I'm encouraged by how much feedback I've received on my post regarding the apparent hypocrisy in WWE when it comes to race. Let me add a few points:
-However faint it may be, WWE does deserve credit for disciplining Michael Hayes. Hayes may have meant no harm, but a member of management openly calling a black subordinate the N-word in a multi-million dollar, publicly traded company can't be tolerated. That goes without saying.
- Not every gimmick that incorporates a wrestler's ethnicity or nationality is inherently wrong. I've never really had a problem with the portrayal of Davey Boy Smith, Finlay or even Kofi Kingston. Somebody made a comment that Tito Santana's El Matador gimmick was handled with respect and was an acknowledgment of his roots. I can accept that. The Saba Simba character was not nearly deep enough to get the same benefit of the doubt.
- It does appear that WWE has gotten marginally better in recent years in their portrayal of minority wrestlers. Bobby Lashley, Elijah Burke, Carlito, Shelton Benamin and even MVP have mostly avoided racial stereotyping. Jimmy Wang Yang's character in some ways is just the opposite of a racial stereotype, but in having him so miscast, the intent was to draw attention to how ridiculous it is to have an Asian cowboy. That's not much better that just putting him in a karate gi.
- I don't buy WWE's explanation that some of their characters are meant to be parodies of stereotypes. That's how they've tried to justify such acts as Cryme Tyme, Muhammad Hassan, and maybe one of the most offensive gimmicks WWE has ever created - and one I somehow neglected to mention yesterday - the lawn-mower riding Mexicools. WWE writers are not nearly sophisticated or clever enough to provide the extra layer of depth necessary to make such characters "ironic." I agree that the Hassan character could have worked, but in the end it was just another one-dimensional evil Muslim, who even simulated a beheading in the ring.
- The Cryme Tyme gimmick is among the worst I've ever seen. Bad taste aside, I am not even slightly amused by their antics. I'm less offended as a minority than I am as a fan of good humor.
Comments (18)
kerwin white?
and mvp is most absolutely a stereotype. not to mention the whole floyd mayweather stuff and his "posse". they were trotted out there as a gang of thugs. and even though they are white and yes it is kinda funny untill it is over played, any hillbilly character is a stereotype.
what about all the "gay" characters. all of them are played out a sissies and total flaming queens for comedy.
Is the WWE worse than any other western media in this respect?
Racial stereotypes have always been a part of the wrestling culture. And the WWE aren't the only ones who have pushed negative stereotypes Booker T and Stevie Ray were meant to be led out in chains by Col Parker in WCW, New Jack in Ecw is another example.
The WWE again is tacking flack that whole industry deserves because they have a monopoly at this time.
If this suspension is the start of a better approach then I applaud it.
I don't think Cryme Tyme is that bad. I'm black and some of us do act and talk like that, I'm not at all offended by the characters. Just like I'm not offended when I watch Menace 2 Society or Chappelle's Show but I am offended when I watch anything Tyler Perry does lol
Cryme Tyme is actually one of my favorite acts right up there with Randy Orton and Edge. I don't remember the spear chucking gimmick your talking about but it sounds terribly offensive. With all this talk about racism we seem to be forgetting the most oppressed people of all, Women. I wouldn't say I'm offended when I see a water balloon match or pillow fight but I do roll my eyes.Some of these girls could hang with the guys and in some cases are a hell of alot better than them. I'd say Beth Phoenix, Victoria, etc. deserve better than to be relegated to this crap. The bumps hurt just as much to women as they do to men.
The Hassan gimmick could have been so awesome if the WWE could ever write a better storyline than USA v. Iraq. And actually, even then they could have at least written something better than "Hulk Hogan shows up and cleans house."
I think the more glaring problem is the lack of minority talent at the main event level. Past Rey Jr., who's a minority main eventer? They elevated JBL, back all of an unremarkable 4 months, before MVfreakingP. The guy who could argueably be considered the highest minority on the ladder behind Rey is a guy who's been king of the midcarders for a year.
i completely forgot about the women. talk about oppressed. you made a good point about how their work isn't held up to the same standards of the men, but don't for get that all the women send the same message to the young girls out there. that is "if you aren't big boobed and blond, you are ugly". look at the roster. it is as blonde and plastic as the rock of love cast.
I'm Puerto Rican ,and I have to say Carlito's character is one huge stetrotype. I mean, the guy has sandy beaches and palm trees in his entrance video, and used to have Carribean in his name. Remember when he had a bodyguard named Jesus (pronounced Hey- Zeus course, not Yee-sus) who stabbed John Cena? That my friends is racial stereotyping that ranks up there with West Side Story and the Gang Warz from the late-mid 90s.
You're very right Fifo, but I do think the character has evolved and the stereotypical aspects have been downplayed. It certainly began as another racist character, but Carlito was good enough to make it more than that.
Rasict acts will remain as long as they make money. Let's face it, the people who get most offended by the racial stereotypes are white people trying to be PC. Cryme Tyme still exists for the simple fact that they draw as a tag team which is rare in WWE (really WWE's own fault but that's neither here nor there).
