Shame on us but mostly you.
We are, each of us, jerks. You, of course, but
every blue moon me too. Though can we return, once more, to the
just-wrapped Outerknown Tahiti Pro which provided fireworks,
superlatives, moments that will be etched in our shared history
forever and ever and ever? I see no reason not to as it is grey and
sad in Southern California today and memories of impossibly green
hills rising from impossibly blue waters are better than gloom.
Fantastic.
A fantastic show though you should feel very terrible about your
response to Filipe Toledo’s first round heat against world’s
greatest surfer Kelly Slater and Slater’s employee Nathan Hedge.
The waves were terrifyingly good, that heat, emphasis on terrifying
with Slater and Hedge trading bombs while the current best surfer in
the world bobbed out the back simply terrified.
Oh, you applauded Slater and Hedge but spent most your time
challenging Toledo, wondering about his courage, his prizing
self-protection over glory.
Me too, lightly, in a moment of weakness, I’ll admit.
Well, we should all be ashamed of ourselves, most more than I,
because, in an act of
synchronicity, surf inspiration Jonah Hill released a
statement at the very same time that Toledo wasn’t paddling that
declared he, also, was choosing to bob out the back,
metaphorically, and will no longer promote his films, publicly,
because it is anxiety inducing.
Unlike you, me and our unhealthiness, our fun making, Hill was
universally praised for his bold self-protection stance. Per
industry publication Deadline:
Jonah Hill has received plaudits for sharing recently his
decision to step back from promoting his films in order to protect
his mental health.
After the Superbad star opened up in a public letter he
shared on Deadline, saying he had suffered for 20 years from
anxiety attacks, which were exacerbated by media appearances and
public-facing events, two psychologists told the BBC of the
importance of his message for the wider audience.
Dr Sandra Wheatley told the BBC that “somebody who has so
much to lose is actually prepared to step back” should be
admired.
She said that celebrities were performing constantly
whenever they were out in public. “But when they’re offstage, they
go back to who they really are. So celebrities have to remember
this persona in the media is an impersonation that you have, not
you as an individual and that can be hard to balance.”
Consultant psychologist Dr Elena Bailey agreed that
celebrities were “very vulnerable” in the public eye, and that
stepping back as Hill has done is “self-protective
behaviour.”
“This is because the type of attention and feedback and
commentary on your life can have a very big impact on your mental
health, causing a lot of anxiety, negative thoughts, symptoms of
depression,” she said.
Really, shame on you.
Deep shame.
A little on me too but just a dab.
