On the ball
Catherine Bennett contrasts Roman Polanski and Ched Evans.Well Polanski should be shunned like the dog he is, but is Ms Bennett seriously surprised at the different treatment of a bourgeois film director and a working-class footballer?
Footballers are in any case seen by most as Peter Pans, boys who never grow out of the playground, and need to be disciplined by stern masters so that they can achieve what they are capable of because they do not really have agency of their own. They are paid millions to be boy wonders and we believe that along with their performance on the pitch, and the training they do to be ready for that, we have also bought from them adherence to an unwritten code of conduct that infantilises them (within the terms of our culture). They may not drink, they may not smoke, they may not swear, they must be smart and presentable. If they are not, we will only grudgingly cheer them, and if we are not cheering, there is no ambience for the matches on TV. And that won't do.
posted by Dr Zen @ 7:28 pm
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