Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling?

RE*AC*TOR · 16-06-2006 02:55PM #1

The title is a quote from the Woody Allen movie, Hannah and Her Sisters.

Here it is in full:

[Frederick is talking about TV]
Frederick: You see the whole culture. Nazis, deodorant salesmen, wrestlers, beauty contests, a talk show. Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling? But the worst are the fundamentalist preachers. Third grade con men telling the poor suckers that watch them that they speak with Jesus, and to please send in money. Money, money, money! If Jesus came back and saw what's going on in his name, he'd never stop throwing up.

I am continually amazed by the very active wrestling forum we have here on boards (under the sports section too :eek:). Their zeal and passion about the subject amazes me.

I must admit, when I was about 12, I thought wrestling was the best thing ever. At that point though even I doubted the reality of it. So when you boil it down to its essence, there are no winners, there are no fights, merely there's a lot of homo-erotic men, with large muscles (members of the gay community would call them bears), jumping around in a choreographed "ballet".... oh and lots of advertising and merchandise.

The mind boggles.

Terry · 16-06-2006 03:09PM

i wouldn't say we're overly zealous.
for the most part it's discussion on the politics behind the scenes and the quality of the performance. oh, and they have plenty of women for us to ogle, unlike soccer, rugby, hurling etc. which also have a level of homo-eroticism attached, albeit in orgy form and plenty of merchandising. how much was your man u top?

wrestling is a completely different thing today as opposed to the 1970's version woody allen was referring to.

ok, it's not as sophisticated as a woody allen movie, but it has its moments and is simply something that many people find entertaining.

wwe raw being the highest rated and longest running weekly show on cable television in america and the highest rated show on sky sports 1 (with the exception of a couple of football atches) when it was on that channel should tell you that todays product has a very large fan base.

dangerman · 16-06-2006 03:12PM

it's entertainment. If you don't understand why it's entertaining then that's your porogative, but you could start the same thread about all kinds of sports, music, films and any other aspects of culture.

It's nice to see people passionate about a subject... and on the whole 'it's not real thing' well neither is Lost, or Star Trek or any of those... ever gone into any of those forums? It's entertainment in a Sports like vein... so stick it under that and let those who enjoy it continue enjoying it and those who loath it continue avoiding it.

Glad to see you are still using that sig after all this time, that was one of my favourites I ever did.

Ruu_Old · 16-06-2006 03:13PM

Sshhh you know theres a Pro Wrestling forum here!

As the previous poster said, its entertainment and millions worldwide watch it.

Mossy Monk · 16-06-2006 03:14PM

whats with people watching the scripted wonders like Eastenders, Hollywood movies and so on

sparky360 · 16-06-2006 03:16PM

yeah I like the wrestling. Its a laugh. Loads of fellas battering each other, story telling, wet 'n' wild matches and all that.

Films and soap operas are very much like wrestling. Mindless escapism.

bacon? · 16-06-2006 03:20PM

each to their own.

kifmAction_FiguresWrestlingBone_Crunchin_Buddies_Stone_Cold_Steve_Austin-resized200.jpg

Dragan · 16-06-2006 03:21PM

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

So when you boil it down to its essence, there are no winners, there are no fights, merely there's a lot of homo-erotic men, with large muscles (members of the gay community would call them bears), jumping around in a choreographed "ballet".... oh and lots of advertising and merchandise.

The mind boggles.

Your right, better to watch soccer with the pretty boys with the 1000eu haircuts, sharp suits and small shorts, group hugs and team jacuzzi's, endorsement deals and half time advertising......oh....would you look at that;)

In all seriousness though , it's only a tv show!

I can respect the athleticism and grit and determination of the performers and what they do.

Jumpy · 16-06-2006 03:22PM

Woody Allen slept with his ugly stepdaughter, and he criticises people who watch wrestling?

Sleepy · 16-06-2006 03:23PM

I can admire the athleticism behind the choreography but I'd be about as likely to actually watch it as an episode of Eastenders, i.e. not at all.

I can understand the comment as it is incredibly low-brow stuff but then again, while Woody Allen's movies tend to be pretty high-brow comedies, he hasn't made anything good in years.

Dragan · 16-06-2006 03:23PM

Jumpy wrote:

Woody Allen slept with his ugly stepdaughter, and he criticises people who watch wrestling?

Cost me a mouth full of tea........legend!!!!

RE*AC*TOR · 16-06-2006 04:02PM

Well in response to some of the points, I don't think its fair to compare it to an actual sport like football. Perhaps if wrestling were a competition I could understand it. Plenty of sports have homo-erotic (boxing, swimming) or hetero-erotic (mmmm women's tennis) qualities, but they also have actual competition.

I'm not questioning anyone's right to watch or enjoy wrestling I just think you have a minor congenital defect (jk).

Perhaps my problem is that I don't view it as a soap-opera, because it isn't presented as such. But I suppose if I did view it like that, its no worse than any of that ****e that my fiancée watches.

ps - Dangerman - great sig, I couldn't possible better it - you should do more sigs.

Dragan · 16-06-2006 04:07PM

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Well in response to some of the points, I don't think its fair to compare it to an actual sport like football. Perhaps if wrestling were a competition I could understand it. Plenty of sports have homo-erotic (boxing, swimming) or hetero-erotic (mmmm women's tennis) qualities, but they also have actual competition.

Actually, not really. Only if you look at them that way. Sport is sport, sex has very, very little to do with it tbh.

And i suppose in a way, wrestling is a competition along the lines of dance, or bodybuilding or art......purely subjective????