They have certainly downplayed the racist aspects of Carlitos character, but theyve also pushed him down the ladder quite a few times. Hopefully his teaming up with Santino (another stereotypical character that in my opinion shouldn't be considered racist) will make somethign happen for both of them as they have plenty of charisma and mic skills.
Im interested to see what they will make of Carlito's brother, Eddie Colon, if he gets called up to the main rosters. Will management play the "carribean" card again?
Oohh and a stereotype wrestling blog cannot be considered complete without mentioning of Sgt Slaughters heel turn
How was Sgt. Slaughter as an Iraqi sympathizer a stereotype?
Its easy to be offended if your looking to be offended. As an African American I would be more upset if the wwe did stereotypes on everybody except us. That just as racist. I find the Finley and Hornswoggle characters funny, but I could see an Irish American being offended by that. How many Irish people walk around with a Leprachaun and love to fight. It was also offensive that they had another irishman (Sandman) play a drunk, and the evil boss of the whole company is Irish and anti religious. Its also offensive that they had an Italian (Hogan) use an Irish name to become one of the biggest stars. Why couldn't the find a real Irishman for that role? I could also see southerners just as mad at Murdoch and Cade. How many times does Lawler have to make jokes about Murdoch being pale and how he is a redneck. Everyone in wrestling should be fair game. Otherwise you end up like wcw and can't use the word "foreign object" and Braun the Leperchaun is banned because he's offensive to Leperchauns. Its real easy to stop watching the product if you have a problem with it.
Well don't forget all the 'scottish' wrestlers to appear in WWE have always had kilts on, and if you went to scotland these days you wouldnt see hardly any(is that stereotyping?). What about William Regal who eats crumpets, drinks tea, acts posh and has pictures of the queen in his office?; well i'm British and don't fit into any of that(is that stereotyping?). How many Irish people walk around with a leprachaun and love to fight? The way people from the United Kingdom are perceived in the WWE has always been in stereotypical roles, but i have never been offended....maybe a little annoyed.
I'm Irish and I think finlay is awesome. You have to remember WWE has always been about larger than life characters, they just do it in a slightly different way now than they did in the early 90's, so instead of the Doinks, Adam Bombs and Issac Yankems we get the Hornswoggles, Eugenes and Cryme Tymes. It's always been a bit of a circus.
I think they gimmick they have finlay in is pretty decent, it's more an old school irish legend type thing, if they wanted to make it relevant they'd have to put him in a tracksuit and give him a Hurley bat (ever see Finlay's debut in WCW attacking regal? that offended me more than anything WWE have done with him)
The Saba Simba character was not nearly deep enough to get the same benefit of the doubt.
To be honest I didn't see much WWF programming at the time so you're likely right. I do have an old WWF magazine which told the story of how Tony Atlas went in search of his roots etc, but I agree with you that it has to come across clearly (and therefore on TV) to avoid giving the wrong image.
The Hassan gimmick could have been so awesome if the WWE could ever write a better storyline than USA v. Iraq.
Yes, agreed. From his introductory vignettes I was really enthusiastic about the whole thing - I thought they were playing it exactly the right way (the Asian guy who's tired of being mistrusted because he's Asian...who was always going to get booed by the crowds because he's Asian). Could've been such a killer character. Ho hum.
As to the whole debate...I think what we're seeing here is that one man's meat is another man's poison. MVP, to me, is clearly playing a black stereotype (the bling-and-self-obsessed star athlete) but not for Alfonso. Alfonso finds Cryme Tyme offensive, and I agree that it's a stereotype, but it's not something that I can get too het up about when the characters they're playing are prevalent in "black" films and other media.
The Mexicools, however, I think we can all agree on.
what ever happened to the guy who played hassan? did they just toss him aside because his character got so much flack?
what ever happened to the guy who played hassan? did they just toss him aside because his character got so much flack?
what ever happened to the guy who played hassan? did they just toss him aside because his character got so much flack?
Slaughter played the steteotypical iraqi guy,except he was american. He started wearing turbans and that ridicoulous beret, the only thing that was missing was the iraqi accent. Remember that picture with Fake Saddam Hussein?
The thing with stereotypes in wrestling is that it all depends on the perceived seriousness of the portrayal. For instance, MVP, Kerwin White, Cryme Tyme and even the mexicools are highly stereotyped, yet I dont find them offensive at all. To me, its obvious theyre mocking those stereotypes and have fun doing so. But I could understand why someone could see them as offensive.
I do have a problem with characters that are portrayed as savages, mostly done with samoan wrestlers, or barbaric, uncivilized idiots. Umaga, Kamala, the Highlanders, the Headshrinkers (and pretty much every other character that Rikishi Phatu ever played) and many other such gimmicks are offensive, stupid and pointless. You don't see Roddy Piper actign like he doesn't know how to use the toilet, or the Rock or Samoa joe mumbling incoherently, and thats why they have reached the levels they haved reached. The gay gimmicks are also usually done in bad taste ( i say usually cause billy and chuck were awesomeness), and of course, Eugene has to be one of the most offensives characters in WWE history.
By the way, I am not offended in any way by Carlitos character, and I think it is awesome. The only downside I see is that as a heel his repertoire is limited. It's only as a face that he is allowed to show case some of the high flying stuff that he is able to do and actually wrestle, unfortunately his face gimmick totally sucked.