Analyzing Andre Agassi in the Media
Andre Agassi is a tennis celebrity known for his many contributions. Now seen as a loving father and husband, philanthropist, and respected ambassador of tennis, he was once seen as a charismatic kid that had no obligations. His story of his first grand slam final gives insight to what Agassi’s career was all about. In 1990 Agassi was playing in the biggest tennis match of his life at the time. He lost that match but in 2009, Agassi admits that on that day Agassi was more concerned about his image rather than his prerogative to win. Agassi reveals that in the final he was wearing a long lion-mane wig and because he used the wrong conditioner, the wig was starting to fall off and Agassi cared more about preventing this then playing tennis. In the beginning of Agassi’s career he believed image was everything, but after maturing and realizing truths, Agassi began to live his life with no secrets and started to appreciate and respect tennis and those around him. In this paper I will discuss how three different media streams – television commercials, online magazine articles, and television shows – effectively constructed Agassi’s biography from an immature kid to a well respected role model. The commercial portrays Agassi as young, careless, and glamorous. The online magazine article effectively shows how professional writers view Agassi’s transformation. And finally the television show offers a closer and up-close view of Agassi.
In 1990 Canon endorsed Andre Agassi in their television commercial called Image is Everything, which featured a new camera called the Rebel. This thirty second commercial aired during prime time sporting events to appeal to sport fans who knew Agassi. In the beginning of Agassi’s career in 1990, Agassi’s personality resembled that of a rock star on the tennis court; he flaunted his flamboyant long hair and made several gold and glittered fashion statements. While he dressed in a rebellious way he also rebelled against the sport, refusing to play Wimbledon from 1989-1990 because he could not abide by the all-white traditional dress code (Evolution). After I analyzed this commercial I noticed several appeals and metaphors that made Agassi the perfect celebrity to portray its messages. To start with, the venue and backgrounds of the scenes are important in conveying messages. In the first scene Agassi is standing in front of the bright lights of Las Vegas. The scenery of Vegas brings appeals of glitziness, glamour, image and fun. Also the idea that a lot of young people go there to party and vacation implies that you will need a camera to capture memories. This scenery effectively appeals to the young, glamorous, and fun consumers.
.In the following scene, Agassi is seen posing in front of the Grand Canyon. This recreational setting provides a metaphor to Agassi’s image; Agassi is a Grand Canyon, an amazing natural wonder that seems to go on for forever which has no boundaries. In another scene Agassi is driving an open jeep (no doors or top) which also reinforces the Grand Canyon metaphor that nothing can contain Agassi and that Agassi defines his own boundaries. This metaphor is important because it portrays Agassi as a person enjoying the glamour of being a celebrity. The commercial shows that everything comes easy to Agassi and expresses Agassi as a celebrity and he is not tied down to any duties or obligations, rather he is living life leisurely. The overwhelming message of this video is stated at the end, “Image is Everything”, and this fancy camera will capture everything Agassi portrays – the perfect image which is fun, glamorous, and sexy. While the advertiser shows that Agassi’s image is everything, the commercial also has a failed mechanism. To an informed individual, one might perceive Agassi as a shallow celebrity that is fake, vain, superficial, and only concerned with his looks. However the camera ad effectively shows that the fantasy life of celebrities can be obtained through this camera.
As Agassi aged and matured, author Barry Lorge argues that Agassi has completely reinvented himself. In an ESPN article written in 2006 called, “Evolution and appreciation of Agassi”, Lorge writes that no one has changed more in physical appearance, personal conduct, and public perception. Lorge wrote this article the night Agassi retired from tennis; this venue appeals to all sport fans, Agassi lovers, and those sad to see a man who transcended the game leave it. In this article the reader can learn how Agassi’s life transformed. The article discusses Agassi’s change from a long haired punk to a bald, respected man. An example was when he compared his performances in 1988 and 2005. In 1988 Agassi had played a brilliant match in a Davis Cup tournament where he was representing his country against Argentina. Agassi was leading 6-2, 6-2, 5-0, 40-0 in front of the Argentinean crowd, when all of a sudden Agassi turned to his coach and mouthed “Watch this.”, and proceeded to stop play on the next point by catching his opponent’s serve with his left hand. The crowd booed him for five straight minutes as Agassi practiced his selfishness and immaturity. Seventeen years later Agassi gained perspective and sportsmanship as he was playing in the first round of the French Open. In this match he dealt with a chronic sciatic nerve condition and was in an extreme amount of pain. However, he did not default the match, instead he limped around in a best of five set match because he felt it would be unfair and disrespectful to his opponent and crowd if he had defaulted. In this match, Lorge argues Agassi was not thinking about himself which defined him when he was younger. This idea Lorge created helps portray Agassi’s transformation and new found sportsmanship.
