tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post9168509057586085415..comments2023-07-15T07:17:49.535-04:00Comments on Professional Wrestling in U.S. Popular Culture: Wrestling as a Self-Help BookSam Fordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-72090830138385289132014-11-03T16:09:19.019-04:002014-11-03T16:09:19.019-04:00Love it! And, I'd argue, that a wrestling fan&...Love it! And, I'd argue, that a wrestling fan's world view might be an interesting way to encourage people to work out their issues....It will be entertaining if nothing else. By the way, there was once an academic parody book that had a piece in it explaining the agenda for a multi-day academic conference focused only on pro wrestling. It's been my goal since to make that joke a reality. :)Sam Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-48902282453174313332014-11-02T22:32:37.751-04:002014-11-02T22:32:37.751-04:00WKU needs a Center for Wrestling Studies because I...WKU needs a Center for Wrestling Studies because I want to take more classes on wrestling (but only if they are on par with this class...)! And the world needs a professionally written wrestling self-help book because wrestling fans have issues (not to imply that those issues stem from an interest in wrestling, but I think a self-help book themed towards their interests is more likely to help them sort things out). I hope to see your best-selling book on the shelves soon; Books-a-Million's wrestling section needs a little more volume. Just take some pointers from Mick, and our Center for Wrestling Studies will be fully funded before you know it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05347940786457522285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-35886742418562489272014-10-30T07:35:57.855-04:002014-10-30T07:35:57.855-04:00That's it! What better way to make WKU a leadi...That's it! What better way to make WKU a leading American university with international reach?Sam Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-88589404779824656372014-10-30T07:35:17.026-04:002014-10-30T07:35:17.026-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Sam Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-52390429826949559022014-10-29T16:56:13.900-04:002014-10-29T16:56:13.900-04:00Best thread ever.
Seriously though, taking aspect...Best thread ever.<br /><br />Seriously though, taking aspects of wrestling and applying it to self-help is no different than self-help books that focus on the envisioning the idea self. <br /><br />All this needs is a catchy title and the money could easily fund the Center for Wrestling Studies.Timothy S. Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05759704121030358820noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-29225104356037524612014-10-29T13:27:34.424-04:002014-10-29T13:27:34.424-04:00Great ideas Sam! However, Mr. Nash's writing m...Great ideas Sam! However, Mr. Nash's writing might be problematic. I would want someone who knows the difference between an adjective and a verb to write the forward.Tony Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16043216939104392003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-60001320137413117332014-10-29T12:25:18.140-04:002014-10-29T12:25:18.140-04:00Give it a Bullwinkle & Rocky title, Tony.
&q...Give it a Bullwinkle & Rocky title, Tony. <br /><br />"Heeling Your Spirit: Becoming the World Heavyweight Champion of Your Catch-as-Catch-Can Life," or "Life Sucks and Then You Die: How to Apply an 'Always Cheat' Mentality and Put Yourself Over by Stealing Heat from All Those around You" (featuring a foreword by Kevin Nash).Sam Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-67902886291225355282014-10-29T12:16:45.789-04:002014-10-29T12:16:45.789-04:00Mikey, the greatest wrestling manager ever has alr...Mikey, the greatest wrestling manager ever has already done this! Bobby "The Brain" Heenan has responded to the persistent pain felt in the world with “Chair Shots and Other Obstacles: Winning Life's Wrestling Matches." I think while his expertise in wrestling makes him perfect for telling life lessons that people could use to fight depression, anxiety, or any other ills they may face, a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with more than 10 years of professional experience could write a much better book. That is why I am announcing today that I will be writing a self-help book with wrestling themes. The book is to be titled, "What the Ref Doesn't See: How What You Do Behind People's Backs Can Help You Win at the Wrestling Match of Life." By the way, I’m a heel therapist.Tony Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16043216939104392003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1546665963755719151.post-66060088998000621142014-10-29T10:12:44.286-04:002014-10-29T10:12:44.286-04:00I love it. We're commercializing our intellect...I love it. We're commercializing our intellectual labor, Mikey, just as wrestling pushes the wrestlers into commodifying their bodies and their identities into products. Sharon is a lot of fun (and so is her full book on pro wrestling, which is her multi-year ethnography into pro wrestling...). But her point in this essay ties in well with the explicit point of Mick's book and a thread of what we've been reading all semester: that it is the "liminal space" (to get academic-y on you) between fiction and reality that makes wrestling so exciting to a significant portion of its fan base. We want to be smart, and demonstrate how well we know and can dissect wrestling, but we also want to be surprised--or else see a performance executed to perfection. The most dedicated fans are the most critical, because it is that critical activity that, in large part, drives their close viewing of the text. Wrestling fans are part of a common culture and "in it" with the wrestlers and the promoters, yet the heel to our face characters are often other fans (for whom we have to best in our knowledge of wrestling) and the promoters (who never get it exactly the way we want them to and who try to make us come around to their way of thinking). <br /><br />Taking a theater and performance studies approach to wrestling is quite useful to understand the fans, to understand the culture, to understand what wrestling might have to offer that is of interest to scholars. And I, like you, particularly love how Mazer ends the essay by showing how "the real world is faker than wrestling," to steal Mick's subtitle.Sam Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17233749268141980625noreply@blogger.com