Poor Tiger Woods. His early morning one-car mishap, the reporting of which would normally be relegated to the back pages of the sports section, has mushroomed into allegations of marital discord, domestic abuse, addiction to painkillers and, of course, illicit sex. For a guy who flew under the radar for so many years, he is certainly making up for lost time. As the saying goes, still waters run deep.
Within a day of the accident, reports on TV news and in newsprint were rehashing, extrapolating and opining upon every little detail of Woods' life, both public and private. But wait, there's more! This morning, at least four more women have come out of the woodwork to declare themselves former lovers of Tiger Woods. That makes at least six, not counting his wife. Well, this stamina certainly helps explain how Woods got to be such a great athlete!
And great he is. Anyone who shows him or herself to be exemplary in this world also opens up his or her entire life to scrutiny. Herein lies the burden of celebrity. Of course, it also has it upside, such as those multi-million dollar contracts with corporate sponsors. Sports writers have been falling all over themselves postulating about how Woods will now lose those, due mostly to his lusty sexual appetite being made public. But if people are mindless enough to buy a car because Tiger the great golfer says so, why not buy it because Tiger the great lover endorses it?
These type of incidents say more about us as a society than it does about a famous person being exposed as, well, a person. Are we so intellectually and socially bankrupt that we can only live vicariously through famous individuals? What, then, gives us the right to judge them? Some say that sports figures have a special responsibility as "role models" for children and are therefore more vigorously criticized when they stray from the straight and narrow. Sure, sports stars should be expected to be role models for their own children, but no one else's. What kind of parent would abdicate that responsibility to some unknown quantity?
No one is perfect. Certainly we all know this, yet continue to expect of others what we would never demand of ourselves. The media tells us what to think, and we do so. But news media has responsibilities, too, don't they? While they were wasting everyone's time with titillating stories about Woods, what was happening with health care reform, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, regulation of the financial industry and many other pertinent topics? Let Tiger Woods and his wife work out their problems in private, where this sort of thing belongs. And if you're in the market for a new car, do yourself a favor: Turn off the TV and pick up a copy of Consumer Reports instead.
Within a day of the accident, reports on TV news and in newsprint were rehashing, extrapolating and opining upon every little detail of Woods' life, both public and private. But wait, there's more! This morning, at least four more women have come out of the woodwork to declare themselves former lovers of Tiger Woods. That makes at least six, not counting his wife. Well, this stamina certainly helps explain how Woods got to be such a great athlete!
And great he is. Anyone who shows him or herself to be exemplary in this world also opens up his or her entire life to scrutiny. Herein lies the burden of celebrity. Of course, it also has it upside, such as those multi-million dollar contracts with corporate sponsors. Sports writers have been falling all over themselves postulating about how Woods will now lose those, due mostly to his lusty sexual appetite being made public. But if people are mindless enough to buy a car because Tiger the great golfer says so, why not buy it because Tiger the great lover endorses it?
These type of incidents say more about us as a society than it does about a famous person being exposed as, well, a person. Are we so intellectually and socially bankrupt that we can only live vicariously through famous individuals? What, then, gives us the right to judge them? Some say that sports figures have a special responsibility as "role models" for children and are therefore more vigorously criticized when they stray from the straight and narrow. Sure, sports stars should be expected to be role models for their own children, but no one else's. What kind of parent would abdicate that responsibility to some unknown quantity?
No one is perfect. Certainly we all know this, yet continue to expect of others what we would never demand of ourselves. The media tells us what to think, and we do so. But news media has responsibilities, too, don't they? While they were wasting everyone's time with titillating stories about Woods, what was happening with health care reform, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, regulation of the financial industry and many other pertinent topics? Let Tiger Woods and his wife work out their problems in private, where this sort of thing belongs. And if you're in the market for a new car, do yourself a favor: Turn off the TV and pick up a copy of Consumer Reports instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment