Nick Fang’s Say

Or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which made up my Sunday night amusement this week.

I thought I would check it out, given the 13-Oscar buzz surrounding this film, and to tell you the truth, I was a little disappointed.

Instead of Benji Button, it could have been Forrest Gump Part II.

Substitute “simpleton” with “ageing in reverse”, “Lieutenant Dan” with “Captain Mike”, “I luhve you Jen-neeeee” with “Good night Daisy”, and the Deep South with New Orleans and you pretty much have the same idea. Gump had absent Dad, Button had deceased Mum (and absent Dad). Button has an old folks’ home in place of Gump’s bed-and-breakfast. They both go to sea, seem to like roaming the world, and are unnervingly kind and trusting and yet never have anything bad happen to them. And their love affairs are tinged with sadness and a little bit of never-meant-to-be. They both have kids, sit with them by the side of the road, and the kids are cute and perfectly normal.

Well I liked both the films, but was hoping that we would get something new this time round in terms of storyline. Nice way to spend a Sunday evening though. And strangely enough, I’ve always felt that Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett were very similar in looks and acting style and it was a bit weird to see them in the same film. But that’s just me.

And can I say that I am in love with Ms Blanchett.

She is sooooooooooo beautiful in the movie. And luminous. I never really got what the reviews meant when they called her that, but she glows in this film. I was swooning quietly in the darkness of the theatre. A friend of mine says she’s a bit old to be hot but I thoroughly disagree.

On the whole, I don’t think TCCOBB is worth 13 Oscars, but it certainly is a pretty movie, nicely made, humorous at times, touching throughout, and Ms Blanchett for the win. Brad does a credible job as a method actor doing the born-as-a-prune-grow-into-a-beautiful-man-die-as-a-baby thing, but really I think the make-up is the big winner there. I was touched, though, the same way I was in Gump, by the message of true love, universal kindness and the underlying theme that the world isn’t such a bad place if we were all just nice and trusting and had faith in people.

And I couldn’t resist, just one more for the road. Have a great week ahead!

I was a little shocked and largely disappointed to hear that Michael Phelps was busted for smoking marijuana by that illustrious publication, the News of the World, no less. What’s worse, he had no defence for it other than the fact that he is 23 and had behaved in a “youthful” manner.

Ok 23 isn’t that youthful.

And this from a guy who had already been caught for drunk driving some time ago and had to deal with the drama and fall-out from that. You would think he would have learnt his lesson then.

But the incident got me to thinking about other cases where top athletes have been caught doing silly things with drugs and such.

Top former cyclist Jan Ullrich was caught for using ecstasy and also crashed his sports car in a drink-driving incident before he was enveloped in a far more serious doping scandal that pretty much ended his career.

And more recently, Tom Boonen, another premier cyclist, was caught for cocaine use out of competition. He was cleared of any serious punishment yesterday and was back to his winning ways in the Tour of Qatar race.

There have been many other similar cases in the past. So what is it with athletes and drugs abuse? 

These guys are sporting icons, looked up to and respected by many around the world.

They are also supposed to be physical specimens of the highest order, capable of amazing feats of fitness, endurance and speed. After all, it’s not everyone who can pull off eight gold medals in a single Olympic Games.

They spend hours and hours honing their bodies to become the best in the world, over years and years of mind-numbing and physically excruciating training. They don’t stop for public holidays, birthdays, vacations or natural disasters. They are there in the wind, rain, cold, heat, pounding out the miles and kilometres or lifting weights until their bodies cannot take anymore. Then they come back the next day and do it all over again.

With all this sacrifice, pain, blood, sweat and tears, why would someone abuse their body with substances that could be damaging in the long term, and worse, could result in a positive drug test that comes with punishment, fines, and even suspension from their sport?

Yes, most of them were caught in the off-season, and it’s important to make the distinction between the use of recreational drugs and that of doping products that artificially enhance performance. The latter is cheating. The former, I think, is just plain stupid.

In the wake of Phelps’ latest scandal, I know many who would say that he was just “being human after all”, that he was blowing off steam after a hard racing season, just having fun.

I suppose these a slightly valid reasons. After all, here is a guy who has spent most of his life staring at the black line at the bottom of a pool, plowing up and down for thousands of miles a year. Maybe he should be cut a little slack.

But I think that all elite athletes need to realise that they are held to a slightly different standard from the rest of us. It’s precisely because of their talent, sacrifice and achievements that they are looked upon as being role models, icons, someone to be respected, admired and maybe even mimicked in their lifestyles, focus and determination.

As people, young and old, pursue their dreams and goals in life, it’s natural to look to those who have come before and achieved more than most to set an example of what to do, of what can be done.

So it sucks when these people do something that is foolish, that is not right, and in some cases, against the law. 

I’m not saying they should be angels or perfect. But they should know what they represent to athletes and sports fans around the world like myself, who look to them for inspiration and motivation. And hopefully think twice before reaching for that bong.