Hypocrisy
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Hypocrisy
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Hypocrisy has always been with us and I'm sure it always will be. It does seem to be more prevalent today but I'm sure that is just because in this time of instant news we hear about it more. People will never learn that if you are going to pretend to be what you are not, you will probably be found out, sooner or later. We, as a society, don't like to be lied to. We feel betrayed when our Idols fall. It breeds miss-trust for all things. Having survived the sixties and actually remembering them (at least some of them), I have noticed that a lot of people seem to have varying ideas of what it was all about. I have always thought it was a rebellion against the hypocrisy in our society. Without getting into all the old arguments, it doesn’t seem to have made much of an impact on society today. We do seem more willing to out our celebrities, politicians, athletes and everyone else we know both personally and professionally. Maybe if they all didn’t go to such painful extremes to convince us that they were what they are not we wouldn’t be so pissed off when we found out who and what they really are. When a certain celebrity was faced with the possibility of an illegitimate daughter from an adulterous relationship that took place many years before I felt very disappointed. Not because of the facts, not even because of the sad way he chose to handle the situation, but because I realized that this man had spent years and probably millions of dollars trying to convince the world of his upstanding, moral, perfect family image. There are an awful lot of celebrities who are pretty much what you see is what you get. They are scoundrels and make no excuses for it. When they screw up we don’t bat an eye. We like our bad boys and don’t expect them to be anything else. What the public doesn’t like is being lied to. Conned into thinking something that is not true. I think the reason the public is not more outraged at President Clinton’s behavior is the fact that we pretty much knew what he was when we elected him. We didn’t care. There was a small time politician in South Florida a few years ago who was building his career on a fight against pornography, topless bars and such. He even appeared on a few national talk shows. Of course when his name showed up on a notorious prostitute’s client list he resigned his little job and faded into the sunset. Not to mention the football player in the Super Bowl who after receiving some award for being a great, moral person was busted for soliciting oral sex from what turned out to be an undercover cop. It’s not just the famous that erode our trust though. I know lots of people who will never be the same after finding out the truth about a parent or other loved one. Not the easy truths like Mom and Dad don’t really know everything but the devastating truths like Mom and Dad are amoral or criminal and were never the people we thought they were. Lies and pretense are so hard to maintain it amazes me that so many people are so intent on trying to pull it off. It takes so much energy to keep it all together. If only they would realize that the truth really does set you free and people will probably never be as upset by the truth as they are when they find out they have been deliberately deceived. Sooner or later, in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases it will all come out anyway.
Cece McKenzie