Look at these pictures. On the top is Michael Phelps, fourteen time Olympic gold medalist and American hero, standing proudly on the Olympic podium with his hand over his heart, honoring his country's national anthem and representing his nation to the world. The bottom is the same Michael Phelps, using a marijuana bong in his apartment. This last picture has sparked a lot of talk about whether or not Mr. Phelps is still a national hero. Police from the area Michael lived at the time are threatening to arrest him, and people around the country are putting him down as a lowlife, and a degenerate. These two pictures depict seem to depict two very different people, but they are in fact one in the same. Americans seem to think that in order to be a national hero, you must in fact be perfect in every way. If you have ever made a mistake in your life, you are not worthy to call The United States your home. However the truth is, none of us can ever be truly as God-like as we need to be to be recognized as a "good person". No matter how long ago or how far away it was, if you are a recognized hero, your past will catch up to you. No matter how desperately people need a hero, they are just as desperate to find flaws, and tear him down. If you are anything less than perfect, you will be shot down, and made an example of. But if we are so harsh on people for their mistakes, it only encourages them to be secretive and sneaky. Why try to be great when you know that people are going to try as hard as they can to demonize you? What is there to stop people from just giving up and falling into mediocrity? We need to stop turning the pedestal into a chopping block. If we keep tearing down these heroes, soon we will have no one left who is willing to step up and be great.
Hey wow great blog! An interesing topic indeed. I don't see how people who have a great life winning gold medals and such can just screw up their life and tear everything great about them down. However we have to take into account the stress or pressure put on the ones who are great. A very debate-full topic indeed. Well done Nicole! I love your style of writing. You should definetely take up writing in a career or something or on a side job. Your are an incredibly talented person. I can't wait to read more of your blogs!
ReplyDeleteI think its kind of obvious that doing drugs is a stupid thing to do, so I'm not sure why Phelps, who has accomplished his dream many times over, and has 'everything', thinks it would be fun to do - much less have someone take a picture of him doing it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, he did the drugs after the olympics, not before. So his past didn't really catch up with him.
And the reason police were upset, was because Phelps is an athlete, and marijuana is banned for them, and if they use it they can face bans from their sport for a certain amount of years.
I do agree that everyone made a really be deal about it. He's only 23, and obviously does stupid things like some 23 year olds do. But I don't believe your age entitles you to do stupid things like drugs, just cause your young.