How many entertainers have uttered the phrase, "I never said I was a role model"? Often this comes after some highly publicized indiscretion or arrest where people cry about how they're not setting a good example. While many shy away from this daunting title, others position themselves to be presented as one and T.I is now one of those artists. After his arrest in October 2007 for attempting to buy machine guns and silencers, T.I has literally been on a road to redemption with his MTV reality, T.I's Road to Redemption, and numerous speaking engagements where he advises young people not to get caught up in the street life. Guess the King of the South is now the King of the Mouth as according to an article from huffingtonpost.com, he's made 262 appearance as of now doing outreach.
A year and change after being arrested for attempting to buy machine guns and silencers at in Atlanta, he was finally sentenced on Friday, March 27th to a year in jail, getting a lesser sentence because of his agreement to perform community surface.
So, here goes: he now has an obligation never to get in trouble again - at least not to the extent where he intentionally does something incredibly illegal as he did last year. I repeat, he must never get in legal trouble again. The sincerity seems genuine and it has to stay that way. Why? Because while it's hit or miss when giving anyone advice, surely he has truly impacted many of the young people he has spoken to and if he somehow gets caught up again after serving his term, his message will be like a VHS tape - gone. I'm staying positive though because he does seem to be sincere in shedding away the mistakes of his past. Let's hope the old him is really dead and gone.
Should anyone consider people who are successful role models for the youth? Not really. Like I said, some people bask in that title and want people to look up to them while others want all the attention but don't want to be seen as anyone's role model. This is probably another blog for another day, but the problem is just because these people are good at one thing in their lives doesn't mean we should expect them not to have problems, drama, or controversy. The sad part is whether they want to be role models or not, many kids do look up to athletes, entertainers and rappers more than those who are business owners, doctors, etc. so because of that the lines do get blurry.
I think T.I. or T.I.P. is dead and gone at least for now. So R.I.P. for him and I think that's cool he's tryin to be positive about all this. But yeah no one wants to be a business owner or doctor-it sounds too boring. It seems so much fun to be bad-esp if u can get away with it. But doctors and business owners have fun too it's just they don't get caught ;)
ReplyDeleteI believe TI is sincere, Don't really have any hard evidence lol but thats what I think.
ReplyDeletethe problem is just because these people are good at one thing in their lives doesn't mean we should expect them not to have problems, drama, or controversy
I'm not sure if we really think celebrities should do no wrong, or is it just the simple fact that we worship them, so when they screw up EVERYONE knows. Maybe they get the same outrage a regular person would get from friends, just on a different order of magnitude since the whole nation is outraged?