MARK SIMPSON ON WARHOL AND THE ATHLETE QUESTION

I asked writer and journalist Mark Simpson father of Metrosexual and Sporno about Warhol predicting that athletes were going to be the new media stars, bigger and more beautiful than rock stars.


«It’s extremely annoying to find that Mr Warhol has been there first – yet again. Beckham of course became bigger than Elvis – or the Beatles – back in the early Noughties. I suppose that the best thing about sports stars today is that they’re really just very fit, very expensive bodies made available for our widescreen pleasure, without having to listen to them sing or even talk much as we did with rock stars.  Sports stars don’t have to pretend to be creative or interesting – they just have to move.  So we don’t have to pretend to be interested in their depth.  And when they stop moving Mr Armani can take a photograph of them with their legs open, which is also nice.»