When Neal said it was pro-wrestling day, I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to class! I even questioned skipping, but I am so glad that I didn't. I realized three minutes into the video today, that I wasn't watching the video because Neal made me, it was because I wanted to see who would win! I now feel bad for my negative attitude towards wrestling...it's awesome! You have the good guy, the bad guy, and the conflict of who will win, what could be better? I think it's not only a form of entertainment but also an art. Touche wrestlers, you are great performers!
I'm the presenter of this play so I don't have that much to say. I mean, pro wrestling is pretty self-explainitory and the videos we watched were straight forward. Personally, I liked ECW and the "real" matces, but I guess it's all the same. I wouldn't say I'm a pro wrestling fan, but I get it and it's not that bad; I got hooked by the video games. My cousins used to beat me all the time and even though I would loose, I loved the fighting because it was so cool. So as corny as this is, I'll just throw it out there-If you're not into watching it, try playing a video game because it isn't hard. In fact, you can press almost any button and something physical will happen and it's fun to beat up on people. Plus, there are bios, you can create yourself and all kinds of other stuff.
So... ancient wrestling was more of a sport than modern wrestling, which appears to be a spectacle. The Greeks wrestled in the nude, and Romans wrestled in loincloths. They were oiled up before matches. Instead of wrestling on a solid platform, they wrestled on sand. Matches were determined by whomever could throw the other guy on the ground three times. Weight classes didn't exist, and you weren't allowed to punch/kick the other guy, so the bigger and stronger contestant usually always won. Spectators thought it was less entertaining than boxing and pancration.
Ok, I should've been more specific. I liked hardcore matches and it may be wrong, but I like violence, but blood, no. Fighting good, blood bad. Me and bleeding never got along lol; I didn't squeam or anything, but I didn't even remember that some of these guys actually went all out like that.
I never could tell if wrestling was real or not so how exactly could it be described as similar to Theatre. I could remember a few years ago when they blamed wrestling for some of the violent acts young kids where committing on one another. For instance, I cant quite remember but there was a case where a young boy killed his little cousin I believe by doing a wrestling move on her. I may be wrong but it was something like that. But anywho I guess it is all about how the spectator views it.
I really never considered wrestling as a theatrical experience. In fact, if we're being honest, I was a little annoyed that we were spending more than two days on the subject of Pro. wrestling. It's entertaining, sure, but I couldn't see anything theatrical about it.
Having said that, I've formed a new opinion after reading the essay and viewing the clips.
There are definitely theatrical elements to pro wrestling; they use lights/staging/music/dialogue/choreography/characterization/etc. to manipulate a desired reaction from the audience.
I could especially see the theatricality in the clip posted on Moodle about the tension between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, and actually, I see how other sports use the same techniques to provoke emotions from the audience. Ever been to an LSU football game? They always play some sort of sports montage with inspiring clips and aggressive music to stir up the crowd (I suppose theatricality is everywhere!).
In the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker promo. clip, Shawn Michaels almost gets melodramatic with his desire to defeat the Undertaker. Suddenly the audience is taken on the journey of an underdog, experiencing how the Undertaker gets under Shawn Michael's skin, watching the story of an obsession unfold. I found myself caring about this match, and pulling for the underdog, just as if I were watching a play in an actual theatre.
Though I still consider pro. wrestling to be a low art form, I now understand that it's still an art form. Pro. wrestling continues to be a big deal to a lot of people...for some, this is the only exposure they will get to a live theatrical experience, and I would say that's worth considering when studying contemporary theatre.
When Neal said it was pro-wrestling day, I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to class! I even questioned skipping, but I am so glad that I didn't. I realized three minutes into the video today, that I wasn't watching the video because Neal made me, it was because I wanted to see who would win! I now feel bad for my negative attitude towards wrestling...it's awesome! You have the good guy, the bad guy, and the conflict of who will win, what could be better? I think it's not only a form of entertainment but also an art. Touche wrestlers, you are great performers!
ReplyDeleteI'm the presenter of this play so I don't have that much to say. I mean, pro wrestling is pretty self-explainitory and the videos we watched were straight forward. Personally, I liked ECW and the "real" matces, but I guess it's all the same. I wouldn't say I'm a pro wrestling fan, but I get it and it's not that bad; I got hooked by the video games. My cousins used to beat me all the time and even though I would loose, I loved the fighting because it was so cool. So as corny as this is, I'll just throw it out there-If you're not into watching it, try playing a video game because it isn't hard. In fact, you can press almost any button and something physical will happen and it's fun to beat up on people. Plus, there are bios, you can create yourself and all kinds of other stuff.
ReplyDeleteSo... ancient wrestling was more of a sport than modern wrestling, which appears to be a spectacle. The Greeks wrestled in the nude, and Romans wrestled in loincloths. They were oiled up before matches. Instead of wrestling on a solid platform, they wrestled on sand. Matches were determined by whomever could throw the other guy on the ground three times. Weight classes didn't exist, and you weren't allowed to punch/kick the other guy, so the bigger and stronger contestant usually always won. Spectators thought it was less entertaining than boxing and pancration.
ReplyDeleteOk, I should've been more specific. I liked hardcore matches and it may be wrong, but I like violence, but blood, no. Fighting good, blood bad. Me and bleeding never got along lol; I didn't squeam or anything, but I didn't even remember that some of these guys actually went all out like that.
ReplyDeleteI never could tell if wrestling was real or not so how exactly could it be described as similar to Theatre. I could remember a few years ago when they blamed wrestling for some of the violent acts young kids where committing on one another. For instance, I cant quite remember but there was a case where a young boy killed his little cousin I believe by doing a wrestling move on her. I may be wrong but it was something like that. But anywho I guess it is all about how the spectator views it.
ReplyDeleteI really never considered wrestling as a theatrical experience. In fact, if we're being honest, I was a little annoyed that we were spending more than two days on the subject of Pro. wrestling. It's entertaining, sure, but I couldn't see anything theatrical about it.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I've formed a new opinion after reading the essay and viewing the clips.
There are definitely theatrical elements to pro wrestling; they use lights/staging/music/dialogue/choreography/characterization/etc. to manipulate a desired reaction from the audience.
I could especially see the theatricality in the clip posted on Moodle about the tension between the Undertaker and Shawn Michaels, and actually, I see how other sports use the same techniques to provoke emotions from the audience. Ever been to an LSU football game? They always play some sort of sports montage with inspiring clips and aggressive music to stir up the crowd (I suppose theatricality is everywhere!).
In the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker promo. clip, Shawn Michaels almost gets melodramatic with his desire to defeat the Undertaker. Suddenly the audience is taken on the journey of an underdog, experiencing how the Undertaker gets under Shawn Michael's skin, watching the story of an obsession unfold. I found myself caring about this match, and pulling for the underdog, just as if I were watching a play in an actual theatre.
Though I still consider pro. wrestling to be a low art form, I now understand that it's still an art form. Pro. wrestling continues to be a big deal to a lot of people...for some, this is the only exposure they will get to a live theatrical experience, and I would say that's worth considering when studying contemporary theatre.