Acceptable Entertainment?

D2D

From TMZ.com:

WWE star R-Truth is taking serious heat for lighting up a cigarette on "RAW" last night ... in front of a row of kids -- and now, the biggest anti-smoking activist on the planet is DEMANDING he apologize.

The drama began when Ron "R-Truth" Killings hit up the audience for a smoke ... and actually LIT UP right in front of them ... including several children.

But the on-screen cig-fest didn't sit so well with anti-smoking activist Patrick Reynolds (pictured right) -- Executive Director of TobaccoFree.org -- who has officially issued a challenge to the wrestler ... to publicly apologize for the smoking stunt.

Reynolds -- ironically the grandson of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds -- tells TMZ, "For him to smoke in front of [children] is irresponsible. At best, it's thoughtless, and at worst, if he calculated appealing to kids by posing as a bad-boy outlaw, it's evil."

Reynolds adds, "If he wants help in quitting, I'll be happy to be his personal coach."

The WWE issued a statement to TMZ defending the cigarette incident -- saying, "The negative effect smoking has on one's health and physical performance was a part of a storyline on last night's Monday Night Raw. Negative depictions of tobacco use on television are not unusual and can be seen on other TV-PG show

Tune in to TMZ on TV weekdays Monday through Friday (check http://www.tmz.com/tmztv/ for syndicated/local listings)

They really can't do anything risky without being demanded for an apology, can they?

Lord TSC

Ugh. -_- Did anyone explain it was meant to be a horrible action, designed to show he was a bad guy and that kids weren't meant to look up and copy Truth but actually hate him for it...

rossie1977

gimmick wrote: »

Oh the humanity - a man smokes a cigarette in order to get over as a heel. A cigarette god damn it.

Is that really where the WWE are at nowadays. PG is one thing, but this is ridiculous.

its 2011 the world and especially america has gone pc mad, so smoking a cigarette on tv is a huge deal, 30 years ago live on british tv kent walton and the ring announcer would call two black guys together a "negro team" and nobody would bat an eyelid, today a gay joke is frowned upon in wrestling :eek:

in 2 years time i expect wwe to be fined by the networks for showing blood, if males hit females on tv, if anyone over the age of 50 is physically hit by someone younger, its gone that bad

parker kent

rossie1977 wrote: »

its 2011 the world and especially america has gone pc mad, so smoking a cigarette on tv is a huge deal, 30 years ago live on british tv kent walton and the ring announcer would call two black guys together a "negro team" and nobody would bat an eyelid, today a gay joke is frowned upon in wrestling :eek:

in 2 years time i expect wwe to be fined by the networks for showing blood, if males hit females on tv, if anyone over the age of 50 is physically hit by someone younger, its gone that bad

I'm not PC mad but there is no need for homophobic jokes in wrestling and men hitting women is not entertainment.

rossie1977

parker kent wrote: »

I'm not PC mad but there is no need for homophobic jokes in wrestling and men hitting women is not entertainment.

so now we choose what and what not to poke fun at on an entertainment show, either everything is fairgame or nothing is

if a woman is trained in wrestling then she is good to go with the males, women taking bumps from men can be very entertaining actually, imagine the pop if snooki had been powerbombed by ziggler at mania

GTR63

I'm not for certain things like racism,homophobia or Men hitting women in Wrestling.The first two are no-no's in the 21st Century(unless its South Park or that) & the latter after the Benoit incident is unlikely to happen often.WWE is PG rated now although they are pushing the boat a bit lately.Everyone seems to be complaining about the groups coming out criticising but at the end of the day wwe choose to remove the smoking from the broadcast.I imagine its cause of not wanting to upset their sponsors.

parker kent

rossie1977 wrote: »

so now we choose what and what not to poke fun at on an entertainment show, either everything is fairgame or nothing is

if a woman is trained in wrestling then she is good to go with the males, women taking bumps from men can be very entertaining actually, imagine the pop if snooki had been powerbombed by ziggler at mania

Homophobia, racism etc have no place in wrestling. Wrestling is not cutting edge entertainment that is able to handle those issues. I really don't think I should have to explain why racism, homophobia, sexism etc have no place in wrestling.

Men should not hit women as part of an entertainment show. If you find that entertaining, tough.

Lord TSC

Wrestling is not cutting edge entertainment that is able to handle those issues.

That probably sums up the problem for me. If it were dealing with homophobia or racism in such a way as to tackle the issues, deal with them and present them through good writing, it might be acceptable. However, WWE is not presenting stories dealing with the issues; more often than not, WWE is just racist and homophobic. There's a real difference.

gimmick

Split form the Raw thread as this seems to be going somewhere.

Cactus Colm

rossie1977 wrote: »

either everything is fairgame or nothing is

Thinking that applies to all forms of entertainment is just moronic! It's fine for South Park which satires popular culture, generally in as crude a way as possible (which is awesome), but WWE is not a satire show. It's a wrestling show aimed at kids, and so there are plenty of topics that should be out of bounds.

JP Liz V1

Does Truth smoke in real life?

SCSA drinks beer in the ring no mention of complaints about that or was there?

Cactus Colm

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Does Truth smoke in real life?

SCSA drinks beer in the ring no mention of complaints about that or was there?

I think at the time groups (like the PTC) had more issues with the amount of violence and sex that were being brought into the WWE (as it was at the time). But during the Attitude era WWE very much moved away from being a child friendly show, and was specifically aimed at more mature audiences.

that said, I'd imagine drinking beer isn't regarded half as badly as smoking is, at least not on tv in the states.

parker kent

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Does Truth smoke in real life?

SCSA drinks beer in the ring no mention of complaints about that or was there?

