*Blogger.com is having some technical issues which their support page says they have almost got the better of. My blog from yesterday May 12 "The Drunk Blog" is a temporary casualty of those issues. Supposedly it will be re-posted soon. Here is today's.*
I'm a pro-wrestling fan. It's an aspect of my personality I've spend countless hours explaining, defending, and justifying. I'm not doing any of that today however. I'm not in the mood. It's fake? Really? More proof exists for the existence of Hulk Hogan than the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, but no one calls the Pope a piece of dumb white trash. But I digress. Seriously. I'm not getting dragged into that quagmire right now. My point is this. I am a fan, and therefore a follower of sports entertainment. And in that capacity I have noticed some current problems with pro wrestling which also plague American society at large.
1) Too Much Is Expected of Women.
Women in the world of wrestling today are expected to be pretty, to be talented actresses and models, to be in amazing physical condition, to be willing to show their breasts in Playboy, and to be able to wrestle at the highest levels of skill. Wrestling companies are relying too heavily on their female entertainers right now in an attempt to differentiate their product from their main competition, the mixed martial arts industry. It's a band-aid on a more serious problem, and one which will ultimately do more harm than good.
The same problem exists in today's American life. Corporate greed's gutting of the middle class has mandated dual income homes, making it necessary for women to work at least one job while still delivering and raising children, and unfortunately, more often than not, being largely responsible for the up keep of their households. I'm not saying women can't handle it, or in many cases aren't choosing this life style for themselves. But what I am saying is that if this current dynamic is the new cultural norm, expect some serious growing pains to result from it in the next twenty to thirty years.
2) Abject Cluelessness About Fending Off
Aggressive Competition
When The Rock left sports entertainment for Hollywood (a move he is now reversing because of his unfortunate inability to read a script) he left two heirs apparent: John Cena and Brock Lesnar. Cena has done an admirable job as wrestling's alpha-dog, while Lesnar took a cue from half of wrestling's fans and left town for the greener pastures of mixed martial arts. I have the same attitude towards MMA as I do Impressionist Paintings; I couldn't care less, but I respect the talent involved. One of wrestling's appeals to me is completely lacking in MMA. Humor. But I understand why this is also one of MMA's qualities which makes it so popular. The no nonsense intensity of the octagon provides a refuge against the chronic, excruciating ambiguity of everyday life. Wrestling celebrates that ambiguity. Unfortunately its irony and sarcasm haven't saved pro wrestling's profits lost to UFC, and they can't seem to figure out what to do about that.
Hmm can you think about any humorless, monolithic competitor The United States might be facing right now? A competitor we don't have the first semblance of a clue about how to deal with? The kind of competitor whose idea of irony is... well I'll stop there. I want to be able to do business in China one day, and they probably already have a file on me.
3. A General Feeling of Malaise and Pointlessness
Wrestling has fallen into a rut. Constant "heel turns" and title changes, too many pay per views, too many homogeneous characters. The problem is worse than simple boring content however. Every wrestling show I watch has a faint feel of desperation to it, like no one really knows why they're there or what they're supposed to be doing, or who they're doing it for. It's the exact same vibe I get walking through the grocery store, or the hallways of the college I go to. Everyone is just going through the motions, and that becomes less satisfying and more troubling to all of us with each passing day.
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