Tyson the Chameleon

  I watch TV throughout the night sometimes, and this morning I came across Katie Couric's interview with Mike Tyson, which I must have missed in prime time.  The entire hour was devoted to him, and he filled it up, with his attractive young wife in the audience, clips from his TV shows and movies, and even  his hobby of raising homing pigeons, one of which Katie gamely held.   His is an interesting persona, someone formed by who-knows-who out of who-knows-what.
   Without a father's presence in his home, and a mother with whom he never formed much of a bond, the first people to impact  his life were street thugs and he adopted their lifestyle very well.  Then he was fortunate enough to come under the  tutelage of Cus D'Amato, under whose influence Tyson became a champion boxer.  Money, fame and power were his next idols and he basked in the glow of their teachings and became the epitome of an immoral and ruthless monster, as well as a criminal.
      It would appear he was irretrievably lost, as are so many who follow that path, but once again he found a new Svengali, this time celebrity-hood.  As natural as he was as thug, champion and felon, he seems to have conquered the world of stardom also.  He is confident of his image, articulate and totally undaunted by any questions from major interview hosts.  When Ms Couric asked him why he'd been so violent toward women in his "previous life,"  he admonished her with such a stern "No, no," that she looked startled until he went on to say that he had not been violent toward women, he had been violent toward everyone.   She did recover and go on to ask him why the violence.  He responded with the perfect and acceptable psychologically in vogue answer of today:  he had hated himself.  Mike Tyson in control. 
    Moreover, the reason why he is making guest appearances is to promote the tour of his one-man show.  People are buying tickets to listen to him talk and watch his various performance acts. Going with the flow of Mike-Mania  , I actually went on Katie's website to enter a contest for tickets to his coming show.  The closest site  is  Niagara Falls next summer: it would be a nice birthday present for Dave.  He and Don always followed his career as they grew up in the same area, though years apart, and then Dave would see him in Albany later on.  He attended several of his fights in Albany and Glens Falls with family members;  on one occasion we (Dave, Marilyn, David, and I) saw Tyson fight at the Colonie Tent.  He came out like a wild man and demolished his opponent in the first round amidst a shower of  water, sweat, and blood.  I think Tyson was 19 years old then: who knows what lies ahead?