411's Showcase Commentary 01.14.06: Simple Prejudice

Posted by Ryan K. Boman on 01.14.2006

The history of professional wrestling has been littered with the use of basic stereotypes relating to race, religion, ethnicity/nationality, etc. In the following commentary, we will look into these stereotypes and their effects on the industry, both in front of---and---behind the curtain.

Article by: Ryan K. Bowman and Michael Melchor

There are many terms in our daily vocabulary that incite serious emotion. They are known in the news and entertainment industry as "buzzwords". They will typically produce a reaction, an opinion, or possibly an argument from 99.9% of the population.

One of those words: Prejudice.

Whether it be racism, sexism, denial of religious freedom, or battles over sexual orientation, prejudice is all around us. And there are no shortage of opinions on the subject. Turn on talk shows, turn on your local radio station, or read the newspaper, and society's simple prejudices have become fodder for discussion. Typically, these discussions have become more about taking sides and pointing fingers than actual open debate and achieving a solution. They usually lead to more chaos than calm. And its good for business, too. Because of the emotions that they stir, any debates about our intolerance for one another keep people tuned in and turned on. Today, everyone from comedians to politicians have used this hot button topic to hold our interest and get us talking. Sure enough, just bring the subject up, and watch the ratings soar.

It's a theory that the professional wrestling business learned a long time ago. Grab the depths of emotion, and don't let go.

It's no secret that, even going back to the carny days, the wrestling industry has acknowledged this issue. In fact, they may have even embraced it. Promoters often liked to ‘profile' their performers—fitting them into a nice, simple package. Ethnic characters, gay characters, women, the disabled and others have been introduced over the years, all designed to manipulate our emotions. We have been programmed to cheer or boo, laugh or cry, based on some of the most outlandish stereotypes of all time.

This has been particularly true of heel performers. Be it Nazis and Japanese in the post-World War II era, or the Chuck and Billy ‘gay angle', these characters play off of our own social intolerance. It's why we booed Muhammed Hassan for being an Arab Muslim. It's the mentality of, "that guy must be bad, because he's wearing a turban." It's the same play on emotion that gets 14-year-old boys to chant "faggot" at Sylvan Grenier. From the highest levels on down, wrestling promotions know the easiest way to incite hatred for a character is to display them as anti-USA, gay/effiminate, or anti-white. For example, when the Nation of Domination was formed, it was another obvious ploy to get the (mostly white) wrestling audience to boo. Nikolai Volkov and the Iron Sheik were perfect foils for the "Real American" Hulk Hogan. And effeminate characters--- all the way from Gorgeous George up to Adrian Adonis and on to Goldust--- were all pomp and circumstance, inciting hatred and (sometimes) violence from their audience.
And it doesn't just stop on the heel side of the ledger. Many ‘heroes' over the years, have portrayed ridiculous stereotypes as well. Particularly in the south, black performers were encouraged to ‘ham it up' and talk jive. It's as if that was the only way the audience could ever perceive an African American character. Even today, there is a world of difference between the Booker T you see on television, and the one you would sit down and have dinner with. The ‘soul brother' act goes all the way back to the 60's, and was invented by white promoters. Bill Watts, long alleged to be a closet racist, used the same type of gimmick with the Junkyard Dog and packed arenas in the early 80's. Performers like Rocky Johnson, Rufus R. Jones, and Brickhouse Brown played a similar role as well, gaining love and acceptance—all while stepping and fetching for a paycheck. Native Americans, Asians, and Latinos have all done it, as well. Even the late, great Eddie Guerrero would tell you that when he jazzed up his accent and became "Latino Heat", he became a bigger star than ever before.

But what makes this formula work time and time again? Is it the push of the promoter, or the internal prejudices of the fans? Are these angles that "profile" certain individuals the product of corporate greed or our own guilty little sins? Who's to blame for all this madness?

In the end, the answer probably lies somewhere in between. Promoters have spoon-fed us these characters, and we have responded like Pavlovian dogs. We expected the Junkyard Dog to have a harder head than his opponent. We paid money to see Exotic Adrian Street get his behind kicked. We fed into the Latino Heat craze, too. Some observers complain about the stereotypical nature of these characters to this day, and it may be safe to say that this is one of the reasons most of the mainstream ignores wrestling – because it appeals to a baser instinct. There's very little thought or consideration given to fleshing out ethnic – hell, even female – characters past what the typical dumb American male expects them to be. God forbid we have to think.

We've commented on the fate of Mohammed Hassan several times and how that could have been avoided by making him a flesh-and-blood character rather than making him another button-pushing anti-American heel. Bear in mind that Hassan was an American himself, and that the basis of who and what he was stems from the fact that he was discriminated against due to the color of his skin. It's a real-life part of society, for better or for worse. Yet, it was played in the same "us vs. them" profile that many minorities in the business have portrayed. We had to view Hassan as nothing more than the enemy. Pure and simple, in black and white. He was simply bad, and not a human being at all. Never mind any hard times he may have had experienced here in the United States.

What would become of wrestling if the storylines he were involved in actually explored this conundrum? How would people react to not wanting to like Hassan because he didn't like us, yet feel some sympathy for his plight because all he wanted was to love this country as much as any of us do?

One reason is because promoters don't expect us to be that smart. They never have. Why are fans not given enough consideration by the higher-ups at WWE and other companies to let us think for ourselves? You would think that, by now, we wouldn't expect every black performer to have a hard head like Bobo Brazil did. Nor should we expect every person of Hispanic descent to have an affected accent and steal cars.

In some instances, however, they've been proven right. Look at how we ogle the women and find it almost distasteful when they get out there and actually dare to wrestle. Certainly, the match on Monday Night Raw (01/09/05) between Trish Stratus and Ashley drew an average-to-low rating, yet a promised "live sex act" between WWE Champion Edge and his girlfriend, Lita, spikes the ratings for that segment to the point that the show, overall, sees an improved rating.

We like to think we're more enlightened than that, yet fans keep falling for the old stereotypes and pre-existing expectations. By the same token, we complain when we're fed the same, ridiculous things by the Powers That Be. It boils down to the "chicken-or-the-egg" syndrome: do we dictate what we're given because we're no more enlightened than the promoters, or do the promoters feed our baser instincts and keep us as docile and dumb as we've always been?

A limited few performers, like the Rock or Rey Misterio for example, have broken the mold when it comes to character stereotyping. They have been able to walk between the raindrops of one of wrestling's dirty little secrets. These performers have, for one reason or another, been able to find a place in the business that isn't directly tied to their race, sex, etc. The fans accepted them in a non-traditional role because of their talent and charisma alone.

However, they are part of a select few individuals. Many others are still played off as the "shuck-and-jive" homies, the "beans-and-rice" papis, or the "tits-and-ass" bimbos that we've come to expect. All manners of race and gender are still shown as less than real because we either will not accept them as such (which is more evident in the "George W Bush" era) or because promoters won't mess with a proven formula.

And that may be the bigger issue, really. Why is it a "proven formula"? Are these characters successful because of our own hidden prejudices? Has wrestling tapped into something that we, ourselves, don't even realize? Is our society really so divided that we take pleasure in each other's pain?

Vince McMahon has said that his wrestling shows are a mirror of society. He may just be right, after all. Prejudice lives in society, and it lives in wrestling, too.