More than ever before the celebrity, in particular the sports celebrity, is trapped in a transactional relationship with his fans, who regard him less as a person than as a commodity — an enormously skilled competitor on the field, but off it just another pitchman selling himself on television and in back lit displays in airport terminals.Oh please. The boilerplate about a right to privacy is hollow nonsense used conveniently in the interest of self-defense. Celebrities have no problem reaping the financial windfall that comes from being in the public eye while, in Tiger's case, also playing by the Nike-written rules. As Leonard Shapiro says, the simple fact is that "after consistently deciding to avoid taking a stand on so many issues of the day, Woods has finally found a cause worth fighting for: his own right to privacy."
My issue with all of this is that we spend too much time judging people for what they do and not enough time judging them for what they don't do. Put another way, Tiger's a selfish asshole. This is a guy who has netted $1 billion dollars at the age of 33, has meticulously crafted a fake public personality, treated his competitors like crap and leveraged his star status into getaways with porn stars. Sure, this US Weekly-driven frenzy is pathetic, but it also reveals that Tiger's the embodiment of everything contemptible in the callow corporitization of our society. Despite all of his iconic sway, Tiger has done nothing for the greater good—unless you consider banging two chicks at the same time a benevolent gesture. (And judging by what we know of Tiger, I'm reasonably sure he does.) He is what he is: a shallow cad with designs on being nothing more than a great golfer. I guess that's his prerogative. But it's also one he can be judged on, especially when set against the awesome hyperbole put forward by his dad, Earl.
In 1996, Earl told Sports Illustrated that his son would someday be more important than Gandhi or Buddha, calling him “the Chosen One. He’ll have the power to impact nations.” Earl added: “The world will be a better place to live in by virtue of his existence… I know that I was personally selected by God himself to nurture this young man and bring him to the point where he can make his contribution to humanity. This is my treasure. Please accept it and use it wisely.”
Fuck me in the ear.
The sad irony is that Tiger's unwillingness to speak out on AIDS relief or global warming in an effort to protect his Nike-Gatorade-AT&T-Gillette-Accenture-Tag Heuer-corporate-sponsoring image was outweighed by his willingness to risk it all to have sex with chicks while taking Ambien. What a tool.
