So there's this guy who won a couple gold medals, or whatever, at this thing called the Olympics at some point during the summer. Not sure if you heard about it or anything but this man, Michael Phelps, is kind of a big deal in certain parts of the universe. Somebody decided to take a picture of him while he was hitting the bong at a party and BOOM! The media goes crazy!
The picture below compares Phelps, the infamous bong picture and my friend K-Wal. This picture could be either one of these guys.
Seriously, I understand why some people care, but he's still young. He's a 23! he's still up for parties and doing stupid things, and I say who cares. I know, I know. He's a role-model for today's youths and an All-American icon and so on and so forth but he's still a young guy. The picture could be of anyone that slightly resembles Phelps, but he had the balls to come out and say, "yes that is me". That takes a lot. Where other people (like Roger Clemens) keep denying things that we know as true, he came right out and was honest. Isn't that a good thing? Isn't that a value to teach children? Fess up when you make a mistake, apologize and move on. I believe so.
I guess it is best left to the word's of Seth Meyers from SNL on 02/07/09.
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1 comment:
great post. the only point i'll add, and this is to the role model bit, is that whether he asked for it or not, america's youth does look up to him. it's difficult to explain to kids what he was doing and why a lot of people think that that's okay, i tried with my students and it was rough.
are we placing an unfair burden on our celebrities' shoulders? most likely. but they also need to act more carefully. they enjoy all the benefits of being a celebrity, with that should come some responsibility. if you want to be on guitar hero commercials and on the wheaties box, don't put yourself in a position to be photographed hitting a bong. be more careful of who you hang out with and where.
also, great point with nobody talking about how great it was that he fessed up and apologized. that is the lesson that the media should focus on, especially given that most celebs/politicians deny everything until they are caught.
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