Chris Brown’s breakdown at the BET Awards last week reminds me of Mark McGwire’s teary-eyed confession earlier this year that he took performance-enhancing drugs during his baseball career.
Shocking no one, McGwire finally admitted in January what every sensible baseball fan already knew, five years after he refused to issue such a confession during his testimony on Capitol Hill.
There’s a great video on YouTube that cuts into the slugger’s confession to Bob Costas right after his voice quivers and he croaks, “Today was the hardest day of my life.” The clip suddenly cuts to Tom Hanks’ iconic scene from “A League of Their Own.”
“Are you crying?” an exasperated Hanks asks. “There’s no crying in baseball!”
There may be no crying in baseball, but when celebrities get caught in the public limelight for doing something wrong, crying seems to be the trump card of forgiveness time and time again.
Worse, the public continues to fall for these requests for forgiveness even as they continue to disappoint. Just ask Michael Vick, who’s making headlines again due to a shooting at his birthday celebration.
Considering recent history, no one should be surprised that Chris Brown took the opportunity to cry fountains during his tribute to Michael Jackson. It’s what politicians, professional athletes and celebrities do when the chips are down and the heat of public scorn turns up.
I guess it’s supposed to be poetic. Brown was singing the classic “Man in the Mirror,” a song about bettering the world by bettering yourself, and the power of the lyrics were just too much for his guilty conscious to handle. For the time being, we’ll ignore the irony of a flawed Brown honoring a flawed King of Pop with a song about being the change you want to see in the world.
This tragedy is almost Shakespearean. If beating Rihanna is Act III, and his cry fest is Act IV, then surely his rise back to the top will be the closing Act V.
Not so fast, Breezy. Blubbering during an MJ tribute doesn’t erase the images of Rihanna’s bruised face or absolve you of your deeds.
Yet many have been touched by Brown’s supposedly cathartic performance. The debate over how genuine his weeping was misses the point because, genuine or not, Chris Brown still assaulted his girlfriend, and no amount of salty tears will wash that truth away.
If any non-celebrity were in Chris Brown’s shoes, would we be so willing to forgive him for assault? It doesn’t matter if his tears were caused by genuine remorse or eye drops his bodyguard slipped him before going on stage—he still used his girlfriend as a personal punching bag.
Celebrities need to stop getting a do-over. I know many were wowed by the breakdown because it revealed Brown’s “human side” but, believe it or not, celebrities are human and should be judged by the same standards as the Regular Joe down the street.
We’re all human, tears or no tears, and celebrity status doesn’t change that.
Dustin wishes he could be judged on a celebrity standard. Reach him at dustin.volz@asu.edu.
