I was awoken this morning by the sound of a radio debate. It was a discussion following up the biggest news story of the last few days. The sad expenditure of 30,000 more U.S. troupes by Obama to Afghanistan I hear you cry? No. Perhaps it was the twenty-fifth anniversary of the horrific Bhobal disaster, when Union Carbide was responsible for the chemical leak that caused 15,000 deaths at the time and trail of destruction in the form of contamination, birth defects and more death ever since then? No.
Oh of course, it was Tiger Woods’ low speed, zero casualty early hours trip into a tree and fire hydrant. Now on first reading this story I must admit I was a little concerned for Tiger’s wellbeing, he is after all one of the greatest golfers in history and a joy to watch out on the course. Pretty soon however we were told he only had minor scrapes and that he was going to be all right. What a relief, he’ll be playing again next year (that sounds like a long time…it is actually just a month). After this point it soon became clear just how mental the world is.
The crash was a prelude and the foundation upon which the ‘real news’ could then be planted.
He wont talk to the police, he wont talk to the media, he is having multiple affairs, he is taking a break from golf because he has gone completely off the rails, yadeyadahyadah.
Just to set my stall out at this point: I couldn’t give a crap about his private life and what he gets up to ‘off the course’ because that is not why I find his golfing ability so astounding. This voyeuristic fascination has absolutely amazed me. It seems the media has finally lost the plot – contradictions and ridiculous statements have completely neglected to acknowledge why Tiger Woods is a so-called ‘public figure’ in the first place and why his private life is none of our business.
According to the BBC “he is the all-American hero, who could do no wrong – a winner, a champion without blemish and an aura to fit” and this view that we all share of him has been irreparably tarnished by exploits in his private life.
I take exception to a couple of things within this statement: firstly, the opening is media hyperbole – do you think he would ever really consider himself that? Secondly, correct he is an incredible winner and champion of 14 majors, but to say his career contains no blemishes is a blatant falsehood – he is not infallible and that has been shown this season in all four majors.
Image is now bee all and end all – the fallacy that his public image is what sustains his career has emerged and reflects a much deeper issue. It seems to me that the media (and the public) have realigned our perception of public figures so immeasurably that we view every body through the same attention seeking ‘reality TV’ inspired, pathetically intrusive spectacles.
Shocking also are the blatant parallels between the media treatment over the last couple of weeks of Tiger Woods and that of Katie Price. To me this is a sad and sorry state of affairs (so to speak) – Tiger Woods is one of the greatest sportsmen in history, he has incredible talent and his public persona is completely centred on his success as such, which is judged by record books, tournaments and his ability to beat others at the same game. Katie Price has cleverly molded her career around her public persona and absolutely no identifiable talent.
The media is Katie’s playing field and therefore her judge.
Golf/sport is Tiger’s playing field and therefore his judge but we have lost sight of this fact. Instead we see his relationship with the media in the same way as Katie Price’s – hollow and parasitical.
The difference is this:
Tiger has been thrust into the limelight through his extraordinary success in an unrelated line of work. Media coverage and sponsorship/advertising is therefore a result of his success as a sportsman and not a human being.
Katie has thrust herself into the limelight through an extraordinarily undignified desire for fame. Media coverage is the core component of her ‘success’ as opposed to any definable talent.
We need to stop vilifying genuinely talented people for issues in their private lives. Tiger Woods has never seemingly used the media in conjunction with his private life to open up avenues for his success – he doesn’t need to. All this talk of sponsors potentially deserting him is nonsense. Perhaps if he was sponsored to be a sinless and perfect person they might be asking questions (I don’t know – and I don’t care what he has been up to) – but they don’t, they sponsor him because he is one of the greatest golfers in the history of the game.
End of.
