Dear Kobe,
I know that you will probably never read this, but well, it'll be here for posterity, and this is my blog, so anyway.
First of all, I have been a fan of you since 2008. From 08/09 have seen you play and grew admiration over the way you played. The aggressiveness and determination were really the things that caught my eye watching you play. Championship rings, glory and success etc., seen it all and enjoyed it but this letter is not about your basketball prowess. It's about you as a person and how you portray yourself, on the eve of debut of your Muse documentary.
I may say, just as preliminary point, that when I like something I really like to like. Meaning that I am not half hearted about anything. I'm either all in or all out. There is no middle term, although, I still see the qualities if I am all out I won't rejoice that much when appreciating those things.
During the last days, many interviews surfaced on the media of you. And many things I read, in conjunction with other things I read previously, made me reassess the view I had from you.
So let's see.
During your media appearances you very much talk in a way that people get convinced that you are a very knowledgeable person. You might talk about Mozart, Beethoven. And then you talk about J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter. And then you talk about basketball (which I will leave aside because you are, undoubtedly, one of the greats so there is no need to talk about that). And then when it comes to the present, one can look at your twitter timeline to see the names you evoke. And one can only look at your "cold calling" history to see the ones you call. So let's see.
Emma Watson, Michael Jackson, Ariana Huffington, Lorde, Beyoncé, Nicky Minaj, Hillary Swank, Oprah Winfrey, Mark Parker, Jony Ive, Anna Wintour... And that's all my quick minute research gave me back. Let's add Giorgio Armani who you supposedly (as reported on the news) you talk about on your documentary and let's add also Lance Armstrong (who you said, in 2006, was your hero) Do you notice a trend here? Power.
But my problem isn't the trend. You might very well cold call whoever you want. Is the portrayal of a quasi renaissance man. A man who can solve many riddles. But one has to question it.
And I question it strongly. How can you, a purported fan of Beethoven, drag this man into this mix? It seems to me a bit ignorant and incoherent.
We've seen you play the Moonlight Sonata. We've seen you saying that Beethoven wasn't supposed to write the Ninth Symphony because he was legally deaf.
By points, it is very nice that you play the Moonlight Sonata and I will refrain to comment something very obvious about that.
Secondly, apart from this comment on Beethoven the other thing I heard you say was that the Moonlight Sonata calms you down and reminds you of fragility, strength, joy, love etc.
I must admit that I should wait for the documentary (and I certainly hope that there is something more substantial about Beethoven there), but what I reckon from this is that you cannot possibly be even a bit knowledgeable on the subject of Ludwig van Beethoven, and because I am a fan and a bit knowledgeable I am seriously disappointed.
First of all let's take the "legally deaf" comment. I'll assume that this is just a way of saying because there was no such thing during Beethoven's days as legal deafness. I don't know if you caught that expression from the "Japanese Beethoven" bust, but whatever. It is not important.
What is important is that anyone who can just scratch the surface of Beethoven's life and music very quickly finds out that deafness never entered his art nor his ability to write it. He could even play, however from a certain point on, and following a shaming exhibition during the performance of one of his Piano Concertos where he was out of synch with the orchestra, he refused to play in public again. He couldn't conduct his symphonies, but that was where his deafness ended regarding his limitations to music.
If you bothered to know you'd understand that he was a troubled man. That he was very conflicted within himself and his thoughts and his head was agitated and restless. That restlessness, those conflicts and his stoic conviction were the main reasons of why he was such a composer and why he ultimately closed his symphonies book with one for the ages.
On the other side you, as a fan, would not be the one to circumvent Beethoven to the Ninth and Moonlight. That is criminal. To put these two extraordinary pieces above all the other extraordinary pieces is a disservice to Beethoven's memory. It is natural that one has his preferences, but it is a great coincidence that you, the purported die hard Beethoven fan, has precisely these two as your favorites and only references to Beethoven's work because these are, probably, the most known works on each field from Beethoven. Ninth (and Fifth Symphony which to my awe you never referred, despite this being a much better match to your image and even the process you're undergoing right now with injuries and all) is the most famous symphony and Moonlight Sonata's first movement is popular beyond belief.
So how come a deep Beethoven admirer came to enjoy so much this two works, leaving no space for a single reference to other great works?
Finally, the juxtaposition of people you admire with Beethoven makes for a ridiculous case. Business moguls and popularoid people right next to Beethoven is a cringe-worthy sight. To put all those people who are sold on nothing but money and success together with a man that was sold on nothing but art and his own moral standard is pathetic.
My final point, is that, to me, when you talk about something not related with basketball you seem to be filibustering the whole time. I can't even go into examples, but on one of the latest interviews you gave you even talk about Chris Kyle ( :-/) as being in the same discussion as Phil Jackson and Steve Jobs.
I am no big fan of Jobs but to portray a maniac killer about many weird reports about lies have surfaced, and a guy who becomes the next one in promoting USA violence (remember when you tweeted about a school boy or girl, can't remember, who was shot and you said it had to stop? Yeah, right.) as being in the same wavelength as Jobs is weird. You just look like you talk generally about the subject without compromising and when you're on the internet you come up with pictures and wikipedia fun facts and that doesn't bode well with your purported intellectual side.
So yeah. I am stating my admiration for your basketball prowess but also calling you out on your intellectual shortcomings. And I didn't even need proofreading on this! (ahah)
Best of luck on your recovery and let's go Lakers.
Have a nice day.
Cheers
