Jan Herman: The Juice

Here's an interesting article from MSNBC taking a shot at reality television (eg:American Idol) and *gasp* defending professional wrestling. Enjoy!

What’s the point of writing about ‘Idol’ anyway? I might as well write about the World Wrestling Entertainment. Professional wrestling has more cultural significance when you give it some thought. The other day, for instance, I was talking about the origins of reality TV with my staff of thousands and one of them came up with the provocative notion that for relevance the WWE beats “Candid Camera” or O.J. Simpson’s “trial of the [last] century” any day.

“If one wishes to study the true ancestor of today’s reality shows,” he said, “one must enter the ‘squared circle of honor’ and look to professional wrestling.” (I can’t help it if he sounds like that nice twit who sends Ruth Fisher around the bend on “Six Feet Under.”) “Same sorts of contrived drama, same sorts of carnival theatrics. The only difference I can see is that the wrestlers don’t take themselves as seriously as the reality show participants.”

Mr. Twit didn’t stop there. “A fan can sit back with a beer and watch professional wrestling and experience every emotion of which he is capable. Joy, sorrow, sympathy, anger. He can laugh at the parodies. He can appreciate the athletic ability of the participants.”

Nor did he stop there. “For one’s typical fan, professional wrestling is the Wal-Mart of entertainment,” he went on. “Indeed, it serves the same market. One’s typical fan appreciates professional wrestling and NASCAR races because, when either is on TV, there are no lines at the Wal-Mart. But I digress. For an hour or so, one’s typical wrestling fan can forget about making last month’s payment on his pickup and lose himself in the world defined by the squared circle of honor.”

Mr. Twit summarized the issue this way:

1. Professional wrestling is a morality play, a soap opera, if you will. One has good guys and bad guys and virtuous ladies and tramps. Good choices result in good consequences. Poor choices result in bad consequences.

2. It is all parody and satire anyway. The late comedian Andy Kaufman recognized the satirical nature of the medium and used it to great effect in his wrestling gag. It’s all about talking trash and poking fun.

3. Professional wrestlers, no matter what else one thinks, are gifted athletes. Fake falls and all, it takes athletic ability to do what they do.

4. And professional wrestlers are gifted in other ways. Jesse Ventura. Need I say more?