David Letterman admitted having sex with some female members of his staff. That fact in itself didn't initially bother me, but I did feel disappointed in his behavior.
I don't think I registered why I felt disappointment when I first watched his apology. But now I've identified that I am most disappointed not because he cheated on his wife, and not even because he used his power and his position for sex, but because he has now been outed as a major hypocrite.
Letterman fans, and yes I have been one for over 25 years, are, not surprisingly, quick to defend him. Everyone makes mistakes, and no one is perfect. Sure, sure. But this is a guy that's made his living poking fun at the flaws of others -- including the sexual flaws of others.
In other words, I thought he would know better. And, I still think that he did know better, but he decided to listen to his sex drive rather than the one or two tiny parts of the male brain that don't think about sex 24/7.
Everyone wants to have it all, and the pursuit of trying to obtain it makes victims of us all. I, weirdly enough, am a victim of Letterman's affairs -- a victim in that I've learned that another one of my childhood heroes is simply a flawed, hypocritical human being.
We all are, of course, but it's nice to pretend that some of us aren't. It's what perpetuates hope and makes belief possible.
In what ways are you a hypocrite? How have the flaws identified in others caused you to analyze your own flaws?
"A hypocrite is a person who - but who isn't?" -- Don Marquis
Comments
Post a Comment