Scratch deeply enough at the hide of any hero and you will find some dirt. Commonly, we refer to “feet of clay” when we find fault in those we first admire, but today the art of finding fault has reached new lows.
From “gotcha” to unearthing youthful indiscretions, planning “sting” operations, “outing” others, or implementing dirty trick campaigns, our voyeuristic fetish for watching people squirm under the glare of public attention borders on the obscene. Nowadays, the cognoscenti prefer saying “schadenfreude,” a German term meaning “to take pleasure in someone else’s misfortune.” “Roman Holiday,” a more colloquial term used to describe the pleasure derived from watching others suffer (as in torn apart by lions in the Roman Colosseum) seems more apt. Our dull daily news has been eclipsed by the media’s favorite pastime, the evisceration of the famous – admired public figures and otherwise. Those who say today there is no such thing as negative publicity may be technically correct, yet I aver such spectacles engage not the best in us, but the worst.
Crass and mean-spirited mass-media personalities of print and broadcast may enjoy high ratings and stratospheric salaries, but they demean us with their careless cruelty. Trading on the misfortune of others is a low and easy trick, an unseemly craft plied by the arrogant while disguised as “journalists” or “critics.” These perpetrators coolly try to justify their behavior with sanctimonious pronouncements about “evil doers” getting what they deserve, but in the end, those who prey on misfortune reveal the true scoundrels among us.
There are crimes for which the famous and the fabled deserve justice, and it is for this we have the law. Too often, so-called crimes of those who hold the spotlight are simply stupid or foolish indiscretions of which even the best of us are guilty. Who among us have led perfect lives unblemished by mistake or bad judgment? If nothing else, the art of living in the public eye requires risk and courage, and it is only through benevolence and forgiveness of each other that one prevails at all. The enjoyment of baiting, trapping or lying in wait to expose another’s faults degrades the decent, and transforms adult society into a childish schoolyard, where immature bullies who enjoy taunting others find their courage with the mob.
Those for whom fame is but a by-product of honest public service most easily endure the suffering of close scrutiny and exposure; sincere and heartfelt effort on behalf of others makes strong armor. For those invested purely in self-aggrandizement and personal profit – the lawyer and the publicist – hired guns with allegiance to mere money are their only defense. Indeed, since it is money that’s so often behind our Roman Holidays, negative publicity feeds many mouths, however distasteful.
Our culture pays a mighty price for this corruption of virtue. Denied heroes, we become cynical and negative, suspicious and cunning. Our children, as well, lose heart and confidence in others as one role model after another is pilloried in public for the “crime” of simply being human. We would do well to turn away from such sordid “entertainment” and instead embrace a just and benevolent view of others, as we ourselves would hope to enjoy when in time our selfsame faults may be revealed.
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