What Does Simone Biles Owe Us Other Than Her Best Performance?

DALLAS, TX — We're spoiled rotten when it comes to our celebrities.

In England, the press loves to build someone's brand until they've become "too big for their britches," and then the tabloids rip them to shreds. It's happened to everyone from David Beckham to Elton John, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, and "Britain's Got Talent" singer Susan Boyle.

But in America, they shine bright and immortal — unless they try to remind you they're human beings and not just there to fill up space on a Wheaties box. Don't talk politics (Dixie Chicks, we're looking at you). Don't give opinions unless they're paid endorsements. And for heaven's sake, don't take a knee or say you support people who do.

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Now, at the ripe old age of 24, Simone Biles is having some trouble keeping her media halo in place. Last week, the Spring resident had to step away from competition after she developed what gymnasts call "the twisties," when there's a palpable disconnect between what the body has been trained to do and what the mind is commanding.

Do simple nerves, what we'd call "the jitters," have a place in that? Biles says sure. You try having millions of people gawk at you while your body is on autopilot and your mind is playing the NASCAR driver trying desperately to hug each turn.

So when she pulled out for a few days, there were supporters — and there were detractors. Some have suggested Biles simply chickened out.

As local radio talking head Mark Davis told the local CBS affiliate, “Anyone daring to say that sometimes you just have to push through it, gut up and do what what’s expected of you — oh God help anybody that says that. That instantly became horribly cruel.”

No, it means you have no idea what someone else is going through. And winning gold is not Iwo Jima. A gymnast "pushing through" at that level of competition could end up in a wheelchair for life, based on what happens in a nanosecond.

Simone Biles never has to take to the floor again and never has to perform another flawless routine in order to have her place in history secure. She's a world champion, and she's not unused to fans watching her every move.

But people forget that this trap of celebrity is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the '50s, baseball greats lived down the street, and you could talk to them.

But then, because he'd written such eloquent songs about current events, someone interviewed Bob Dylan and he dared to veer from songwriting into social commentary. John Lennon was hoisted on his own petard for an offhand comment he made about Beatlemania.

Suddenly, Marlon Brando was turning down his "Godfather" Oscar; The Beach Boys were shunned because they agreed to honor a Reagan administration request; the aforementioned Chicks (who have since dropped "Dixie" from their name, it should be noted) were boycotted because they spoke against George W. Bush while on tour in France; and, of course, Ted Nugent threatened the lives of President Barack Obama (which is a crime) and then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Maybe we should dial it back. Let Simone Biles run her race, so to speak. And remember that, at the end of the day, these are people — not superheroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

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