The boredom of stardom

Carlos Edriel Yulo lost his floor exercises crown at the recent world gymnastics championships in Japan. But he is still world champ, this time for vault, the event he narrowly missed out on the Olympic bronze in Tokyo. It could have been the first for any Filipino. This time Yulo wanted to redeem what could have been. Thrice. But he failed to defend his crown due to a costly penalty. Or twice. Leading in the parallel bars, he was on track for a historic golden double. But a Chinese continued his country’s habit of stealing from the Philippines, barred Yulo from the bars where no two gymnasts can be parallel with each other.

A gold and a silver. Still a first for the country. But oddly, it doesn’t feel like news anymore. When winning is expected, any performance short of a medal becomes the news and not the podium finish. That is the price Yulo has to pay for getting us accustomed to his supremacy. We have become obscenely obsessed with his gymnastic excellence. Demanding, could have been the word. But it sounds more of a request when compared to a billion Chinese who consider a silver medal unpatriotic.

The diminutive Filipino brought us to the never before in world gymnastics with a game so gigantic. But unfortunately not to the pinnacle of amateurism, the gold in Tokyo or any less glittering color. He could have added to the biggest medal haul ever for any Philippine quadrennial delegation. Time remains on the side of the 21-year old to peak in the Olympics three years from now. Paris could be the place, where nothing less than a medal performance is expected of any Filipino athlete. Where before a bronze sends the country to frenzy, now it is just a small step to ecstasy.

This after the strongest Filipina lifted the first gold. Winning another is no longer news. Losing is. That is the downside to excellence. When it becomes a habit, it ceases to be news. Just as the firstborn is big news, the middle child ordinary and the youngest enough already. For by then parents are satiated. Not of lust, but for saving the best for last.

What is normal is not news, anything unusual is. Where before bar placers from provincial law schools were banner stories, now seeing none is the headline. That is why do not expect media to report what is expected, like honesty among government men and women. When public officers deliver what is incumbent upon them, it is not news. That is their oath of office. But when they loot public purse, it is news. That is betrayal of public trust. But when corruption is normalized and integrity ostracized, discernment is lost. It is the bigger news.

That is why news is almost always bad. If readers grumble why media can’t spare them from negativity to make them feel good, they can still indulge. There is entertainment section that gives them fleeting respite. Or the society page that gives them reality outage. Choose your truth. The version you want to hear or fear. One is reality, the other fantasy.