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miraclecharlie 's review for:
The Truth about Aaron: My Journey to Understand My Brother
by Jonathan Hernandez
Everyone in this story --- the people Aaron Hernandez murdered, Aaron himself, and, too, his brother who "wrote" this with the "help" of supposed journalist, Lars Anderson --- acted from impulses cultivated and encouraged by a toxic cultural aggrandizement of stereotypical masculinity combined with an equally virulent worship of wealth, using both as measures of success and worthiness in the world.
Aaron was raised in a poisonous family, misogyny, homophobia, and abuse were the stuff of his youth, and he was rewarded for parroting those behaviors and beliefs, and punished for being true to who he was and how he felt.
Football is proven to be damaging unto lethal for those who play it; the NFL and football business interests from the childhood to public school to NCAA to professional level have long lied about its harmful effect on players because it personifies the same toxic tropes of heterosexual masculinity and financial achievement glorified and propagandized throughout this country.
Sadly, this book doesn't go even a millimeter beneath the surface of the story --- obviously one more after-death attempt to make money off of Aaron Hernandez, his own brother continuing the thoughtless, heedless exploitation of Aaron that began with his father, his high school coaches, his colleges, and the NFL/sports network behemoth that profits from chewing up and grinding to death athletes who, often, have few (if any) other options in life --- certainly none that reward them financially and "American-dream" wise as does the giant corporate pro-sport world. Unfortunately, these athletes are --- for the most part -- exploited, ruined, and discarded.
And because this book doesn't begin to address any of that in any sincere way, or make any effort to offer sociological insight or answers, it is just one more abuse of Aaron and for that reason, One Star, because I can't seem to give it zero stars.
Aaron was raised in a poisonous family, misogyny, homophobia, and abuse were the stuff of his youth, and he was rewarded for parroting those behaviors and beliefs, and punished for being true to who he was and how he felt.
Football is proven to be damaging unto lethal for those who play it; the NFL and football business interests from the childhood to public school to NCAA to professional level have long lied about its harmful effect on players because it personifies the same toxic tropes of heterosexual masculinity and financial achievement glorified and propagandized throughout this country.
Sadly, this book doesn't go even a millimeter beneath the surface of the story --- obviously one more after-death attempt to make money off of Aaron Hernandez, his own brother continuing the thoughtless, heedless exploitation of Aaron that began with his father, his high school coaches, his colleges, and the NFL/sports network behemoth that profits from chewing up and grinding to death athletes who, often, have few (if any) other options in life --- certainly none that reward them financially and "American-dream" wise as does the giant corporate pro-sport world. Unfortunately, these athletes are --- for the most part -- exploited, ruined, and discarded.
And because this book doesn't begin to address any of that in any sincere way, or make any effort to offer sociological insight or answers, it is just one more abuse of Aaron and for that reason, One Star, because I can't seem to give it zero stars.