“Show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy.”
Francis Scott Fitzgerald
Last week’s bizarre odyssey of O.J. Simpson brings into sharp focus both a dual standard in the treatment of celebrities and a blurring of reality where such personalities are concerned.
Societies have historically provided top athletes, popular entertainers and politically correct artists with accolades, special privileges and even wealth. However, in contemporary America, this fascination has degenerated from a mere curiosity about the rich and famous into an frenzied fixation on celebrities. The enormous popularity of People
Magazine, tabloid television, and the endless succession of self-promoting TV, film and music award ceremonies bear vivid testimony of this phenomenon.
This societal exodus from reality is, at least in part, a symptom of a people ceasing to be active participants in the forces which shape their futures. Perhaps feeling trapped by political, social and economic forces beyond their control and conditioned by a material environment focused instant gratification, large segments of the public
have simply become spectators on the sidelines of life. They seem content to live their lives through the make-believe worlds of big-time sports, inane sitcoms and mindless infatuation with celebrity which infiltrate their homes.
Meanwhile, the celebrities upon whom such public adoration is bestowed are often seduced by instant wealth and a sycophantic media which hangs on their every utterance, most recent infidelity, or latest temper tantrum. Theirs becomes a world in which they can do no wrong; where money, access to those in power and well-paid lawyers can deflect the conventions of society which clash with their egocentric lifestyles.
A twentieth century Othello, O.J. Simpson, once a role model for young people whose roots were mired in poverty and crime, is but the latest modern day icon to disillusion his following. His personal tragedy is compounded by the brutal deaths of two individuals and the possibility his children may effectively loose their surviving parent.
Yet, there are other casualties.
The most obvious was equal protection under the law. The Los Angeles police and DA’s office appear to have given Simpson several pre-arrest considerations it is unlikely would have been afforded an individual of non-celebrity status.
Equally vulnerable is O.J.’s presumption of innocence. While the prosecution already appears to be trying the case in the press, his attorneys are publicly positioning their client to take advantage of any of a number of defenses. Meanwhile, the media has paid little attention to protecting the rights of an accused, presenting mixed elements of hard news, hearsay, innuendo and editorial commentary in such a way it has often been impossible to differentiate fact from fiction.
As such, all parties are doing a disservice to Mr. Simpson, potentially prejudicing his chance to have his case heard by a fair and impartial jury of his peers.
The media has also been guilty of other gaffs.
In its dramatic coverage, television was in its element, live reporting of a breaking story. The reality a life and death situation was occurring gave the event a chilling and hypnotic aura. Still, there was a surrealistic quality to the drama, as if we’d seen it all before on “Cops” or “Rescue 911”.
Yet, in broadcasting pictures of twenty police vehicles pursuing A.C. and O.J., the media, perhaps accidentally, crossed the line between reporting a event and becoming an active participant. Without the mile-by-mile color commentary, the crowds of curious, cheering and sign-waving spectators would not have lined the freeways, overpasses or streets surrounding the hall-of-famer’s home.
Finally, obsessed with rating numbers, the media has dedicated more time and space to coverage of the O.J. Simpson drama than any other news event in recent memory. Titillating and tragic though it may be, its actual impact on the lives of those not directly involved is negligible.
If one believes out of every tragedy comes some good … then the murder of Nicole Simpson has become the catalyst to finally bring the pandemic of spousal abuse into critical view. Meantime, O.J.’s fall from grace provides an unique opportunity for reflection on, and reevaluation of, our national psyche in which celebrity status has become a substitute for heroism, charisma for character, and media accessibility for wisdom and knowledge.
In the process, maybe some people will begin to more highly value their own lives and realize life is not a dress rehearsal but a onetime challenge to be aggressively embraced and experienced … or it will quickly be lost forever.
