Now, I get that he's just playing a character. I also get that the recent bullying stories are all leading up to the "good guys" rising against Triple H's regime and emerging victorious, but something about it just doesn't sit right. For a long time I couldn't pin down why, but now I think I've finally got it.
When an actor plays a villain, he can still do charity and not be a hypocrite because he was just playing a part. The things Walter Wight does aren't the things Bryan Cranston does. However, when we're watching Walter Wight, we see Walter Wight. Not Bryan Cranston.
The same applies with the WWE. Like Breaking Bad, while the characters are on-screen, they behave as if what they're doing on television is actually happening. So, are we supposed to believe that the characters are real, or are we supposed to believe that they're just acting? The answer is both -- and that creates dissonance in the viewer.
Pro wrestling relies heavily on suspension of disbelief, the same way that an over-the-top CG-fest of a movie does, or an engrossing play on Broadway does, or an episode of Breaking Bad does. We know people aren't really getting shot and killed, just like we know people aren't really getting punched in the head 10 times while the crowd counts the blows, but the characters need to be, or at least feel, "real" in the moment. If they don't -- if they constantly remind us that they're just characters -- it doesn't work. And that's what's wrong with these bullying stories in the WWE.
It's compelling, entertaining and everything good fiction needs to be -- but because the WWE's characters are supposed to be "real", and their real-life actions don't match their in-ring actions, it creates unbalance and takes you (and by you I mean me) out of the show when they, essentially, break character. I'll keep watching because, like I said, the stories are compelling and entertaining, I just wish the characters would stay consistent given the real-world implications of their behavior.
Until next time, have a nice day and don't be a jabroni.
The same applies with the WWE. Like Breaking Bad, while the characters are on-screen, they behave as if what they're doing on television is actually happening. So, are we supposed to believe that the characters are real, or are we supposed to believe that they're just acting? The answer is both -- and that creates dissonance in the viewer.
Pro wrestling relies heavily on suspension of disbelief, the same way that an over-the-top CG-fest of a movie does, or an engrossing play on Broadway does, or an episode of Breaking Bad does. We know people aren't really getting shot and killed, just like we know people aren't really getting punched in the head 10 times while the crowd counts the blows, but the characters need to be, or at least feel, "real" in the moment. If they don't -- if they constantly remind us that they're just characters -- it doesn't work. And that's what's wrong with these bullying stories in the WWE.
It's compelling, entertaining and everything good fiction needs to be -- but because the WWE's characters are supposed to be "real", and their real-life actions don't match their in-ring actions, it creates unbalance and takes you (and by you I mean me) out of the show when they, essentially, break character. I'll keep watching because, like I said, the stories are compelling and entertaining, I just wish the characters would stay consistent given the real-world implications of their behavior.
Until next time, have a nice day and don't be a jabroni.
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