Eye of the Tiger

Found a young girl that suited him nice
Went to his papa to ask his advice
His papa said: "Son, I have to say no,
This girl is your sister, but your mama don't know."
-- From Shame and Scandal in the Family

It’s hard to avoid news about Tiger Woods these days. I’d heard about this great golfer but only to a certain extent since I’m not into golf and I’ve pretty much stopped following pro sports in general. So when it was announced that he apparently had more than one extramarital relationship, I was hardly concerned.

A scandal is a scandal. Yet scandals about illicit sex seem to be of greater interest to us than purely political or economic scandals. If Tiger Woods was involved in money laundering or tax evasion, his fall from grace would have been just as crushing. Still, we have to admit that the presence of a very attractive wife and very good-looking extramarital partners has something to do with our fascination with the case.

Adultery in itself destroys the reputations of all concerned, but reading about it in the press must be the ultimate humiliation. Even innocent parties, like a faithful wife betrayed by her husband, become items of public interest, as if she doesn’t have enough on her plate already.

Once you’re married, you shouldn’t lust after anyone else, let alone sleep with that person. Could this explain our interest in these kinds of scandals? Oh sure, we’ll cry "Shame!" But whether it’s due to our voyeuristic urges or our sense of outrage, these kinds of stories capture our attention.

And what about novels and movies? Every story needs conflict to be interesting. In some cases, conflict arises from a forbidden love, perhaps due to a prior and still valid marriage. We can say this is fiction. But all fiction has at least some basis in real life, so before it hits the big screen, someone somewhere must have lived through it.

The great Tiger Woods has fallen. Are we happy now that this gifted golfer has been shown to be human just like the rest of us? Is infidelity, the weakness of this champion golfer, any more serious than our own weaknesses, which for now remain hidden or are known only to a select group? If the concepts of marriage and adultery had never been invented, would we be so fascinated by this scandal today?