Cultural thingamajigs/studies

It's a bit unrelated, but every reality TV show has a catchphrase obsession ("the tribe has spoken", "you're fired", "you're still in the running toward becoming America's next top model"), a programming tactic that I'm sure they leeched from pro wrestling (not like they'd admit it).

There's a book called "Wrestling to rasslin: ancient sport to American spectacle" by Gerald Morton, which does attempt a sociological study into pro wrestling. It's a bit outdated (1985), and it's not the finest piece of writing you'll ever encounter, but I've read it so I thought I'd mention it.

That used to be one of the only such books around, but now it appears that a few more have come out in the last several years (I noticed while searching the U of T library catalogue).

Wow Barry, I asked this question in regards to a paper proposal on the similarities between reality and rasslin.

Part deux: Are people in the know actually referred to as "smarts?" And similarly, are smart marks "smarks"?

Yes to both.

Part trois: are matches still considered to be spectacle-driven, as opposed to narratively driven?

Outside of the matches, there are obvious narrative threads, but is the main point of a match the psychology-driven narrative, or are we just interested in suplexes and high spots? Do the distinction depend on the viewing context i.e. as a mark/smart?

Those are good questions, but there's no single correct answer to them. It's like asking "is baseball homerun/power-driven, or pitching/speed-driven"? At some points in history, it's been the former, other times, the latter. And regardless or the general trends in the sport, there will always be certain fans who prefer one over the other.

And just like "real" sports, the skills of wrestlers vary tremendously. A guy like Sabu couldn't put on a psychology-driven narrative if his life depended on it. His strength is with garbage-y, spot-driven matches and that's what his fans want to see from him, so that's the role you use him in. Similarly, you're not going to ask David Ortiz to start stealing bases to win games (unless it's Game 5 of the ALCS :( ). But guys like Flair and HBK in their primes could put on just about any type of match in the book, with any opponent.

And I don't think the mark/smart distinction matters too much if the performers are doing their jobs well. It's just like the movies -- you can be a Hollywood insider or a casual fan, but if you're watching a flick and you can't believe that the romantic leads are really in love, then the actors have failed.

I have a draft of my paper ready, it's on villains in rasslink and thee reality television, anyone who's curious (and amenable to peer reviewing it) email me at redhalcyon AT yahooSAPHET DOT com.