It's Damn Real!
The undisputed, undefeated TNA &
Not because he used wrestling as a platform to espouse political views.
Not because his views would be considered "edgy" or "controversial".
And certainly not because he used the term '******', even if it was censored out of the live cast.
In fact, I don't even disagree with what he said — specifically citing the racial tensions between blacks and "the establishment" (code-speak for the Police) and shining a light on the term "thug" as a racial epithet. These things are actually true. Thug, savage and other such media-supported epithets are generally used in lieu of far more damning terms like ****** by racists, pseudo-racists and bigots of all makes and models, and are generally only applied when speaking about blacks. Especially black males. The reason for that is because it makes it that much easier to say and support racist ideas and lines of thinking when you side-step larger terminology land mines. If you walk into the conversation leading with racial slurs, you go nowhere fast. If you walk in with a wry smile and a nice hair cut, in a nice suit, and refer to these folks as savages, well, you've got yourself a soap box to stand on.
Under different circumstances, this was a golden opportunity for TNA to bridge the gap between real life politics and wrestling story lines, but it will almost certainly fail to launch because of a critical error that should have been realized before this was allowed to see the light of day. That error is the fact that this promo rolled off the tongue of MVP — a roster heel who leads a faction called the BDC (Beat Down Clan). A faction renowned for, in effect, acting like thugs. Actual thugs. Not the pseudo-racist epithet I was referencing before. Violent criminals. Scum bags. People who generally lack common decency and have little to no respect for their fellow man. The BDC are a group of guys who viciously attack others (who they are feuding with in the wrestling universe), often in man-up numbers, almost always using subterfuge, dishonesty and pretense to achieve what they want... because they can. Because they can. Not because it's righteous or justified — because they want it. So they take it. This is, righteously speaking, not exactly model behavior. It's behavior criminals use, that we don't consider socially acceptable.
In what world does a righteously-driven promo designed to shine a light on race relations and bigotry belong coming out of the mouth of the least respectable person on the roster? Herein lies the critical failure. Having this promo preached by a guy with as poor a track record as a wrestling persona as MVP (I'm speaking only to behavior here, not his actual accolades) is just a fundamental error, even if he's actually quite active in politics in real life. This wasn't real life MVP we were hearing from. It was the BDC's leader.
And that's exactly why any real, honest discussion on such an important topic as this will go no where. At least on TNA television. It's a shame, too, because this could have been a real home run considering what Billy Corgan was talking about in his interview with Josh Matthews, in wanting to inject a lot more reality into TNA's brand. This could have been the type of thing that got people talking, recognizing TNA for being something it's competition can't, or won't be. But it won't, because it's coming out of the wrong side of the megaphone.
Instead of upstanding political discourse fused with reality-based wrestling, we were given a moment of shock... for the sake of shock.
Not because his views would be considered "edgy" or "controversial".
And certainly not because he used the term '******', even if it was censored out of the live cast.
In fact, I don't even disagree with what he said — specifically citing the racial tensions between blacks and "the establishment" (code-speak for the Police) and shining a light on the term "thug" as a racial epithet. These things are actually true. Thug, savage and other such media-supported epithets are generally used in lieu of far more damning terms like ****** by racists, pseudo-racists and bigots of all makes and models, and are generally only applied when speaking about blacks. Especially black males. The reason for that is because it makes it that much easier to say and support racist ideas and lines of thinking when you side-step larger terminology land mines. If you walk into the conversation leading with racial slurs, you go nowhere fast. If you walk in with a wry smile and a nice hair cut, in a nice suit, and refer to these folks as savages, well, you've got yourself a soap box to stand on.
Under different circumstances, this was a golden opportunity for TNA to bridge the gap between real life politics and wrestling story lines, but it will almost certainly fail to launch because of a critical error that should have been realized before this was allowed to see the light of day. That error is the fact that this promo rolled off the tongue of MVP — a roster heel who leads a faction called the BDC (Beat Down Clan). A faction renowned for, in effect, acting like thugs. Actual thugs. Not the pseudo-racist epithet I was referencing before. Violent criminals. Scum bags. People who generally lack common decency and have little to no respect for their fellow man. The BDC are a group of guys who viciously attack others (who they are feuding with in the wrestling universe), often in man-up numbers, almost always using subterfuge, dishonesty and pretense to achieve what they want... because they can. Because they can. Not because it's righteous or justified — because they want it. So they take it. This is, righteously speaking, not exactly model behavior. It's behavior criminals use, that we don't consider socially acceptable.
In what world does a righteously-driven promo designed to shine a light on race relations and bigotry belong coming out of the mouth of the least respectable person on the roster? Herein lies the critical failure. Having this promo preached by a guy with as poor a track record as a wrestling persona as MVP (I'm speaking only to behavior here, not his actual accolades) is just a fundamental error, even if he's actually quite active in politics in real life. This wasn't real life MVP we were hearing from. It was the BDC's leader.
And that's exactly why any real, honest discussion on such an important topic as this will go no where. At least on TNA television. It's a shame, too, because this could have been a real home run considering what Billy Corgan was talking about in his interview with Josh Matthews, in wanting to inject a lot more reality into TNA's brand. This could have been the type of thing that got people talking, recognizing TNA for being something it's competition can't, or won't be. But it won't, because it's coming out of the wrong side of the megaphone.
Instead of upstanding political discourse fused with reality-based wrestling, we were given a moment of shock... for the sake of shock.
