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In this post I will compare the villainous figure in Othello, Iago, to a now villainous figure in New York sports history, and on Long Island, John Spano. Both of these people were examples of frauds, who showed themselves to people as something that was good, when in reality they were actually being deceitful, and were someone that they were not showing themselves to be.
In Othello, Iago is portrayed as a good and honest man. Throughout the entire play, people call him honest Iago, and people go to him for advice. Iago works hard to portray this image of himself, and to keep anyone from knowing how bad he actually is. He puts on a façade, and to us, this guy seems like a total liar, but back when this was actually happening the people that involved themselves with him had no clue that he was blatantly lying to their face.
John Spano was the owner of the New York Islanders at one time. He was only the owner of the team for about 3 months. Why? Well, Spano actually did not have any money. John Spano looked to be the savior of the New York Islanders. The Islanders were one of the greatest NHL franchises throughout the 80's, and they were decent in the early 90's, but in the later 90's they were just downright awful. Islanders' fans needed hope for the team, and they thought they had gotten that when Spano inquired about buying the Islanders, and actually became the owner of the New York Islanders. Spano came off and led everyone to believe he was a wealthy Dallas business man, who would bring the team back to where they were in the 80's. He told the fans that he was committed to Long Island, and wanted to bring the Stanley Cup (championship trophy) back to Long Island.
Now, the problem with trying to keep up this façade, is that someone usually figures out that this personality you showcase is not who you truly are. In Othello, at the end of the book, when Emilia and Othello are talking to Iago, he winds up getting caught red-handed and then is tortured. This is very similar to what happens to Spano, as people wind up figuring out that the documents he made were forged documents, and that he was really worth no money. He had no ability to buy an NHL team, and he would not be able to bring the Islanders back to where they were in the 80's, because he had nothing to his name, and was really only doing this to heighten his already high ego. When the owner learned of this fraud, the Federal Prosecutors, put John Spano on trial, and he was found guilty of bank fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud and had to serve jail time.
Both of these people had an amazing image in society. What's crazy is though, the image that these people portrayed in society were actually the exact opposite of what they were. Iago was looked at as an incredibly honest man, when in reality he was a lying, deceitful snake, and was trying to ruin others lives for the betterment of his, and to get revenge. Spano was looked at as a rich business man, who in reality was actually broke, and had no chance of ever helping the Islanders.
Both of these men held up fake personalities, that eventually wound up crashing down right on them. If they would of been honest about who they were, and honest with themselves, they could of escaped the eventual downfall of their actions.
Helpful source: ESPN 30 for 30: Big Shot by Kevin Connolly http://espn.go.com/30for30/film?page=bigshot
