Taking a break from earth-shaking issues like climate change, war and the never-ending difficulties in the Middle East, columnist Nazmiye Oral of de Volkskrant of The Netherlands writes that the troubles of Tiger Woods are a metaphor for life in the modern world – a period in history in which everyone seems to want to live life in public – as long as no blemishes appear on the perfect portrait painted by themselves.
For de Volkskrant, Nazmiye Oral writes in part:
“The reason for this type of openness is only partly based the masturbatory reassurance that modern humans need to avert feeling lonely and convince themselves that they matter. The public sharing of feelings and lives is something we all crave – the need to see how life unfolds. How do others live it? How do they fall down and get back up? How do they manage? How do they keep up the faith and keep on going?”
“It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that the life of Tiger Woods, the once pristine, highest-paid golfer in the world, has been completely trashed in a period of two weeks. … All the juicy details are on hand: the adultery, the indiscreet money-grubbing mistresses, a humiliated and angry wife, voicemail messages, text messages, nude photos, a sex tape, lucrative advertisement deals being withdrawn, a canceled tournament, etc. Woods, a blazian half African-American, half-Asian, was rather colorless before the leaking of his escapades.”
“Today, Tiger Woods isn’t a brand but a person – more naked than naked. He stands to lose lucrative deals, he’s the laughingstock of the sporting world, is in Sweden with his Swedish wife spending his millions and remaining quiet, only to return in a number of years, i.e.: to be purified.”
By Nazmiye Oral
Translated By Meta Mertens
December 14, 2009
The Netherlands – De Volkskrant – Original Article (Dutch)
Intimacy – that’s what we really want. To be connected without further obligation. Identification without consequences. We need the herd without necessarily having to be a part of it. Many share their daily lives on Facebook or Twitter. It’s laughable to read a Facebook message from someone who says: “Shut off your phone and laptop. The sun is shining. Life is great!” Especially when you can see that every hour they add a new message. Of course it’s in English even if the sender is Dutch so that the message will have global reach.
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