I think they’re just telling the story. The gate opener on this kind of warts and all presentation of historical figures is all the way back in the 70s with the book and then movie Right Stuff. Neither shied away from the fact that the astronauts tended to be womanizers before they were astronauts and then developed a taste for “Cape Cookies” when they got “promoted”. It’s simply a part of the facts of history and pretending it didn’t exist wouldn’t change the fact that most of the astronauts were divorced by the time the book came out. The truth was known, no reason not to tell it.
It’s the same thing here. Einstein’s predilections are known, well documented, in his own hand. Now they could ignore it and tell the “sanitized” version of the story, or they can tell the truth. They haven’t damaged anybody, the information is out there, and was well publicized long before this show was even green lit. He hasn’t been “brought” down, he did it to himself.
It gives depth and dimension to who he was. It’s simply a part of him and his story. Ignoring it is ignoring a major part of his life (he spent a lot of time chasing skirts). Nobody is trying to eclipse his discoveries, it’s simply part of the story.
No, my theory is NOT what creates lackluster kids. It’s blind hero worship and elevating people to unachieved and unachievable glory that does that. It’s the pedestal YOU put these people on that teaches kids they can’t be that good. you are, quite simply, wrong on all counts. this isn’t moral relativity it’s ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THE FACTS. This DID happen, that’s WHO HE WAS, and anybody that can’t handle that needs to grow the hell up.
I guess we will see how the whole Einstein series plays out. We were probably too early dissecting it before all the facts are in.
Possibly the other points we are arguing about are the result of oversimplification of our respective points of view. Probably truth on both sides depending on how its emphasized.
My points about heroes were more generalized and less about Einstein than about the need for heroes. It has a lot to do with your definitions of heroes as I touched upon with the sports figures, entertainment stars etc in my earlier post.
I have never encountered a child that was discouraged by others’ success. Sometimes jealous and often lazy and looking for excuses not to put forth effort. That’s what parents and significant adults are for to help each kid discover where they can shine and help them strive. I don’t like the idea of making things easy for kids. Breaking things down into smaller bits, teaching strategies to succeed but I can’t imagine needing to put someone down to allow someone else to be encouraged to succeed. We may have different world experiences.
Be well.