“The one thing they love more than a hero is to see a hero fail”
Yeah I just quoted the Green Goblin. I’m not writing about Spiderman of course, and with how much exposure the story is getting, it’s probably obvious that I’m going to write about Tiger Woods. When I first heard this quote at the movie theatre, it struck me as brilliantly insightful and fitting for the movie - but I sincerely hoped that it was fitting only for the movie.
But of course it applies to the real world, one would be naive to think it doesn’t. Think about Bill Clinton, Mark Sanford, Rob Blagojevic, Elliot Spitzer, Kobe, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Vick - I could go on and it’s sad that I could. But whatever the frequency of fallibility in high profile figures says about their character is minuscule compared to what the reaction of the public says about the state of society.
When I first read Tiger’s most recent statement earlier today, I was disappointed. I was disappointed that one of the people I highly admire might have fell from his pedestal, and I questioned how much the character of high profile figures can really be trusted. But what really disappointed me is the whole process, the whole media circus - frankly this is none of our business. Consider how this started - with a single car traffic accident. This everyday occurrence resulted in a $164 dollar fine and four points on Tiger’s driving record. Sure it’snot expected, but it’s not like it’s never happened before. But of course, we aren’t just talking about anyone, we’re talking about Tiger Woods. So instead of sympathizing with Tiger’s minor injuries - as one would in a normal accident - the invasive media obsessed with the situation itself. Why was Tiger out in the middle of the night? Why were his windows smashed? Was he fighting with Elin? Did Elin attack him? Is Tiger cheating on Elin? The absurdity of this just boggles me. It’s 2, Tiger could have been jet-lagged, he could have been hungry for a midnight snack, or maybe he just wanted to go for a drive. In fact, maybe he and Elin did have a fight, like any normal couple, and he wanted some personal space. Again, these things are not expected, but it’s not like they’ve never happened before. The presumptuous media has absolutely no right to conduct “investigative” journalism on this fairly typical matter. They have no right to publish “malicious rumors” and expose an athlete’s personal life to the public microscope - I am 100% behind Tiger in his first statement. As Tiger said, it was a personal issue, and he is completely entitled to keep it that way. I’ve read recent garbage (I’ll water down the word I really want to use) saying that we are “entitled” to know the details of the situation, and “Tiger owes us an explanation.” Okay I’m just going to say it, that’s complete bullshit. If I’m having relationship problems or craving a burger, that’s my business and not the publics - I don’t expect Tiger to tell me what he ate for dinner or how is marriage is going. Anyone who reasons that Tiger, because he is a high profile figure, owes us an explanation is flat out wrong. I can understand the argument that elected officials are accountable to their constituents, but this is completely different. Tiger is an incredibly gifted athlete who has won numerous tournaments though his own talent. The public didn’t elect Tiger to his success nor did he ask us for it - he earned it. Tiger’s accountability to sponsors is a slightly different issues, they pay him good money to represent them. I am more sympathetic to a corporate sponsor requesting an explanation - because they are directly linked to Tiger (or at least his image). And if the sponsor so chooses, they can drop their contract with Tiger and move on; nothing is stopping them. But for the average consumer, don’t claim that because you buy Gatorade Tiger, the man owes you an explanation. If that’s your logic, you should stop buying Gatorade Tiger.
The sad thing is, because it seems that there is more to the Tiger story than a simple crash, the media is going to win. We do not know what will come out the next few days, but it may very well be that Tiger had one or multiple mistresses during his marriage. I don’t condone that, and it is going to make me look at Tiger differently; I don’t think Tiger is impervious to all fault. But it is awful that, with these allegations, the crimes of the media will be overlooked. Maybe Tiger isn’t perfect, I can accept that. But I can’t accept the endless extremes the media will go to expose such stories. Depending on what comes out in the next few days, Tiger might lose some of my respect. But equally, if not more so, he will gain my pity and sympathy - he doesn’t deserve this invasion on his personal life.
Perhaps lost in what I wrote above (it’s been bugging me for a while, I apologize if it became a borderline rant) is what “Tiger-gate” says about society, and why I titled this post with the GG quote.
Frankly, he’s right.
Society has come to a point where it will go from worshiping idols to ripping them apart in a matter or seconds. Forget that we all loved Tiger and root for him every Sunday. Forget that when he’s not playing in a tournament, that tournament might as well cease to exist. Forget that he has his own charitable foundation which is regularly active. And forget that many kids grow up hoping to become like Tiger - often with parental encouragement. Let’s forget all that, and instead now let this transgression ruin everything Tiger ever stood for. Sounds kind of stupid (at least to me), but it’s what’s happening and might continue to happen depending on how events unfold. I can understand curiosity, it’s something I’m guilty of myself. Yes part of me is curious to know what exactly happened here, part of me is curious to know if Tiger cheated. But the obsession society has on scandals like this transcends typical curiosity - this is malicious invasion. Society isn’t just curious to see if Tiger cheated, many want Tiger to have cheated. Many want to see Tiger do wrong. Why? Because it shows that this extraordinary person is still human. Because it shows, despite earning over 1 billion dollars now, that this man is still capable of wrong. Because it shows that he isn’t so great after all; in fact, we might even be better than him.
This sick, twisted notion of reveling in one’s demise sickens me. We shouldn’t have to see our heroes fall to lift us up. It’s one thing to admire a person’s accomplishment, but it’s quite another to think that he or she is perfect and capable of no wrong. And that’s our fault, we shouldn’t have built Tiger up to be some perfect man - because no one is. It should not take an extra-marital affair for society to realize that Tiger isn’t perfect. More than that, fans shouldn’t take away some guilty pleasure from seeing Tiger fall. I don’t mean to say I am above society (I’m not) when I say that this whole Tiger incident has not given me that guilty pleasure. And I don’t think I’m alone, I think many are genuinely sad - but too many are happy. Feel pity for Elin and Tiger for having to deal with this under the scrutinizing public eye. Feel sorrow for their children, who might be too young to realize the happenings right now but will surely be exposed to it later in life. But don’t feel satisfaction in seeing a hero, one that you once loved, fall.
