The media has ALWAYS courted heroes - and popular culture has ALWAYS made legends out of people who deserve to be forgotten.   When we sing songs about Jesse James or Pretty Boy Floyd or any of the hundreds of murder ballads that came out of Europe - who are we glorifying and why????   

What harm is it to watch the Beckhams do their thing? Seeing them on TV is going to make children run out and get tatoos and boob jobs about as much as singing "Tom Dooley" will cause someone to commit murder.

This is modern folklore, like it or not. From what I gather, the Beckhams failed to rob a bank, overdose on heroin, or murder innocent children.   The stuff legends are made of.