At the last count eleven women have now come forward claiming to have slept with Tiger Woods. No doubt a whole plethora (I`m not sure of the collective noun for over-sexed publicity seekers) are, even now, preparing their own lurid press releases. And do you know what?......the public will `lap it up`, lick their collective chops and look around for more.
Why should we care? Why is it news that some guy who can swing a mean seven iron has an appetite for more than sinking the occasional putt? Ever since the notion of `celebrity` was invented (whenever that was) the Media of the day has enjoyed nothing more than building up the image of a `clean cut hero` so that (whenever he or she finally slips up) they can bring them crashing to earth with a resounding thump that is soon echoing around the steel walls of said celebrity`s swiftly emptying bank vault.
What does the depressing success of each juicy `shock/horror` tabloid scandal actually demonstrate about the voracious appetite for sleaze endemic in our society? It should not surprise any of us that young men thrust into the probings of an international spotlight of fame should fall prey to the temptation of engaging in a little thrusting and probing of their own. These guys are only human for Pete`s sake! What should surprise us however is the large numbers of (supposedly) well adjusted, `ordinary` people who enjoy nothing better than finding out the gruesome details of yet another randy celebrity`s fall from grace.
While it makes sense to enjoy a little crafty schadenfreude at the downfall of any celebrity who has based their commercial success on the shameless promotion of an obviously false wholesome family image (no names no pack drill) .... why should it surprise us to discover that our heroes (`All American` or otherwise) have flat, clumsy feet of clay? What makes us so superior? And who made the Media the guardians of public morality anyway?
Programmes on television such as `The X Factor` have, for some time, been doing their level best to reduce all music to the level of a glorified Karaoke competition, suggesting that a pretty face, a suitably cheesy `back-story` and the ability to sing like an ever so slightly tone deaf Mariah Carey is enough to ensure musical immortality.
Soap operas inevitably suggest that it is perfectly acceptable to scream like a scalded cat when your best friend offends you and hurl dog`s abuse at them , secure in the knowledge that all will be forgiven by the time the pressing need for a fresh storyline comes along.
While,to a point, it may be true to say that we get the Media which we deserve - isn`t it about time that these self appointed arbitrators of public taste set out to furnish us with some genuinely positive images? Don`t create artificiality and then try to pass it off as `reality`. Don`t continue to brainwash the great British public with the assiduousness of a mad scientist in a bad 1950`s science fiction movie. Above all, don`t place actors, musicians and sportsmen on deceptively solid pedestals only to enjoy rocking their stability and eventually to bring them crashing to earth with all the grace and beauty of a pile of bricks.
Maybe Tiger Woods deserves all of the bad publicity and bad jokes. Maybe he has placed commercial marketability above his sense of what is right and what is wrong. However, this latest scandal says far more about those of us who revel in these tawdry revelations than it could ever say about him. In particular, it says most about those exploitative reptiles who make a living out of wading up to their necks in slime and then encouraging the rest of us to join them in a refreshing dip in the murky waters of human fallibility.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment