed. However, this celebrity role doubles as some sort of a public servant role, as every detail in a person's life must be within public reach, or expect to be knocked off your throne real fast. Many sportswriters around the country even said that Tiger 'owed' us all an explanation. Really? The only one that truly deserves an explanation is his woman wearing his ring. I mean, George Bush still hasn't given me a clear explanation for why we lost all those lives in Iraq (subtle hint, definitely not the WMDs anymore). That issue is more important than a little transgression to me. Plus, Tiger's statement today was enough of a confession of guilt. It's not sympathy or an excuse for what he did, really. You can criticize his morality, that's okay by me. This is just me reassessing who the celebrities actually are (real human beings) and who they are actually not (saints, Zeus). I'm not worried about Tiger in the long run. He does have millions and he will find his stroke on the golf course and in life at the end of it all. I'm just afraid in this viral media-driven society that the next time I wear my Nike hat in the mall, people will start linking me to cocktail waitresses. On second thought.....
I remember watching the Barcelona - Rubin Kazan matchup and the commentators were literally calling the Barca "gods on the pitch", right before they got upset at home. I mean, does playing soccer really well allow for that kind of description? The problem with celebrity worship is that it sets an unrealistic image for those who are considered royalty, and sets a shady message to society that reaching that glory will erase all your shortcomings, public and private. Look at the logic for a second. Does being one of the greatest athletes automatically equal the greatest man in the world? Of course not. So why should we be shocked or blown away when these people do stray from the lines? We as a society have to be part of the blame, not for Tiger's act of betrayal on his wife, but for the deification of the individual. If you are told you are the greatest thing since Abe Lincoln all the time, you might actually start believing it, and thus start doing things that are outside the moral boundaries of our society. Explains why Nicole Ritchie would just one day carelessly drive drugged up on the wrong side of the road, or why Paris Hilton incessantly drove with a suspended license until she got jailed. However, this celebrity role doubles as some sort of a public servant role, as every detail in a person's life must be within public reach, or expect to be knocked off your throne real fast. Many sportswriters around the country even said that Tiger 'owed' us all an explanation. Really? The only one that truly deserves an explanation is his woman wearing his ring. I mean, George Bush still hasn't given me a clear explanation for why we lost all those lives in Iraq (subtle hint, definitely not the WMDs anymore). That issue is more important than a little transgression to me. Plus, Tiger's statement today was enough of a confession of guilt. It's not sympathy or an excuse for what he did, really. You can criticize his morality, that's okay by me. This is just me reassessing who the celebrities actually are (real human beings) and who they are actually not (saints, Zeus). I'm not worried about Tiger in the long run. He does have millions and he will find his stroke on the golf course and in life at the end of it all. I'm just afraid in this viral media-driven society that the next time I wear my Nike hat in the mall, people will start linking me to cocktail waitresses. On second thought.....
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment