I
don't know if David Beckham will single-handedly raise the profile of soccer in
the U.S., but his self-promoting image as a sex god and his new $1
million-a-week contract with Los Angeles' Galaxy team seem destined to get
everyone drooling but good on this side of the pond.
My pal
Mark Simpson -- creator of the terms "metrosexual" and "sporno" (about which he politely
but in no uncertain terms reminded the
Sunday Telegraph earlier this week) -- has once again used his blog to puncture pop
culture with a few razor-sharp observations on Beckham and the
role of his sex appeal:
America needs Becks. Becks is one of the most popular people on the planet, at a time when the US is one of the most globally unpopular countries. That unpleasantness in the Middle East and the tantrums of Bush Junior may have something to do with it, but I suspect the problem is more to do with the way that America and Hollywood, so long at the cutting edge of commodifying masculinity, have fallen so far behind much of the rest of the world since the 1990s.
This is why Beck’s friendship with Hollywood’s box-office king/queen Tom Cruise is more than just another footballer going celebrity chumming. Cruise, the all-American Dream-boy gone wrong, needs Becks more than Becks needs Cruise who is now globally rather less popular than Becks. Because this is about media power rather than political or military power, it’s the inverse relationship of Bush and Blair. (Read the full post: 'Beckham the Virus Goes to Hollywood.')
Simpson also re-posts a smart, amusing and more in-depth article about "the Spice Girl of soccer" that he penned for Salon three years ago which bears re-reading:
His hero/role-model status combined with his out-of-the-closet narcissism and love of shopping and fashion and apparent indifference to being thought of as "faggoty" means that for corporations he is a pricelessly potent vector for persuading millions, if not billions, of young men around the world to express themselves "fearlessly," to be "individuals" — by wearing exactly what he wears.
If you think Simpson is full of British cow droppings and you
just want more, more, more Beckham, the fellas at OhLaLa
blog have a
long list of postings on, and pics of, America's new million-dollar pinup
man.
3 comments:
Well, he is no Pam-e-la Anderson, but we'll make do.
First off it shows a general lack of intelligence for anyone to say that a soccer player is needed by America as a whole. Athletes, actors, and self promoting individuals have never been what any civilization considered a savior or a saboteur. It will be the individuals that you never see and never hear from that root our society. Beckham, a very good soccer player....having an effect on the intellectual realm(which is what we need)....definately not! Thank you for reminding us who should not be making decisions with us.
He might be an attractive kind of guy, if that's your type, but, that voice will make the hair on your neck crawl!
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