tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post7681708692524976235..comments2023-07-15T07:17:49.535-04:00Comments on Professional Wrestling in U.S. Popular Culture: October 29 2014Sam Fordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-78339204483071626782014-11-09T22:36:52.241-04:002014-11-09T22:36:52.241-04:00A person's choice on quotes vs. no quotes when...A person's choice on quotes vs. no quotes when it comes to the "real"-ness of professionally wrestling paints a pretty clear picture of his or her feelings on the subject. From watching you watch wrestling, Marshall, I can definitely see that you would be a quotes user. <br /><br />As for your friend, his current suspension of disbelief might be influenced by his childhood, but it might not be. I didn't watch wrestling as a kid, but I can suspend my disbelief to watch wrestling now-- and I enjoy it!<br /><br />On a side note, for some reason, the sentence in your original post, "I do not have this life skill," cracks me up every time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05347940786457522285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-1380190112012503862014-11-02T18:47:10.283-04:002014-11-02T18:47:10.283-04:00To me, one quote from Mazer sticks out,"This ...To me, one quote from Mazer sticks out,"This phantom of the real is at the heart of professional wrestling's appeal. It keeps fans coming back for another look..." I find this to be an interesting dynamic as to the why.Garyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12968260885055118833noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-56677124616698090742014-10-29T10:00:21.106-04:002014-10-29T10:00:21.106-04:00This goes back to Mazer's point, I think, of w...This goes back to Mazer's point, I think, of wrestling fans relishing the moments where the line between real and fake are blurred. Those become sacred moments. The skeptic wants to be fooled. They want to come across someone so good, or a moment so unexpected, that it even makes it hard for them to tell what's real or what's not. Unfortunately, at times, this has led promoters to focus on trying to fool an extreme minority of fans to the point that it doesn't make sense to everyone else. But, when done well and in a way that's aimed at the mass audience, it can generate particular excitement. I'll share, hopefully in class today, one such moment in the past few years, known as the "C.M. Punk pipe bomb."<br /><br />But I think Sharon's use of quotes in this particular article is much like Mick Foley's point...to question, "What is 'real,' anyway?" She picks on another 20/20 moment to show how TV news is just as constructed as wrestling in many ways and how everything in life has a heavy dose of artifice. Although she doesn't mention him, this is based in part on arguments from sociologist Erving Goffman who, many decades ago, argued that we should apply ideas from theatrical studies for all of life, because everyone wears different masks to different audiences and all of life is a performance: to others, to ourselves...He also writes a lot about the way we use "framing" to make sense and create narratives of life. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that Goffman, on a couple of occasions, used pro wrestling to illustrate his point, because it's blending of the "real" and the "fake" is especially poignant for the point he was trying to make.Sam Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.com