TNA Spin Cycle: Borderline Racist?

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

Yeah, let's highlight TNA's creative direction yet again and make it seem like they're trying something new and bold and just plain offensive with racially based humor. Why can't they be more like that great big organization up North that would never be so insensitive...I mean I never EVER remember there being anything like that being done by them, never from them would I ever see such ideas like:

- A big fat bald guy who just happened to be from Uganda and ate people supposedly oh and he needed to be supervised by a "handler"....A HANDLER. How can that not sound subservient?

- Then there was this Mexican-American dude that used to run around saying "I lie, I cheat, I steal" and guess what he used to ride in low riders down to the ring. And if you can believe this one or not, every single Mexican-centric joke from speaking in mangled Spanglish (if it's even possible to butcher an already butchered version of two languages) to immigration status was thrown his way both as a heel and a face despite the fact that both in and out of kayfabe this said character just HAPPENED to be born in the United States, imagine that some people still don't realize that not every Mexican in this country is an immigrant, who would have thunk it, right?

- And then of course who could forget the whole mantra of "Don't Go Messing With A Country Boy"? You had a trio of hog farmers without a complete set of teeth among them (well their manager if I remember right had a complete set of choppers but that's besides the point) being portrayed as ill-educated, mentally defective clods therefore giving everyone a stereotype of the Southern white population that we've never seen before (yeah right).

So there ya go, Mexican-Americans, African Americans and Southern White Americans are just a few out of many groups have had their culture understood, appreciated and approached only with good taste! Never would proud people of any of these groups ever been talked about so negatively, should anyone ever conceive of the things I just mentioned then it's something that only TNA will do one day and not that great big conglomerate in Southwestern Connecticut....

Give me a fuckin' break....

 

[MarkoMan]

lol
You had a Bully, a Cold-Blooded Hardy, and a drunk on with a Mexican.

What did you expect?

I enjoyed it for what it was. I love/hate when people get so hung up over silliness. If we'd laugh at our differences, the world would be a better place...

but now I'm getting too deep.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

lol
You had a Bully, a Cold-Blooded Hardy, and a drunk on with a Mexican.

What did you expect?

I enjoyed it for what it was. I love/hate when people get so hung up over silliness. If we'd laugh at our differences, the world would be a better place...

but now I'm getting too deep.

Never have I read such a brief but profound point on this forum. That's not to say I don't appreciate what other posters write on here. But much of the time I read a lot of less than logical or posts in regards to issues like this. However you good sir have hit the proverbial nail on the head.

To be honest if anyone goes back to the archives of professional wrestling so much of the business was built on racial/ethnic lines. My last post was very facetious, however let's take a serious look at characters that have played to this aspect of race/ethnicity.

- The Iron Sheik
- Nikolai Volkoff
- Kamala
- Eddie Guerrero
- The Godwinns
- Uncle Elmer and Hillbilly Jim
- Mr. Fuji
- Crusher Khrushchev, Nikita Koloff and Ivan Koloff
- Razor Ramon (granted Scott Hall was not Latin, but he still played this stereotype of a womanizing slimeball that many Latin men get the bad rap for being, I should know I am one myself)

And so on...this isn't anything new in the business and like MarkoMan said, if we can laugh at our differences we'd be the better for it. I live my daily life getting ethnic/racial jabs from friends and I personally think I'm all the better for it because I give it right back.

Screw this overemphasis on political correctness, seriously.

 

[Dogfingers]

Yeah, let's highlight TNA's creative direction yet again and make it seem like they're trying something new and bold and just plain offensive with racially based humor. Why can't they be more like that great big organization up North that would never be so insensitive...I mean I never EVER remember there being anything like that being done by them, never from them would I ever see such ideas like:

- A big fat bald guy who just happened to be from Uganda and ate people supposedly oh and he needed to be supervised by a "handler"....A HANDLER. How can that not sound subservient?

- Then there was this Mexican-American dude that used to run around saying "I lie, I cheat, I steal" and guess what he used to ride in low riders down to the ring. And if you can believe this one or not, every single Mexican-centric joke from speaking in mangled Spanglish (if it's even possible to butcher an already butchered version of two languages) to immigration status was thrown his way both as a heel and a face despite the fact that both in and out of kayfabe this said character just HAPPENED to be born in the United States, imagine that some people still don't realize that not every Mexican in this country is an immigrant, who would have thunk it, right?

- And then of course who could forget the whole mantra of "Don't Go Messing With A Country Boy"? You had two hog farmers without a complete set of teeth between them being portrayed as ill-educated, mentally defective clods therefore giving everyone a stereotype of the Southern white population that we've never seen before (yeah right).

So there ya go, Mexican-Americans, African Americans and Southern White Americans are just a few out of many groups have had their culture understood, appreciated and approached only with good taste! Never would proud people of any of these groups ever been talked about so negatively, should anyone ever conceive of the things I just mentioned then it's something that only TNA will do one day and not that great big conglomerate in Southwestern Connecticut....

