This American Thinker article by Lisa Schiffren pretty much nails it as far as I am concerned.
In the article, she makes the case for the fabricated images of Tiger Woods and Barack Obama that mask what they are really like. Based on continuing polls, it looks like people are starting to figure things out though.
She starts by saying “As a rule, the revelation that a married athlete (or actor, or rock star, or politician) has conducted extramarital affairs with bevy of “party girls” may titillate, but rarely has the power to shock. In those realms, these things happen. Entitled men. Willing women. Deceived wives. What’s new?
So what is it about Tiger Woods that makes his cheating so different from the usual that ten days on, the nation is still discussing revelations of conquests, trysts, payoffs, and physical injuries inflicted by a golf club?
Sure, there’s normal prurience at work. But mostly, we are interested because Tiger Woods, who may legitimately be the best golfer ever, had been turned into an all-purpose icon: a man of personal rectitude, a lovely smile, apparent openness; a family man, with a lovely wife and two adorable babies. And of course, he was our first living embodiment of the collective hope for racial reconciliation. Who knew that the early reports of his betrayed wife Elin swinging at him with a golf club constituted literal icon-smashing?
We are staring because we’ve been had. Betrayed. We see now that the image was all a fraud. The talent was real. But the things that made the public like Tiger personally — the low-key demeanor, manners, and sweet smile of countless sports-page photos, magazine covers, political analogies, and most important, product endorsements, was an act. That would be betrayal enough. But it wasn’t just Woods’ act. The larger lesson here is about how much artifice — sustained, deliberate deception — goes into the construction of a public persona when there is profit to be made or power to be had”
Please click here to read the complete article.
Tags: Personality, Social Behavior
You know I really don’t care about his personal life, I’m not a golf nut don’t even like the game but I will watch every time he plays. I don’t feel betrayed, everyone is trying to tell us they didn’t know. LOL, now who is kidding who? Now they are running for cover. Jokes on them. The question is who’s blood will they suck now. LOL All they care about is how much money someone can make for THEM….
You nailed that one.