Opportunism at Its Worst

Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 21, 2010

Sometimes there are just so many things going on in the world that fuel my cynicism that it’s hard to sort them out to write about them. There were a ton of stories out there this week that increased my lack of faith in humanity, but none more so than the Jesse James infidelity story.

My issue isn’t even about the actual cheating. Sad but true, infidelity isn’t all that shocking especially coming from the celebrity world. Was it right? No. Should Jesse James feel bad? Yes. Is it a horrible thing for a couple to have to go through? Most definitely.

But in a sad testament to my own cynicism, it’s hardly a blip on my radar. The part of this story that does set me off, however, is the timing of the story coming out. Or to clarify, the timing of Michelle McGee deciding to announce to the world that Jesse James cheated on Sandra Bullock with her.

Sandra Bullock wins an Oscar and suddenly Ms. Tattoo Model feels the need to come clean about the affair? Even if she were the most innocent, naive looking woman in the world, I would find the timing for coming forward suspicious.

It’s a publicity grab, plain and simple. Sandra wins an Oscar and her low-profile marriage is suddenly thrust into the spotlight. She and Jesse are suddenly the poster couple for celebrities in love. There could be no better moment for Michelle McGee to benefit the most from airing publicly what should be a private matter.

McGee isn’t exactly a woman people are going to have much sympathy for as the “other woman” anyway because of her professions and her rumored white supremacist leanings. Adding “opportunistic” to her traits certainly doesn’t help.

It’s not like she was looking to make friends and allies in all this anyway. I guarantee you it was all about the bottom line – more hits for her website, more publicity for herself.

She’s really no better than all the other “other women” who came forward on Tiger Wood’s mistress list. As soon as he was found out as a cheater, women came out of the woodwork looking for their 15 minutes of fame as well. It had nothing to do with getting the whole truth out there, and everything to do with getting a piece of this international spotlight.

It’s the only reason to come forward publicly in that sort of situation. If this were about honesty and making sure the person cheated on like Sandra or Elin got the whole truth, all of these women could have done what they needed to privately, without the media.

Instead they chose a route that gave themselves increased attention and also increased how much pain the person cheated on would feel having their humiliation, pain, embarrassment and anger aired for all the rest of the world to see.

Former British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin once said, “I would rather be an opportunist and float than go to the bottom with my principles around my neck.”

I hope floating for those few moments was worth it, girls.

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Tags: celebrities, celebrity, opportunism, sandra bullock

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