Tiger Woods: American Beauty

I was recently thinking of the classic Sam Mendes film "American Beauty", which chronicled the last days of the patriarch of a typical suburban family in "Anytown" America. The family resided in a neatly manicured community with white picket fences and even whiter fake smiles. Eerily, each family member went about their daily business in a comatose manner, apparently numb to the fact that they were all essentially zombies, living a facade of happiness in a spit-shined world. That is, of course, until the father has an awakening of sorts. This leads to a series of self-discoveries which climax with a new-found understanding of what really matters. If you haven't seen the movie, I won't give away any key details, but I will say that the movie was haunting in its honest look at the emptiness and utter joylessness of living a lie, using one mans attempt to escape the hollow existence of hypocrisy as a challenge to us all.

As much as I hate to say it, the recent fiasco involving Tiger Woods provides another stark reminder to the rest of us of the fact that we are all susceptible to living a lie. Despite the polished image and highly managed public persona, somewhere hidden beyond our gaze, in the deep recesses of his own heart, there was a ravaging monster. That monster had the power to bring down the sizable image of our post-modern, multi-ethnic, multi-generational sports hero with one mighty roar. The name of that monster was hypocrisy.

Still, some have said that if Tiger was not so intentional, so eager about portraying himself the way that he did, then we would have simply brushed off his self-proclaimed "transgressions". If Tiger were a bachelor, like let's say, Derek Jeter, then we would have applauded his manliness and appetite for adventure.  Really? Have we fallen that far?  Is it acceptable for any man or woman to bounce from partner to partner, with no sense of fidelity or self-control? Is it appropriate, or even responsible behavior to rack up as many sexual partners as you can, so long as they are ready, willing, and able? Are we so sex-crazed and pleasure-possessed that we fail to see the futility in that lifestyle? Dare I say, YES.

In today's world of hero-worship and well-produced celebrity, we have once again seen the mighty fall. Yet, I have a sneaking suspiscion. How many of us are living in the "shadows", one step away from having the mask torn away? Is it possible that Tigers transgression is the new "norm" for behavior? Wise men used to tell me that integrity is defined as what you do when no one else is watching. Apparently, integrity is a relic from ages past in today's culture of hedonism. It is quite possible that art has become reality, leading us to conclude that we are all members of the cast, playing key roles in the real-life version of "American Beauty".  Scary. Que the credits...