tiger and the old cultural guard
December 15th, 2009 • posts i've written
Yesterday, Salon published an article entitled, Tiger Woods nails our culture: The golf legend’s harem of Hooters beauties and porn stars is a metaphor for our quick-and-dirty times.
In the article, the author makes the argument that Tiger’s behavior (and the behavior of his many extra-marital female partners) is a clear sign and product of our current culture:
The Tiger Woods debacle, which started with a fender bender and possible domestic dispute and grows more absurdly, endorsement-losingly epic by the hour, serves not just as a reminder that even seemingly unimpeachable heroes get their freak on but also as a flamboyantly cringe-worthy metaphor for our quick and dirty culture itself.
I disagree. Tiger Woods is a tarnished icon of the old cultural guard.
Tiger Woods created an impenetrable persona of perfection around himself – young-legend on the golf course, consummate family man, smiling spokesman for almost any brand – and ultimately that visage only amplified the shock over recent reports of his fallibility. Everything down to his carefully unbuttoned golf glove said the man had risen to his status only after years of immaculate planning and deliberate action. The events following this Thanksgiving demonstrate a much more frail human being; his teenaged text messages, ability to place his family in such distressing harm, and overall weakness for the fairer sex.
Our new athletes and cultural icons understand that social currency is traded through the perception of transparency, not an iron curtain. True, many may have staff or interns manning their public profiles, but they all realize that in order to maintain the relationship with their fans, they sometimes have to be available at the drop of a hat.
While I watched Tiger-gate play out, I wondered if anyone else was reminded of Don Draper…
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