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Behind 'Tiger' spectacle a two-faced general public that loves dirt
By Jacob von Bisterfeld |
April 14, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
SO, Tiger Woods has returned to the world's most famous golf courses. Welcome back Tiger!
Mr Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods, the world's most televised golf pro had gone into voluntary exile because, well, he had been naughty.
But how naughty?
Tiger Woods, or perhaps his sponsors and legal advisers, had deemed it necessary for him to go on television, some months ago and read out a fully fledged penitential "mea culpa" confirming what (almost) everybody knew already: he had played around while being married.
Sure, but does that not happen to many other people too, ordinary, famous or infamous? Yes, but Tiger is a public figure and as such he is deemed having to function as a latter-day saint, a role model.
Role model
A role model of what?
Should ordinary people who get propelled into the limelight by way of becoming presidents, outstanding sportsmen, mountaineers, inventors, priests or popes ditch their human instincts and weaknesses and suddenly become holy and saintly?
In his world-wide televised address, Mr Woods, wearing sackcloth and ashes, said that he used to believe that he was entitled to do whatever he wanted to do, and that, due to his success, normal rules did not really apply to him. He said he realized now that it was wrong to have extramarital affairs, and apologized for the hurt his behavior caused to his family, friends, fans, and business partners
It is unlikely that this kind of silly and wholly unnecessary confession on TV could happen outside of the US of A, the land of moral rectitude and righteousness, yet, on the flip side, a land featuring the highest teenage pregnancies in the developed world and the second highest divorce rate across the globe.
Was Tiger Woods really seriously at fault? Far from it. With most vertebrates and a not inconsiderable number of invertebrates, multiple partners is the norm. That it is more convenient for contemporary organized (Western) society to allocate one man to one woman for life is not Mr Wood's fault.
The fault lies more with a relentless paparazzi, broadcasting the slightest rumor as fact, an efficient world wide Web, the tabloid gutter press, not to mention television and a two-faced public.
Actually, almost everyone knows of someone who has tried to add some spice to a sagging marriage by straying a little from time to time. Those not involved generally recount these stories with a smirk and a twinkle in the eye.
Not, however, the gutter press who relentlessly pursue politicians, the wealthy and the famous and usually manage to uncover (often with substantial payment) the sauciest of details to a general public that pretends to be dismayed, disgusted and shocked, yet purchase all the periodicals it can lay their hands on in order to savor ALL the juicy details.
It is thus that great people such as Bill Clinton and Tiger Woods, both residing in puritan and bi-faced America, have had to suffer the indignity of being forced to reveal the most intimate details of their private life basically for the sake of a paparazzi that kindled the fires in the first place.
The French, actually, have a far more relaxed attitude to the nether life of the famous and their presidents: it is most unlikely that neither will ever have to appear on French TV to confess to the public.
Nor should they.
Private life
In fact, the French public tends to be slightly amused on hearing of marital shenanigans in the happy realization that their president is fully 100 percent human after all.
Obviously, the time has come that the famous, the wealthy, those in public office, and everyone else, be allowed to lead their private life in private - ie away from the prying eyes of the press.
Anything that has nothing to do with their official duties should not be reported on and those that trespass suitably drafted privacy laws should be punishable by substantial fines and repeat offenders by jail terms.
Then, the quality of public servants in high office may also improve, in the knowledge of candidates that any (personal) dirty laundry will be kept inside and not hung out for all to see and gossip about.
(The author is a freelancer in Shanghai. The views expressed are his own.)
Mr Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods, the world's most televised golf pro had gone into voluntary exile because, well, he had been naughty.
But how naughty?
Tiger Woods, or perhaps his sponsors and legal advisers, had deemed it necessary for him to go on television, some months ago and read out a fully fledged penitential "mea culpa" confirming what (almost) everybody knew already: he had played around while being married.
Sure, but does that not happen to many other people too, ordinary, famous or infamous? Yes, but Tiger is a public figure and as such he is deemed having to function as a latter-day saint, a role model.
Role model
A role model of what?
Should ordinary people who get propelled into the limelight by way of becoming presidents, outstanding sportsmen, mountaineers, inventors, priests or popes ditch their human instincts and weaknesses and suddenly become holy and saintly?
In his world-wide televised address, Mr Woods, wearing sackcloth and ashes, said that he used to believe that he was entitled to do whatever he wanted to do, and that, due to his success, normal rules did not really apply to him. He said he realized now that it was wrong to have extramarital affairs, and apologized for the hurt his behavior caused to his family, friends, fans, and business partners
It is unlikely that this kind of silly and wholly unnecessary confession on TV could happen outside of the US of A, the land of moral rectitude and righteousness, yet, on the flip side, a land featuring the highest teenage pregnancies in the developed world and the second highest divorce rate across the globe.
Was Tiger Woods really seriously at fault? Far from it. With most vertebrates and a not inconsiderable number of invertebrates, multiple partners is the norm. That it is more convenient for contemporary organized (Western) society to allocate one man to one woman for life is not Mr Wood's fault.
The fault lies more with a relentless paparazzi, broadcasting the slightest rumor as fact, an efficient world wide Web, the tabloid gutter press, not to mention television and a two-faced public.
Actually, almost everyone knows of someone who has tried to add some spice to a sagging marriage by straying a little from time to time. Those not involved generally recount these stories with a smirk and a twinkle in the eye.
Not, however, the gutter press who relentlessly pursue politicians, the wealthy and the famous and usually manage to uncover (often with substantial payment) the sauciest of details to a general public that pretends to be dismayed, disgusted and shocked, yet purchase all the periodicals it can lay their hands on in order to savor ALL the juicy details.
It is thus that great people such as Bill Clinton and Tiger Woods, both residing in puritan and bi-faced America, have had to suffer the indignity of being forced to reveal the most intimate details of their private life basically for the sake of a paparazzi that kindled the fires in the first place.
The French, actually, have a far more relaxed attitude to the nether life of the famous and their presidents: it is most unlikely that neither will ever have to appear on French TV to confess to the public.
Nor should they.
Private life
In fact, the French public tends to be slightly amused on hearing of marital shenanigans in the happy realization that their president is fully 100 percent human after all.
Obviously, the time has come that the famous, the wealthy, those in public office, and everyone else, be allowed to lead their private life in private - ie away from the prying eyes of the press.
Anything that has nothing to do with their official duties should not be reported on and those that trespass suitably drafted privacy laws should be punishable by substantial fines and repeat offenders by jail terms.
Then, the quality of public servants in high office may also improve, in the knowledge of candidates that any (personal) dirty laundry will be kept inside and not hung out for all to see and gossip about.
(The author is a freelancer in Shanghai. The views expressed are his own.)
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