What, they are still doing those?? Good god. I guess I've fluked into not seeing that part of Impact for the past few weeks.
Anyway, those internal monologues are, bar none, the worst thing I have ever seen in pro-wrestling. It's so stupid it's beyond comprehension. Internal monologues in general are just awful, and even in comic books "thought balloons" are generally looked down on as a crutch for bad writers and/or artists. In pro-wrestling (or any visual medium) it makes even less sense than in a comic or a novel; actors are supposed to 'act' to convey thought and emotion. Also, given the genre and context of the show (we're talking about a fictional sport here, essentially an action show), this sort of thing simply isn't done, and with good reason; it's melodramatic and lame and is going to make zero sense to the target audience.
Another problem is that inner monologues are an intimate way of communicating with the audience designed to clearly establish a character as THE main protagonist whom the audience should identify with. Yet, Hardy is not the only protagonist, and his story is not the only story occurring. Why should he be getting this special connection with the audience vs, say, James Storm? If it wasn't so overtly stupid, I'd say it's unfairly biasing the audience towards Jeff Hardy's vs other protagonists in lieu of Hardy not being able to do so through his own merits as a storyteller. It makes the rest of the roster seem like bit players in Jeff Hardy's story, which is obnoxious to say the least (particularly if, like me, you hate that emo jackass). If a show has numerous protagonists, even if I don't like the featured player I may still like the others enough to justify watching the show, as I'm not forced to identify with or care about the featured character to do so (ie: Game of Thrones). Whereas, if a show features one clear main character who I despise, and the rest of the cast are just secondary supporting characters, I will not watch that show, as the context of the show is always going to be through THE protagonists perspective.
Obviously, Hardy's stupid monologues aren't a huge part of Impact (like I said, I was fortunate enough to miss them for weeks at a time), and I'm not saying TNA's product is bad just because of them (actually, if you're fortunate enough to miss them, it's a pretty good show right now). But, if I was a first time viewer and I caught one of those segments, I'd turn off the show and never tune in again.
I admit I laugh at these segments, but I'm pretty sure that is not the desired reaction from Hardy or creative..
