Pubdate: Thu, 26 Feb 2009
Source: View Magazine (Hamilton, CN ON)
Copyright: 2009 View Magazine
Contact:  http://www.viewmag.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2393
Author: Michael Terry

WHY "BONG-GATE" LOST

Just weeks ago, a photo of swimmer Michael Phelps smoking marijuana 
from a bong leaked into the media and threw him into a firestorm of 
loathing. The incident made Phelps the latest celebrity to face the 
consequences of disappointing people he'd never met. His antics have 
cost him financially, as sponsors such as Kellogg's have canceled his 
contracts or high-paying speaking engagements, as well as 
competitively, as he has been suspended by the United States Swimming 
Federation for three months. The pressure has become so severe that 
the 23-year-old is considering retiring from his sport.

Mark Spitz, a former Olympic swimmer who won seven gold medals said 
of Phelps, "His accomplishment is epic. It goes to show you that not 
only is this guy the greatest swimmer of all time and the greatest 
Olympian of all time, he's maybe the greatest athlete of all time."

Phelps' incredible focus and work ethic have yielded phenomenal 
results. Last year, the young man won eight gold Olympic medals in 
one week. The man who previously held the status of being the world's 
greatest swimmer, Australian Ian Thorpe, considered the goal of eight 
gold medals to be impossible. Phelps worked out harder and more often 
than any swimmer in the sport's history. He swam 20 races in just 
seven days to accomplish this task, setting seven world records in 
the process. He even set one of those world records while swimming 
with a pair of broken goggles.

Phelps had come to define athletic dominance, stamina and the Olympic 
spirit. He had single-handedly saved the sport of swimming, and 
served as the finest athletic export America has ever seen. So why 
are so many people, even many who are indebted to him, so quick to 
tear him down? How could a nation that so thoroughly enjoyed his 
performance at the Olympics only months ago, be fostering an 
environment that is making Phelps question whether he should swim 
again? Because he occupies that slot of society that is more 
soul-reducing than any other, that of the role model.

Being a role model is a trying task. Most often these people are 
given money, fame and all the markers of the supposed Good Life. 
However, the trade off for such glory is that they are asked to live 
in conformity within the conventions of society. Any time someone 
such as Phelps strays from the beaten path, trouble is bound to 
follow. What is ironic is that it is precisely the act of deviating 
from the norm that allows these people to defy the odds in their 
given fields. Moreover, role models in a healthy society should not 
be manufactured to serve as a reflection of the society, they should 
be looked at to expand conventions, to question boundaries and 
barriers previously allowed the false authority of rigidity. Too 
often, exemplary figures are revered for their accomplishments, 
respected for their talents but they are not reacted to.

When the picture of Phelps smoking weed leaked, I wished he would 
have not only have admitted his use of the drug, but stood by it. 
However, the consequences are unfortunately too severe for him to 
make such a stand. Indeed, when it comes to his sponsorships, he is 
beholden to the people who pay his salary. The corporations who 
sponsor him are of course the least likely entities to make a moral 
shift such as the one Phelps offers. They discard anything or anyone 
who represents a challenge to mainstream morality and who present a 
threat to the sanctity of their static image. What's worse, those 
corporations who have kept Phelps on have done so after expressing 
great regret at the incident and demonstrating that Phelps himself 
understands that he showed bad judgment. Only once he superficially 
fell back into line could his tattered image begin to be repaired.

Michael Phelps smokes marijuana, of that there is no doubt. But 
instead of admonishing him for the act, we should be considering what 
it is we are frowning upon. He has absolutely obliterated the core 
arguments surrounding the supposed effects and dangers of marijuana 
use. Let it be said for now and ever more that people can smoke 
marijuana and still be productive members of society. If Phelps is 
any indication, smoking weed doesn't automatically destroy your 
motivation, or your physical well-being, a point that Phelps' 
superhuman accomplishments hammer home. Instead of repudiating him, 
nauseating moralists everywhere should be tipping their caps to 
Phelps while admitting that they have been definitively proven wrong.

The anti-marijuana people have been wrong since the beginning. 
Examples have repeatedly demonstrated that its criminality is a joke 
and its place on the list of immorality is a facade. But Phelps is an 
example beyond all the others. His astounding drive, his athletic 
supremacy and his personal decision to smoke marijuana should be a 
death blow to any of the moronic refutations that have muddied the 
moral waters of marijuana use for decades. That would be the proper 
use of Michael Phelps as a role model in our society. Instead, many 
people demand that those who set examples, set a certain example. 
Society places obscene pressure on role models to fall in line, 
instead of using these people to consider itself. A society without 
the ability to reflect, judge and change is a dead society. It cannot 
move forward, it can only regurgitate. In truth, Phelps' use of 
marijuana should make the whole process that much easier. It 
literally cannot be any more plain to see the flaws in arguments 
against recreational marijuana use. It should really be boringly simple.

Society should look at these facts and move the fuck on. Mankind's 
greatest athlete smokes weed.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart