1. I believe Starn’s thesis in The Passion of Tiger Woods is that American society obsesses over the lives of others. We constantly feel the need to be connected to the people we idolize. This is especially true in the sports world because it is something we are constantly connected to. There is usually some sort of sports event going on in America and we always have access to the latest updates and scores. It is what we talk about to our family, friends, and our coworkers in the break room. It is something that brings us together and bonds us as a society. Because of this, we idolize the players of the sports. We expect sports stars to focus on their craft and always behave morally. When they don’t, it becomes a huge scandal because they’ve acted differently than we want. We feel we can no longer look up to them because they have done something wrong.
In the case of Tiger Woods, he was a big star because of his title as a golf prodigy. Tiger Wood’s scandal came as a huge surprise to everyone because we had always seen him act morally. We never expected this great golf prodigy to get caught crashed into a light pole in the early
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“That America’s structures of race and class still overlap means that black families find themselves far less likely than white ones to have the money it takes to raise a top golfer” (78). In this section Starn is discussing how in order to become a great golfer all you really need is time and money to practice. Because of this, those from lower socioeconomic status rarely become top notch golfers because they didn’t have the money to start playing when they were kids. Lack of money disproportionally affects African Americans and explains why there is so little ethnic representation in the golfing world. He ends by saying “The lack of black pros sheds light on the broader dynamics of racial inequality in America now” (79). This is a very powerful statement. We are not as diverse as we think we are and the golfing world shows