Lorge writes that Agassi had severe slumps in his career and life such as a luminous marriage and divorce to Brooke Shields; this marriage, Lorge explains “always felt more like a Hollywood romance than true love” which reinforces Agassi’s reputation that image is everything from the television commercial discussed earlier. Lorge also emphasized that Agassi also had life changing moments that gave his life more substance, like marrying Steffi Graf, a well grounded soul mate and guiding light (Evolution). These life changing events, Lorge argues, proves to be huge factors in Agassi’s maturity. Soon enough Agassi started to earn respect from other players and fans. An example of this was when Lorge wrote of Darren Cahill, a well respected tennis player, coach, and commentator, and how he once said that Agassi was “a great tennis player, but apart from the tennis playing, I think that anything that comes out of his mouth is of very little significance…I don’t like him because the stuff he carries on with is needless”. Cahill went on to see Agassi’s transformation and became his coach and confidant later in his career. Lorge includes Cahill’s relationship with Agassi to reinforce Lorge’s claim that Agassi has found a new lifestyle and his peers have also found a new perception for him. Logos is seen throughout the article as the author explains how Agassi acted immaturely in his youth which lost the respect of many, but then made life changes which lead to earning the empathy and love of friends and fans.
The third source I analyzed was of Agassi on the Late Night Show with David Letterman which ties the previous two sources together. On national television in a public space, Agassi speaks about his private life. This show is mostly viewed by older people that are around the age of forty-five (wiki david letterman). This group of people around that age is ten years older than Agassi and they all had the chance to follow his performances and see how his career unfolded. Letterman’s show offers similar ideas that Lorge portrayed in his ESPN article, but a direct interview with Agassi himself provides a deeper intake and offers reasons to why Agassi’s life transformed. While the reader learns about Agassi’s biography from intakes by Lorge, the viewer gets to see Letterman construct questions that shed light on Agassi’s image as well as Agassi articulate and contribute to his own biography on the Letterman show. The show starts with Letterman asking Agassi several questions about his new book. In Agassi’s book, Open, he gives a honest biography depicting the major events and turning points of his tennis career. This book shows that Agassi’s image has changed because when he was younger he believed that image was everything and would do whatever it took to uphold this idea; now Agassi has changed and he has nothing to hide which is shown by how he wrote an “Open” book on his life. In this interview Letterman asks Agassi about the use of meth in 1997. Agassi joked that it was a typo and that he really meant to say he did math in 1997. Pathos is found in this humor; and the humor allows for an intimate moment between the audience, Agassi, and Letter which allows Agassi to give deep profound answers to a very sensitive time period in his life. This intimacy with the audience creates an upfront, personal, nothing to hide image of Agassi.
In another question Letterman asks about turning points in Agassi’s career. Agassi responded with a strong message and appealed to nearly every working person in the world. Agassi said when his ranking dropped to 141 in the world he had an opportunity to quit the sport he hated and was forced to play since he was born. Agassi then looked outside his car window and saw a traffic jam of people driving to work when he realized that almost everybody in the world is doing something they don’t necessarily like to do but the happy ones find reason and meaning in what they are doing. This “ah-ha” moment proved to be the turning point in Agassi’s career as he said he then chose to play tennis and put his heart into it. Agassi felt as if he was walking toward a new life and now away from one, which implies that Agassi is not trying to hide his past, rather he is now living a life where image isn’t everything and that his “open book” lifestyle offers more rewards than his previous life. Rewards such as having a purpose in your career, finding joy in life have provided Agassi with more substance than his previous life which only concerned his image. Although Letterman directs the conversation first with a meth joke, he then focuses on Agassi’s life changing moments which allows Agassi to capture the hearts of the audience when he speak of his “feel good” comeback story.
Next Letterman asked Agassi what he would like to do if he could go back to his childhood. Agassi said he wished he would have been on a team sport such as baseball; this statement completely contradicts who Agassi was in the “Image is Everything” commercial because Agassi didn’t want the spotlight on himself, he wanted to blend in with a team. He also replied that he wished he pursued his education. In this statement Agassi is saying he wished he chose a life completely opposite of what he lived; pursuing his education would have taken him out of the equation of being a celebrity at all. This conversation ignited by Letterman shows that Agassi’s beliefs as a child are not beliefs Agassi would promote today. This idea directed by Letterman also shows how Agassi’s image has changed over the years.
Finally Agassi tells Letterman that he was frightened of competing. In the commercial discussed earlier Agassi looks fearless but after Agassi reveals his truths, the audience knows Agassi was being fake and forced into a lifestyle he did not enjoy. He admits that he was a rebel in his youth and implies that being a rebel means you are hiding a part of your inner self. The overwhelming message to the audience that Letterman directs is that image isn’t everything and that being true to yourself is rewarding. Agassi is the best celebrity to articulate this message because he has an extreme experience of transforming from a superficial boy to a mature man. The venue of this source is also important because it shows the audience that in this interview Letterman’s conversation with Agassi is unscripted, truthful, and sincere compared to his Canon commercial scripted Agassi and unintentionally portrayed him in a way that some could view as superficial.
Television commercials, online magazine articles, and talk shows have all combined to portray the background of Andre Agassi’s tennis career and life. In the Canon commercial, Agassi is portrayed as fearless, bold, and stylish in order to appeal to most people that care about their physical features and image. In the ESPN article, Lorge writes and informs us of how Agassi changed his immature ways and earned the respect of his peers, fans, and even family. And finally, in the Late Show with David Letterman Agassi reveals many truths about his past. Agassi says that his youth was a façade and because he was forced into a lifestyle he didn’t want, Agassi responded by being a rebel. In this show Agassi then argues that living open and truthfully has completely changed his life for better.