‘People are full of s***. They want to see something dark. People want to feel close to it and in on it, but, of course, only from the distance of their suburban homes. They want to have the benefit of comfort, security, safety, respect, and at the same time the privilege of watching something out of control – even promote it being out of control – as long as we can be secure that we’re not accountable for it.
With Tyson, the dark thing was always the anticipation that somebody was going to get knocked out. The whole Kid Dynamite thing. But we wanted to believe that the monster was also a nice kid. We wanted to believe that Mike Tyson was an American story: the kid who grows up in the horrible ghetto and then converts that dark power into a good cause, into boxing.
But then the story takes a turn. The dark side overwhelms him. He’s cynical, he’s out of control. And now the story is even better. It’s like a double feature now, like you’re getting Heidi and Godzilla at the same time.’
– Teddy Atlas
Source:The Loneliest Sport
