Finding someone to look up to
I came to the club drunk with a fake ID
Don’t you wanna grow up to be just like me!
I’ve been with 10 women who got HIV
Now don’t you wanna grow up to be just like me!
I got genital warts and it burns when I pee
Don’t you wanna grow up to be just like me!
I tie a rope around my penis and jump from a tree
You probably wanna grow up to be just like me!!!- Eminem, Role Model
With the Olympics having been in town up until last week, there has been a ton of discussion about the athletes. We’ve been watching their every move for weeks and clearly, people have a lot to say about how they act not only when they’re competing, but afterwards as well. I’m referring, of course, to Canada’s gold-medal winning Women’s Hockey Team that stayed on the ice long after the audience was gone and had a few drinks and smoked a few cigars.
(image courtesy of the Toronto Star)
The initial reaction was a bit of shock and criticism, but it became quickly apparent not everyone thought there was anything wrong with what these ladies had done, from Sports Illustrated, to the Toronto Star, to the CBC. I suppose the reason there was any outcry at all has to do with the perception that prominent athletes, movie stars, musicians all need to be role models for our youth.
But being a role model isn’t about being perfect. Heck, half the Canadian Olympic team have been in McDonald’s commercials, and that’s hardly what you would an ideal diet for world-class athletes… but I bet if you talked to them in person, they would be incredibly happy to tell you what a nutritious meal really looks like. Jon Montgomery won the gold medal in skeleton, then drank from the pitcher of beer he was handed as he walked down the street (isn’t there an open container law here?)… but just like the hockey ladies, he’s worked his butt of for years to achieve this success and he sure as heck didn’t drink his way to discipline.
You can look up to people without loving every little thing about them. You can respect their qualities while you laugh at their quirks while you accept their faults. That’s the beauty of it… You get to choose what you take and what you leave.
Posted by Youth In BC at March 5th, 2010 under Blog.
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