“Crabtree. Don’t you open your mouth about the best, or I’m going to shut it for you really quick.” - Richard Sherman
“A star is someone who doesn’t have to take her clothes off to be sexy because you naturally have starpower. Sex does sell, but you have to find a way that’s not just showing your tits. I don’t want to be a glorified model. They just walk onstage and it’s all about their clothes — or lack of clothes.” - Miley Cyrus
With a win under his belt and a clear path to contend for the Super Bowl XLVII against the Denver Broncos, Richard Sherman has successfully made himself the new Miley Cyrus of 2014 after a mere 20 days. Impressive? I think that word would be an understatement for the genius behind both his and her actions in the near past.
Entertainment has taken on a completely new meaning from what it meant 20 years ago when Barry Sanders was running all over defenses without opening his mouth, when Michael Jordan was a role model for millions of kids, teenagers, and adults, and Will Smith was just some goofy dude who happened to find himself in Bel Air and have a different life lesson to teach to his cousins after every episode. Now, Miley Cyrus is smoking j’s on stage, half of Hollywood has no hair, and people like Richard Sherman are taking a different spin on what the word “sportsmanship” really stands for, especially on the eve of MLK, Jr. Day. C’mon man.
That being said, is it really a bad thing that entertainment is being redefined? Is this a negative transformation? It seems as though America is eating it all up with its grubby little fingers, barely waiting to order dessert, as well. The amount of news, tweets, instagrams, and whatever else on this Richard Sherman event that took place Sunday, January 19 is remarkable. The French phrase “succès de scandale,” which essentially translates to the American saying “There is no such thing as bad publicity” came to mind.
We currently have so many different forms of technology and, thus, so much access to information. Becoming famous doesn’t seem to be even that hard anymore because of this onslaught of media we’re exposed to every day. Make a vine of yourself getting 10 gallons of milk poured on yourself: Vine famous. Write a post on Facebook stating your opinion that has a length greater than 140 characters: 200+ likes on your status. Post an Instagram with something scandalous: you’ll soon find yourself on the app’s Trending page.
You get the point: We don’t care about quality anymore. As a society, our goal is to give focus to things that irritate us, things that grind our gears, things that are too outrageous to ignore.
Was the shooting in a movie theater over a texting patron incident as important as other things occurring in the world at the same time? (Hint: Think American Debt Crisis. Borrowing limit suspended until February 7th).
Were Richard Sherman’s remarks about being better than Michael Crabtree in the NFL more important than the other news being broadcast that very same night? (Hint: South African intellectual property laws for designing low-cost generic versions of drugs).
Chances are you’re going to pull the conspiracy card on me, in which case, I encourage you to do so. No one got anywhere in this world by letting people who disagree with the way they think and feel get them down.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Featured photo courtesy of: HuffingtonPost
