While we were sitting in class today, I realized that I had forgotten to create a new post for today. So I'm just going to submit one a tad late and focus on things that we discussed in class. A topic that I really thought a lot on was the transition of wrestling from being real to being scripted. Fans got bored with watching wrestling because it was so long and got to a point where it was no longer entertaining. To keep the sport "alive" they scripted the matches and added story lines. I wonder if this is possible for it to happen within other sports in the future. Could we script the NBA if it got so boring? LeBron's return to the Cavalier's could have been a huge story line.
I also had an interesting thought while we were discussing how part of the script to many wrestling matches is making the good guy beat on and beat on until they finally have a pin or win and the crowd then goes crazy. When this discussion was brought up in class, one major icon within pop culture was brought to my mind. Leonardo Dicaprio, of course. He has had MANY great roles within movies, and has nominated for four Oscar's, but has yet to win. This last Oscar night, he was one of the main people talked and tweeted about. People are highly anticipating him to win won. I imagine him finally winning one having a similar reaction from his fans as a baby face would have in wrestling after finally winning a match.
3 comments:
Good points Marshall, especially about the built up expectation of a desired outcome. A comparison could be made with Susan Lucci who was nominated for the lead actress in soap operas for nearly twenty years before she won.
Can other sports script to an extent? I would argue that the showboating in professional sports comes from the same desire as wrestling to make the event more than simply a tabulation of points or who won and lost. It's entertainment. Of course there's limits to how far this can go before fans of a sport stop watching, but there's certainly some parallels.
I for one would love to see someone in MLB or the NBA cut a wrestling-style promo on their opponent.
Another example of a “baby face in constant peril who final wins the big one” outside of wrestling is that of the great Randy Newman. I bring him up just because when he won the Oscar for best original song after more than a dozen losses, said in his acceptance speech, to the adoring crowd, “I don’t want your pity.” I think this is a more accurate assessment, at times, of the fans’ reactions to their hero finally winning. Further, piggybacking on what Tim said, and getting back to an earlier post in regards to one of your friends, Marshall, mentioning that he/she didn’t see the purpose of studying wrestling, but could see the point in studying pop culture, Muhammad Ali is a good example of one who used dramatic wrestling devices in real sports and beyond. He is also a good example of why wrestling is important. It is important to know that Ali was an enormous wrestling fan growing up and was influenced by wrestling promos. Over-simply put, wrestling is important because of the following: without wrestling, Ali doesn’t talk the way he does in interviews; therefore, he doesn’t get the amount of attention he would have otherwise; therefore, he isn’t able to influence others to stand up against fighting in Vietnam, or stand up against racist practices; therefore, wrestling is responsible for more citizens taking a critical look at US foreign policy, and for social awareness of racist practices in the US. Thank God for Wrestling!
Ha! Love it, Tony...And I saw Jesse Jackson on RAW the other night. Ain't this a strange world we live in? In any case...back to Marshall's point, I think that idea of the "title chase," as it's called in wrestling often, is very much part of other genres as well. We can see many scripted drama series doing some version of the same, from the sports drama to the love interest. (Will Olivia Pope and the President ever get to be together?) That gets back to the core of good storytelling and why wrestling has an advantage over other sports, at least in theory...in that the drama is scripted so SHOULD always be done well and not disappoint...SHOULD...
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