Grappling with ring violence

By JAMES BREIG- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Since the murders at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, Americans have been seeking ways of reducing violence, and one of their targets is the media. Many have decried graphic and senseless violence on television and in movies, especially when it is aimed at children.

But I haven't heard anyone mention wrestling.

If you're looking for a source that feeds good little kids evil little messages about violence, turn on professional wrestling some night. Many children do. Week after week, the highest-rated shows on cable include several wrestling programs. As I write this, for example, half of the top ten list is wrestling programs. That means that millions of people are dialing in to see "Stone Cold" Steve Austin stomp his opponent half to death while crazed fans in the auditorium scream lustily for more.

Downward spiral

When my sons were little, we went through a wrestling craze. We loved to watch Hulk Hogan battle a bad guy and then remind his viewers to "say your prayers and eat your vitamins." I made sure that they understood it was all fake, that the opponents traveled with each other and were really friends, and that if someone got hurt it was only by accident.

But a lot has changed in wrestling over the past few years. For one thing, a heavy and unhealthy dose of sexuality has been injected into the mix, creating a potent mixture that insinuates sex and violence into the minds of children as two sides of the same desirable coin.

Sable, the blond bombshell of wrestling, has posed nude in Playboy. Another female grappler has been in porno films, and one of the male "stars" makes X-rated movies. And if you thought racial stereotypes were banished from public life, you should be aware that another character is a black pimp who arrives in the ring to sell his "ho's."

Crude fans

Wrestling, never a genteel pursuit, has become more and more crude -- and not only in the ring. Fans are now given to chanting an obscenity, waving banners with it scrawled on them and pointing to their genitals, all in imitation of their heroes.

The graphic nature of the pretend violence has also increased. It used to be that wrestling was confined to the ring with body slams and half-nelsons as the only action. Then the violence went outside the ring as chairs were smashed over heads. Now, there are soap opera plot lines that involve rape, kidnaping, suicide and murder, sometimes with a crucifixion scene thrown in for good measure. Touches of satanism and devil worship have also been added through such characters as the Undertaker.

This descent from what was a very low point to begin with was succinctly summed up in 60 seconds during the Super Bowl when an advertisement for the World Wrestling Federation featured two people having sex on a desktop while mayhem surrounded them.

Cross-over

As all of this has been going on, wrestling has been accepted into mainstream entertainment. Wrestlers regularly pop up on primetime series like "Nash Bridges" and on talk shows like "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Those popular cable programs air on TNT and USA. And much of the marketing of wrestling targets children through action figures and other merchandise, which is sold in stores like Warner Bros.

Let me summarize: Children regularly watch -- and cheer -- shows in which half-naked women connected to pornography threaten men who point to their crotches while drawing blood from other people. In many cases, those children watch with their parents, who might even take them to the arena when the wrestling tour comes to town so they can experience it all in person and buy a souvenir. Maybe Sable's autograph on her Playboy photo.

When wrestling was a Saturday afternoon diversion in which the good guys vanquished the baddies, it was bad enough. It is now a Monday primetime show that mingles sex and violence to the delight of youngsters who root for the most evil wrestlers not only to win but also to humiliate their enemies.

Parents might want to sit up and take notice before their values go down for the count.

(06-17-99) [[In-content Ad]]