Let's talk about the western world's mental health. Here is the situation that has me going.
I was called the other day by a reporter who asked me if a specific woman's reaction to being caught in a sex scandal was: "normal". The facts I have been told are these: a staff member in a Seattle City Councilman's office was introduced to a famous English soccer star at a meeting in a hotel downtown. She was beautiful, and he was taken with her. He propositioned her, at some point she signed on for the program, and they spent a night having sex. Somewhere along the line, someone tipped off the press and the soccer star (married of course) panicked and called the young woman begging her not to divulge the secrets of their night together because of what it would do to his marriage. (I gather he had had other extra marital affairs which had been previously exposed in the press, and he had reason to believe his wife's tolerance might be exhausted). Evidently, according to her, the surprising news that he was married enraged her (she said he was so tender and taken with her it did not occur to her that he might be married...). So, not only did she admit to the affair, the interview she gave the English tabloid press is so sexy it could be published as a page out of a soft porn pot boiler. She gives a move by move description of the seduction, detailed color commentary about their love making and includes her not always flattering impressions of him out of bed. (She did compliment him as a lover).
The description would hardly have been more detailed if we had been there to watch it happen. Furthermore, when the reporter called to find out more from the woman, she was referred, by the woman, to her publicist in England! (Most Seattleite office assistants do not have a publicity agent much less a European "handler"). So back to the original question- was this woman's conduct, "normal"?
My answer is I hope not, but I fear it is becoming more normal all the time. There seems to be a new standard: it is that you can, and perhaps should, do anything for fame, or money or any combination thereof. This means having sex with someone, much less an intimate conversation is at your own peril. There is no contract of conduct between the two of you. Celebrities be warned: these days you are just grist for the mill: or put another way, this might be a good time to rethink your policy on non-monogamy.
I find this unfettered worship of fame, money and notoriety both odd and sad. Did the newest "Monica Lewinsky" not notice what happed to the actual Monica? Did she have to become a character in a soap opera or could she just say "no comment" to the press? It seems she was more interested in her day of fame, easy money (if it is true, as reported, that she was paid handsomely for her description of their evening together) and perhaps the possibility of parlaying this one night stand into a dubious kind of Paris Hilton celebrity. Whatever her motivations, we should resist seeing this kind of gross kiss and tell media expose as anything but pulp porn even if it tries to pass for news. If we refuse to ‘normalize' this kind of conduct, life does not have to resemble the lowest rung of reality television.
