Ya know, pro wrestling is fun
By the time one gets to college, it becomes very obvious there is a difference between what is “cool” and what is “popular,” with cool being a subjective standard that seems to change from social circle to social circle and popular meaning a standard measured empirically by level of consumption. “Cool” becomes the interests and expression of how a specific group will present itself and often times becomes disconnected with what is popular.
For instance, some men on campus may un-ironically sport some nice thigh-level jean shorts but this does not mean (and will never mean) that this is the popular decision.
What becomes frustrating is that often times we can’t understand why the things we think are cool are not genuinely popular, and this often leads to discontentment and snobbish resentment.
Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone about Creed (the band) and they look at you as if you were the product of incest? Creed sold like a bijillion albums in the 2000’s! Clearly Creed is not “cool” by the usual connotations of the word, but they sold a lot of albums and more than likely, the people that are scoffing at you bought those albums themselves.
If people took the time to try and at least understand why things are popular it might make sense to them and in turn could make them feel less alienated from the world. Probably everyone reading this lives in an academic bubble where they assume everybody knows who Karl Marx is, and that is simply and sadly not true. It is for this reason all of you should watch professional wrestling.
I have just started to get into wrestling so I don’t have a deep understanding of the rules or most of the characters. However, with in the few months that I have been paying attention I understand why so many people in America are in love with it and it has nothing to do with nostalgia.
It’s simple why many people enjoy wrestling. It helps make up for a lack of cultural mythology in the United States, and where Greece had Zeus and France had Charlemagne we yearn for a convincing morality play. Some would argue that comic books actually make up this American mythology and they are slightly right but I think comic books have moved out of popularity and just into the arbitrary definition of coolness.
Myths are often told through the most effective means of communication because they are intended for the broadest audience possible. This meant back in ancient times it was word of mouth, and then print in the time of comic books, but now the most effective medium is television. People love morality plays that reflect their beliefs on justice, love or power, and no justice is as swift and as absolute as bludgeoning someone with a chair.
I am not saying the WWE’s representation of justice, love or power comes free of moral dilemma, but that really is not the point. Wrestling is popular because it gets at basic themes that often cut across people. I’m also not saying that by watching wrestling this will somehow make you folksy or relatable.
What I am saying is that by trying to understand why popular things are popular, it may make it easier to talk to future co-workers who couldn’t care less that you saw Sleigh Bells “before they were cool.”
Matt Porter is the resident WWE enthusiast for the Voice and can be reached for comment at MPorter12@wooster.edu.