Editorial: Better you're thought of, the bigger your fall

OPINION: Why is it the public unravelling of the rich and famous is always watched by the world with barely restrained glee?

The international spotlight fixed firmly on golfing legend Tiger Woods this week, after the circumstances surrounding his late-night car crash outside his home led to speculation all was not well on the home front.

Suspicions Tiger had strayed from his ex-model wife were apparently confirmed yesterday when Woods apologised for "transgressions" in his family life.

The media storm that swirled around the story had more puff than most, due to Woods' hitherto squeaky clean image. He had been the tallest of tall poppies for more than a decade, and the knives came out quickly and ruthlessly.

Pulling Woods down to the plain of fallible humanity the rest of us live on wasn't as much about making him feel bad as it was about making us feel more comfortable with our fallibility.

Woods, though, demonstrated remarkable naivete when he finally made a public statement abut his "transgressions".

He promised "to be a better person and the husband and father my family deserves," but asked the media to leave him alone.

"Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions," Woods said.

He's right, of course, personal sins shouldn't normally require such public scrutiny. But when you've spent you're entire career cultivating a public image as an impeccable role model and ambassador for your sport, and leveraged tens of millions of dollars off that image, your private sins don't belong solely to you.

All those people who have invested money – not to mention adulation – on the back of Woods' spotless persona have a legitimate interest in how he behaves privately.

This unwelcome attention Woods has attracted in recent days is a salient lesson to any public figure who presents themselves as good and wholesome: The higher in public esteem one is held, the bigger the fall when the facade to torn down.

The good news for Woods is the next time he trips up – assuming, like the rest of us, this incident was not a one-off – the descent will be shorter and the landing will be softer.

That's little consolation now, but life in the long-run might be slightly more pleasant without the burden of unrealistic public expectations.

ONE MORE THING

The Special Olympics are in full swing and the first couple of days of competition have been fantastic. The opening ceremony on Wednesday night had an amazing buzz, with hundreds of people welcoming the athletes into Arena Manawatu.

The reception given to our Manawatu team was a real highlight, and the night was topped off with some outstanding cultural performances. If you missed it, try to get along to the closing ceremony at the Arena on Saturday night.

- © Fairfax NZ News