The Brand

In case you missed it the Where-will-LeBron-James-play-next-year media event is over. I have to admit that in any given season I will watch perhaps one quarter of one NBA game. I love sports and am something of a college basketball junkie, but the NBA does nothing for me. Yet I was fascinated by the hype created by and around this young man. Or rather the hype created about the brand, the image, the product known as LeBron James.
Fame and fortune can do strange things to people (or so I am told. I am neither famous or wealthy. But I am, however, willing to give both a try!) Some people don't want it but have to deal with it. Others seek it out, not always aware of how it will alter their lives. I think LeBron James might fall in the latter of the two. Playing basketball, it seems, is a vehicle, a means to create a brand that has made Mr. James extremely rich and able to generate unbelievable media attention. Yet the line between a brand and the real live human being behind the brand can be difficult to maintain. People, even extremely talented basketball players, are not products. The problem is I am not sure the average fan/consumer is capable or willing to make the distinction. I wonder if LeBron James is able to make it as well.
Human beings are created in the image and likeness of God. We are capable of love, compassion, hope, vision, and creativity. We are not, however, God. Humans make mistakes. Lots and lots of mistakes. We need grace and forgiveness and understanding. We tend to extend forgiveness to other humans (and our pets) but not things. Ask Toyota and BP.. I am not in any way shape or form comparing LeBron James to British Petroleum and the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. What I am saying is that when you turn yourself into a brand you risk losing your humanity. And then other people stop treating you like a human.
Last night there we police officers patrolling James' house. People in Cleveland burned his jersey. Why all of this violence for a basketball player who decided to play for another team? Because the brand that is LeBron James failed Cleveland Cavalier fans. And they are angry about it. Is it right, is it fair? I don't know. As a sports fan I get upset when my team loses (and my children learn colorful new words that you will not find in the Bible). I don't, however, want to go and burn down the houses of the players who failed to win. People makes mistakes and competitive sports is set up so someone wins and someone loses. It's just a game and life goes on.
What Mr. James is going to discover is that by turning himself into a brand, a product, folks are going to treat him like a brand or product. No matter how much money he gives to charity his brand is based on one thing and one thing only - winning. Cleveland fans are upset because they believe that without James they will not win (and that James never won a championship in his seven years in Cleveland). The brand failed to deliver. Brands are not entitled to forgiveness or understanding or compassion. I wonder if LeBron James the brand will miss being treated like LeBron James the person by some fans and most of the media?

Finding Humanity at the Pool

Summer is upon us and in our house and that means swimming. Our kids are freaks for the pool which means I will be spending copious amounts of time at the pool over the next few months. Which also means I will be spending copious amounts of time looking at the people at the pool. This is not voyeurism, folks. We go to a very popular public pool. On any given day there are a couple hundred people there. Unless I go around with my eyes closed I have no choice but to notice everyone else. I don't mind the crowds, I'm just not sure what to do about what I see.

I am not Mr. Black (which is good since I think he is dead). Most of what passes as fashion escapes me. I have better things to do with my time than sit around critiquing what other people are wearing. Yet, at the pool, I find myself in a heightened state of fashion consciousness. Or perhaps it is more honest to say I am more judgmental of other people. Not just about what they are, or are not, wearing but what kind of humans they are.

Like it or not Hollywood and Madison Avenue have helped to create impressions in my mind about what beauty is. If you are a 5'4" young woman and weigh 120 pounds then feel free to break out the bikini. However, if you are 5'2" and weigh in at 180, well, perhaps a one-piece is in order. Come to think of it go ahead and leave that t-shirt on as well. Oh, and only guys with six-pack abs and buns of steel should brave the Speedo. Otherwise, it is better to conceal than to reveal.

As I walk around the pool (sans Speedo) I'm aware of something else that popular culture has taught me. If you are beautiful on the outside than you must be pretty on the inside. The other side of that coin is that the not-so-good looking people are equally unattractive underneath all the fat and flab. In subtle yet powerful ways we are led to believe that a person's humanity is dependent upon what they look like. At the pool our humanity, or lack thereof, is on full display. Let the judging begin.

There is another way of looking at people at the swimming pool. The Christian faith, my faith, teaches that all people are created in the image and likeness of God. Everyone, regardless of their physical features, is fully human and entitles to be treated with dignity and respect. If this is what I really believe than the pool is a place where I can look around and affirm the humanity of everyone present. It does not matter if a person looks like a super-model or the Governator, if the bikini or Speedo is flattering or not, I can see what God sees - a bunch of people who are wonderfully made and fully human. I think it is going to be a great summer at the pool!