Kanye West: Running away from the killer jackass

Sometimes the most precious lessons that we learn in life are the ones that almost destroy us. And if we don’t properly appreciate those near-death experiences (whether they be physical, spiritual, professional, etc) and learn from them, there’s always the possibility that the death that was delayed will burst forth like a violent echo that proclaims us as fools.

Without question Kanye West is a brilliant and gifted artist. I just finished watching his “Runaway” video on MTV, and also a portion of the interview that followed. Kanye has been blessed with extraordinary vision, along with the ability and fearlessness to express his vision in a way that inspires many. I truly respect that about him.

But here’s the thing about vision, especially here in America. Even the greatest vision is vulnerable to market forces, and having vision doesn’t necessarily assure your viability.

According to an article that I read today, in reference to the 2009 MTV VMA – Taylor Swift incident: “There is some evidence that West’s public appeal has not rebounded since VMA-gate. A recent analysis by e-Poll Market Research showed the percentage of people surveyed who currently have a positive view of West sits at 16 percent- down from a high of 58 percent in 2004.” 

That’s what some people refer to as falling from grace. It was the Taylor Swift incident that prompted President Obama to call Kanye a “jackass” in off-record remarks immortalized by ABC’s Terry Moran through Twitter. When the President of the United States calls you a “jackass” and most of the world nods in agreement, that’s a clue that there are things in this world that are bigger than any vision that you can ever hope to conceive.

To his credit Kanye has publicly apologized to Taylor Swift. But there are a couple of quotes in the article that indicate that he still hasn’t properly appreciated his near-death experience. He was quoted as saying, “I realized my importance only after my position was savagely taken away from me.” But as MTV personality Sway stated during a phone interview for the article, “Nobody took away his career…What they took away was his reality.”

We have to be careful about creating our own reality. Another quote from Kanye in the article: “Blogs are where people who could never be you try to tell you how to do you.” That’s real deep, Kanye. But the last time I checked the President doesn’t even have a blog…

The Cigar Guy Am I

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that we are living in a world where 15 minutes of fame can easily be forced upon us, whether we want it or not, whether we like it or not. The recent web craze of trying to figure out who the “Cigar Guy” was in the crowd at the Ryder Cup tournament is just the latest incident to drive this point home in a frightening manner.

I say that it’s frightening because, while there are those who crave attention no matter what the cost (choose any reality tv show), there are many of us who would rather not be exposed to viral fame.

It’s gotten to the point where you can be out anywhere, minding your business, acting goofy and having fun, or doing the most mundane and boring thing imaginable, and wind up having your image Photoshopped all over the globe, onto images that you might not want to be associated with. How crazy is that?

Sure, fame might appear to be fun from afar, but when it comes knocking on your door unexpectantly, it could turn out to be a totally different animal. Just ask Steven Holmes.

That’s the 19-year-old kid living in England whose life was turned upside down when megastar rapper Kanye West decided to follow him on Twitter, calling Steven “The Chosen One,” because he would be the only person that Kanye would follow.

It was a megathrill for Steven…for a few moments. You know what they say about fame, how fleeting it can be? Well, in this case the script was flipped: Steven fled from fame. Once it got out that Steven was Kanye’s only Twitter pal, Steven was overwhelmed by requests for interviews from the media and constantly hounded by his old and newfound Twitter pals, desperate to touch the hem of Steven’s viral garment. Steven wanted no part of the fame, saying that it was “vacuous,” and that “not everybody wants to be famous.”

You can also ask Steve Bartman about how it feels to catch a case of viral fame. If you can find him. Back in 2003 Steve made the mistake of trying to catch a foul ball at a playoff game between the Chicago Cubs and the Florida Marlins. At the time it happened there was a widely held view that he prevented the Cubs outfielder- Moises Alou- from catching the ball to get the batter out.

When that didn’t happen and the Cubs went on to lose the game, Steve was basically blamed for extending the curse on the Cubs that has prevented them from winning a World Series in over 100 years.

The next day Steve’s name and face were all over the place. He became the most reviled and despicable human being to ever walk the earth. It was astonishing. (If the U.S. government really wanted to find Osama Bin Laden, they should have enlisted the most rabid Cub fans to search for him during that time period, telling them that Steve and Osama plotted the Cubs playoff collapse. There wouldn’t be any talk of Bin Laden today.)

But seriously, going after a foul ball at a baseball game turned out to be a life-altering moment for Steve Bartman, in a very bad way.

During a segment of the NBC Today Show devoted to the Cigar Guy craze (Wow), the Cigar Guy- now identified as a London investment analyst named Rupesh Shingadia- was quoted as saying that he was “embarrassed and overwhelmed” by all of the attention he was receiving.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Steve Bartman was sitting somewhere saying to himself, “Really? You have no idea…”