Mike Tyson was an in-studio guest on Huffington Post Live earlier. I just happened to turn it on as he was being interviewed. I had company and they were talking, so I could not hear everything that was being said but, at some point, former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson began cursing and gesticulating wildly!
Now, I know how terrible it is to rubberneck but... I never liked Mike Tyson.
He was a mean guy, plain and simple - a street tough turned professional. He scared you just by looking at him and that was before he even got in the ring! In the box, he was so efficient that he was almost guaranteed a knockout - and a spectacular one at that. Most of his matches lasted under 30 seconds.
He was notoriously brutish. In a very real sense, everyone was afraid of Mike Tyson. This went a long ways up. Not to mention the fact that he was a huge moneymaker. He shoved cameramen around, hit women, and eventually was accused of rape. That charge landed him in prison for three years where it was rumored (though largely disproven) that he participated in illegal prison boxing matches. Or that's a sci-fi movie I want to make.
Anyway, he was later allowed back into boxing where he promptly bit off a piece of Evander Holyfield's ear! Even after this - and I would consider this a gross lack of judgment on Tyson's part - he was allowed back into boxing about a year later. He ended his career by taking a dive (allegedly).
Tyson went bankrupt, having spent all his money on face tattoos and exotic pets. Recently, he showed up in the blockbuster The Hangover and its sequel, The Hangover II. He did not appear in The Hangover III. I may be making it up but I seem to remember rumors that he was being overlooked due to increased pressure from the morally high-minded.
Now he has been dumped from a controversial role on the sex crimes drama Law & Order: SVU after activists at Change.org started a petition against his appearance. Tyson was set to play a murderer with a murky past but activists noted that although they were aware that he had served his time, they felt his role on the program was in extremely poor taste.
I didn't know that going in, so I heard Mike Tyson ranting and swearing, musing aloud if he now has to make porno films because mainstream media doesn't want him. He was partway between crying and beating the shit out of the nearest living thing. One statement in particular stood out but I only recall the gist of it, which was how hard he was trying to be "this non-aggressive black man."
I have frequently bemoaned Tyson's lionization over the years. His behavior was not a once in a while cycling of mania, it was a non-stop rollercoaster of violence and intimidation. I have tried to understand things from his point of view - growing up poor and disenfranchised, turning to boxing because it's something he's good at, striking it bigger than anyone could ever dream, and losing it all. That has got to be one tough ride but he was doing all these things the whole way through - he didn't start after his tragic fall from grace. In fact, all of these violent exploits were a part of his celebrity throughout his reign.
Still, it was hard to see a grown man breakdown that way. I agree that he was a poor choice for the role but I'm interested to see if the rest of the industry follows this lead or not. I have no real preference either way, I just don't want him to hit me.
© C Harris Lynn, 2012
2 comments:
NBC not only decided to stick with its decision to cast Tyson in the role, it moved the show up one week. Some have speculated that the network did so because the organization opposing his appearance is scheduled to have some sort of gathering the 13th, which is one day after the episode was originally set to air.
Howard Stern did an hour-and-a-half interview of Tyson yesterday but it wasn't very revealing. Tyson has a one-man show and I'm surmising that he didn't want to give the whole thing away for free; he was there to promote it, after all.
One thing that I did find interesting is that he claims he was on all sorts of antipsychotic medications and his wife took him off of them. They were replaced by a healthier diet. While some people would object to this given his history, he came across as quite well-adjusted and rational. I keep saying that most people who are on all these psychiatric medications don't need to be and, of all people to help prove that point, I think Mike Tyson does just that!
Look, if Mike freaking Tyson doesn't need antipsychotic medication (and he doesn't), then people really need to take a step back and reconsider the over-medication of America.
Maybe people can change? At any rate, I hope he's found his center and sticks with it. And makes a little coin off his new show. It cannot be cheap to feed a tiger!
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