They actually made it known he isn't drinking alcoholic beer. Ever listen to how they say he is drinking Steve-weisers? A way of getting across what he was doing. I thought with R-Truth they might have released a press release saying he was using a prop, not a real cigarette.

Anyway, I have no problem with a cutting edge satirist taking on any topic. But wrestling is not cutting edge satire.

starviewadams

I think it was a stupid move by the WWE even featuring smoking on a show thats aimed primarily at children,why take the risk!

JP Liz V1

parker kent wrote: »

They actually made it known he isn't drinking alcoholic beer. Ever listen to how they say he is drinking Steve-weisers? A way of getting across what he was doing. I thought with R-Truth they might have released a press release saying he was using a prop, not a real cigarette.

Anyway, I have no problem with a cutting edge satirist taking on any topic. But wrestling is not cutting edge satire.

Wow I thought it was real beer anyways didnt Edge and Lita put on a "sex show" on Raw

WWE seem to be in trouble for everything they do lately

Lord TSC

Other than a nip slip, that was the tamest sex scene I'd ever seen....

jaykhunter

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Other than a nip slip, that was the tamest sex scene I'd ever seen....

That might've been the first time a boner's been on wrestling since Sheik made Hogan humble...

MitchKoobski

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Other than a nip slip, that was the tamest sex scene I'd ever seen....

I was 16 watching that and even I'd had better sex by then.

jaykhunter

I don't know what you lads were expecting from a TV-14 wrestling show. Full penetration??

Lord TSC

I laughed at that far too much Jay.
You know, I somehow doubt this is where Gimmick thought this topic would go when he made it into a seperate thread :P

GTR63

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

I laughed at that far too much Jay.
You know, I somehow doubt this is where Gimmick thought this topic would go when he made it into a seperate thread :P

I doubt Gimmick will seperate this to discuss the age rating of the sex session. I remember at the time edge was doing a run with flair.I was praying Ric Flairs head would pop up out of the bed it would of been Hilarious.

Lord TSC

My memory isn't the greatest but did Flair not interupt, leading to the birth of this gif?



Or was that another moment I'm smashing the live sex celebration with....

Bounty Hunter

personally if I was Vince I would not be cutting the R-Truth bit from any broadcasts infact id be repeating it. Now wait for my point before crucifying me...

They should repeat the footage and condemn what R-Truth did (at this point they could say how certain netweorks wouldent air it or something if they want) vilify his actions, saw what those complaining are saying and appease all but in doing so build up a heel in Truth. I said in the Raw thread I think it is kinda sad that meerly lightinng a cigarette can elicit such a response (and mused perhaps someone backstage just watched thank you for smoking) but it does, so use it.

GTR63

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

My memory isn't the greatest but did Flair not interupt, leading to the birth of this gif?



Or was that another moment I'm smashing the live sex celebration with....

He did alrite & that GIF is hilarious.But I wanted Flair with his usual red face to pop out of the bed kinda like the alien pops out of the guys stomach in Aliens.

Ridley

Bounty Hunter wrote: »

personally if I was Vince I would not be cutting the R-Truth bit from any broadcasts infact id be repeating it. Now wait for my point before crucifying me...

They should repeat the footage and condemn what R-Truth did (at this point they could say how certain netweorks wouldent air it or something if they want) vilify his actions, saw what those complaining are saying and appease all but in doing so build up a heel in Truth. I said in the Raw thread I think it is kinda sad that meerly lightinng a cigarette can elicit such a response (and mused perhaps someone backstage just watched thank you for smoking) but it does, so use it.

Would anyone here chew you out on that post?

Ignoring the issue of legality (a blip of a fine for Truth, WWE or the O2 if it applied anyway), I agree. Truth should do an insincere apology since he's received a demand to give one.

As for the depiction of smoking on a television show. This is where parental guidance comes in.

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

That probably sums up the problem for me. If it were dealing with homophobia or racism in such a way as to tackle the issues, deal with them and present them through good writing, it might be acceptable. However, WWE is not presenting stories dealing with the issues; more often than not, WWE is just racist and homophobic. There's a real difference.

And yes.

cena

I never noticed this while watching raw.. Was it even on sky here. Is truth going heel so.

Charisteas

cena wrote: »

I never noticed this while watching raw.. Was it even on sky here. Is truth going heel so.

Yeah I never noticed this too, did it happen before or after his match with Morrison?

Charisteas

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

Does Truth smoke in real life?

SCSA drinks beer in the ring no mention of complaints about that or was there?

Not sure about Truth, but a few wrestlers do smoke. I saw Jeff Hardy and Mr Anderson smoking together after the TNA Dublin show, and I vividly remember seeing photos of Randy Orton smoking too.

parker kent wrote: »

They actually made it known he isn't drinking alcoholic beer. Ever listen to how they say he is drinking Steve-weisers? A way of getting across what he was doing.

You're probably right, but I always assumed he drank Budweiser light and called them Steveweiser so as to not give Budweiser free advertising.

parker kent

Charisteas wrote: »

You're probably right, but I always assumed he drank Budweiser light and called them Steveweiser so as to not give Budweiser free advertising.

He drank them at the start but once he started putting away lots of cans in the celebrations, it made sense to switch to non-alcoholic cans. Some stuff I've read also say he had problems with substance abuse around the time of his marriage with Debra.

They have definitely been non-alcoholic for a long time.

thebostoncrab

Smoking is bad.

R-Truth is a bad guy.

R-Truth smokes.

Where exactly is the problem?

JP Liz V1

cena wrote: »

I never noticed this while watching raw.. Was it even on sky here. Is truth going heel so.

It was cut out of the Sky Sports broadcast of Raw