Tar.Aldarion · 16-06-2006 04:09PM

I even scorn people who watched tat tripe as a child.

RE*AC*TOR · 16-06-2006 04:09PM

Dragan wrote:

Actually, not really. Only if you look at them that way. Sport is sport, sex has very, very little to do with it tbh.

And i suppose in a way, wrestling is a competition along the lines of dance, or bodybuilding or art......purely subjective????

well not really - in dance and bodybuilding there are winners based on their performance and judges (subjective opinion).

In wrestling the winner is decided first, then comes the performance.

Dragan · 16-06-2006 04:11PM

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

In wrestling the winner is decided first, then comes the performance.

Indeed, but normally ( not always ) the winner is decided on the strenght of past performances.

Their skill etc goes a long way to winning over a crowd, as most of the time the crowd wants to see the more consistently good and skilled wrestler winning.

fabcat · 16-06-2006 04:15PM

Jumpy wrote:

Woody Allen slept with his ugly stepdaughter, and he criticises people who watch wrestling?

hear hear

Lambsbread · 16-06-2006 04:16PM

It's just a bit of fun, ffs!! I enjoy watching it the odd time, when i get a chance. Its a shame The Rock has left though ( I know that was a while ago).

monkeyfudge · 16-06-2006 04:34PM

I think of wrestling as being a bit like a pantomime. I used to enjoy it as a kid... but I soon grew out of it.

Rick Flair was the best... is he still at it?

nesf · 16-06-2006 04:44PM

It's harmless. I find it amusing that people seem to use it as form of intellectual one-uppance. Really, you might as well ask "Can you imagine the level of a mind that indulges in 99% of TV" tbh.

Tar.Aldarion · 16-06-2006 04:45PM

People that watch tv get similar scorn, *swirls brandy*.

monkeyfudge · 16-06-2006 04:46PM

Well the character that is being quoted here, who I think was played by Max Von Sydow, was a highly intellectual and cerebral person and it was one of the reasons his relationship wasn't working.

Pigman II · 16-06-2006 04:49PM

I used to love the WWF back before I found out it was it was fake. I think I was about 10 at the time - which kinda gives you a ballpark as to the mindset of the average wrestling fan imho.

I do think any adult who enjoys pro-wrestling on anything other than an ironic level does have a screw loose. All this talk about what great athletes they are is guff too. Most of them are just broken-down ex-football players.

YeAh! · 16-06-2006 04:52PM

I dont think its a question of intelligence. I know people who are smart and have a very keen interest in wrestling. They just watch it for a laugh I think, just a bit of fun. They know its not reality (I hope).
I personally think that its all a pile of sh*te! I could never sit down and watch that utter cr*p

nesf · 16-06-2006 05:02PM

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

People that watch tv get similar scorn, *swirls brandy*.

I reserve my scorn for Avril Lavigne fans. *swirls a more exclusive brandy*

Ruu_Old · 16-06-2006 05:07PM

monkeyfudge wrote:

I think of wrestling as being a bit like a pantomime. I used to enjoy it as a kid... but I soon grew out of it.

Rick Flair was the best... is he still at it?

Yeah hes still wrestling as far as I know. Now if you dont mind Im going to stop watching this rubbish and watch some Big Brother.:rolleyes:

Tar.Aldarion · 16-06-2006 05:12PM

nesf wrote:

I reserve my scorn for Avril Lavigne fans. *swirls a more exclusive brandy*

It seems my penis has let me down once more. *Earl Grey, hot*

pork99 · 16-06-2006 05:14PM

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

I am continually amazed by the very active wrestling forum we have here on boards (under the sports section too :eek:). Their zeal and passion about the subject amazes me.

Imagine the level of a mind that can watch big brother for hours (even one hour) and there's a forum here for them too!

I tried watching the current BB, I thought I'd give it a chance as a sort of let's get in touch with the zeitgeist thing. Also I'd heard this was going to be the most twisted BB ever so I thought it might have been entertaining in a sick way. However I simply could not watch it for more than 15 minutes without feeling that my brain was turning to custard and running out my ears.

So to sum up - it's unwatchable and probably eventually turns you into a cretin.

Pigman II · 16-06-2006 05:15PM

Is Big Brother even part of the zeitgeist anymore? I think even those who championed it in the early years have had enough of it too.

Dirk Gently · 16-06-2006 05:20PM

I can't imagine the low level of a mind that complains about people who watch wrestling.

Why do some people not get humour and understand that wrestling is only entertainment. It seems to me that the people who slag off other people about watching it are not capable of understanding that people watch it for action and comedy.

It is no different to watching any other sitcom. WWE is like bottom on speed.

I use to watch it regularly for the trash talking and funny moments. The whole point about it is that it is really obvious that the story lines aren't real. That's the attraction, the wrestlers are not trying to convince people that the stories are real; they are playing up to the fact that the plots are obviously fake and purposely look silly as it is funny.

People who complain about it obviously don't understand its all about humour and outrageous storylines. As for the fights themselves, some are funny and others, although scripted are still great spectacles.

The only reasons I don't watch it anymore is because it’s not as funny as it use to be. No more milk tankers, no more supermarket beat em ups, no more good trash talkers. No more fresh rock, Austin or angle material. The jokes are getting old at this stage and new material needs to be injected.

pork99 · 16-06-2006 05:20PM

Pigman II wrote:

Is Big Brother even part of the zeitgeist anymore? I think even those who championed it in the early years have had enough of it too.

oh I hope you are right

Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling?

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