Morality Goes Virtual
I side-stepped the human interest story a bit for the larger picture of how YouTube and various other media present a tremendous amplification and proliferation of affect, the spread of human experience which works as a bed for moral reaction and action – I chose “moral” instead of “ethical”. It is worthwhile to point out the development in the story itself, as the formerly homeless man has been offered a job, and apparently a house.
Left homeless after his life and career were ruined by drugs and alcohol, Williams has been offered a job by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers and is being pursued by NFL Films for possible work. He and his compelling tale became an online sensation after The Columbus Dispatch posted a clip of Williams demonstrating his voiceover skills by the side of the road.
“This has been totally, totally amazing,” Williams said in a phone interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, his voice choking with emotion. “I’m just so thankful. God has blessed me so deeply. I’m getting a second chance. Amazing.”
via Washington Post Homeless man’s voice prompts job offers.
There is also another story, closely related though not as sexy, that of the ex-wife that raised the children that Ted Williams abandoned in the abuse of his own life with drugs & alcohol, the deeper social context and consequence beneath the life-ravaged face of a man and the in-concordance of a mellifluous voice that comes out.
The move of the publicly shunned Cavaliers not long ago left at the basketball alter on live television, makes this media story all-the-more interesting, and through it all the liquidity of his golden voice (each time I hear it) ribbons through and above. His voice, disembodied, expresses a hidden power within Social Media. A living line of affection, and the ability to transform.
Social Media Notes 