Comment on Did the western world just suddenly go back to pretending wrestling is "real" for some reason?

• UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  The outcome of the match is predetermined while the participants pretend that it isn’t.

  The adventure is in the journey, not the destination. I don’t care whether you win or you lose when I came to see two roided out giants do backflip kicks into one another’s torsos while their friends spray silly string to distract the combatants from the sidelines.

  That is why there are constant arguments about whether or not it’s “fake”.

  There is absolutely no question that the outcome of the matches is predetermined, in the same way that there is absolutely no doubt that the Rat King is going to get killed by the Nutcracker at the ballet. But both wrestling and ballet are athletic endeavors.

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  • aesthelete@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    I agree that they’re athletic, but they simply aren’t competing in an athletic competition while pretending that they are.

    I think your comparison to the Globetrotters is on point. In the ballet and other examples, the difference to me is that they’re not pretending to be in a ballet competition while dancing the ballet.

    There’s no doubt that what wrestlers do requires skill, and talent (and in most cases athleticism) but it’s “fake” in that what you’re watching isn’t an athletic competition despite its self-constructed thin veneer that it is.

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    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

      In the ballet and other examples, the difference to me is that they’re not pretending to be in a ballet competition while dancing the ballet.

      In the Nutcracker, at least, they’re pretending to fence, in a choreographed dance. A first-time naive viewer who came out of the show offended when they discover skill at fencing has nothing to do with whether the dancers playing the Nutcracker or the Rat King wins would sound silly.

      I do think that the kayfabe is what sets wrestling apart from more traditional performance art. The carnival-barker lying-to-your-face aspect of the performance is what makes it feel extra circus-y. But when you accept that the kayfabe is just part of the performance, you stop feeling offended by it and start recognizing degrees of commitment to the bit as part of the artform.

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      • Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

        In the Nutcracker, at least, they’re pretending to fence, in a choreographed dance.

        And no one writes stories about who won the fencing match.

        Wrestling takes things to a ridiculous level compared to all other performances.

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      • skulblaka@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

        This still doesn’t explain why Cena’s victory is being reported to much hype in the sports sections.

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