Give me a fuckin' break....

That's lazy stereotyping, which is admittedly ignorant but never-the-less common in all forms of entertainment.

The episode of Spin Cycle is more uncomfortable than that. It's white blokes, one who has 'good guy' values mocking a Mexican woman who is clearly out of character. It's not just the language being used here, it's the narrative framework that makes this dubious.

 

[Defekt]

I don't mean to bash you, but you are one of those people who is easily offended and "starts witchhunts condemning entertainment as racist or homophobic."

It's only the last 10 years the world has gotten so PC that people (especially men) aren't allowed to joke about anything even remotely controversial. It's a really boring world.

Call me when the spin zone guys are dragging someone from a truck. Until then, just don't watch it if you're that over sensitive.

 

[Brian in Austin]

Wait, are you suggesting the WWE doesn't do anything racist? Really? Have you seen the many things they've done to Mark Henry? Do you not remember when they dressed DX in black face? It was a comedy bit, but I'm sure some African Americans found it offensive. And let's not get started on WWE's many instances of homophobic behavior. Michael Cole shouldn't even have a job with the company right now. One of the WWE's head writers, Michael Hayes, is a known racist who has used racial slurs in the past. Seriously, is this the first year you've watch pro wrestling?

This is about something that TNA did. If you want to start a thread about WWE, feel free.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Dogfingers, i am in no way defending racism but hear me out. This couldn't have been so bad, because you are the first person to mention it. If it was so bad CNN and wrestlezone would be all over this story. Is racism bad? Of course it is but its nothing new in the wrestling buisness , hell the whole entertainement buisness has revolved around negative stereotypes in society.

 

[Weems2k]

I take it nobody on here watches Family Guy then if they're all going to be freaking out about this funny clip.

 

[Dogfingers]

Not true, there's a difference between being offended and understanding how someone could get offended. My case is the latter. There's nothing wrong with political correctness, there's also nothing wrong with subversive entertainment that deals with race, religion, sexuality etc. TNA Spin Cycle wasn't subversive, it was plain fucking dumb.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

This is about something that TNA did. If you want to start a thread about WWE, feel free.

I think what he meant is that TNA is no different than the WWE. For satan's sake you had DX accuse The New Hart Foundation of being KKK members for writing the N-word in the Nation of Domination's locker-room.

 

[Brian in Austin]

It's about context.

The setup here you have 2 heels mocking another heel about her race. James Storm, THE FACE, also mocks the heel about her race.

Now Rosita didn't seem particularly amused by it all.

Problems also arise in that Rosita is seemingly out of character. She doesn't appear to be a heel at all, she tells a story of how her dad was killed in 9/11. Minutes later the three blokes then continue to mock her. You could tell Borash wasn't advocating any of it, he was her only line of defense. "She is legal," he said to James Storm.

I accept that wrestling is built on lazy stereotypes, but what made this so uncomfortable it didn't work within the context of TNA's character framing, it was just...attrocuious. It's the sort of stuff that gives wrestling a really bad name

This is just so typical TNA ass backward stuff.

And to the bloke who said we're all a little bit racist. No, we are not.

Couldn't agree with you more sir. This is one of the biggest problems with TNA. They continue to prove what they are, which isn't a good thing. It's slimy at best and at worst it's blatant and overt racist ovetones added to programming that doesn't need any help looking bad.

Once again TNA takes a GIGANTIC leap backwards in my eyes in that clearly they condone and endorse this type of stereotyping and blatant racism and homophobia. It's just disgusting. But then, it is TNA we're talking about.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Not true, there's a difference between being offended and understanding how someone could get offended. My case is the latter. There's nothing wrong with political correctness, there's also nothing wrong with subversive entertainment that deals with race, religion, sexuality etc. TNA Spin Cycle wasn't subversive, it was plain fucking dumb.

Ok, but why isn't Mark Madden writing a rant about this? I mean the guy is Anti-TNA to the core and yet he didn't even mention it. It couldn't have been that bad or else Madden would shit all over it.

 

[Dogfingers]

Oh for Gods sake, what does it take an internet preacher to force feed opinions to you? I mean seriously.

I also just watched the Hart Foundation/KKK clip on youtube and actually found it quite amusing.

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Oh for Gods sake, what does it take an internet preacher to force feed opinions to you? I mean seriously.

I also just watched the Hart Foundation/KKK clip on youtube and actually found it quite amusing.

No but for satan's sake, Mark Madden rants all the time about what is wrong about TNA. Its gotten to the point that you expect him to react to something like this. Like i said earlier racism is bad but its part of the wrestling buisness.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

If there's one thing I've heard almost on a consistent basis over the past 2 years on this forum is that people "claim" that they want to see more controversial subject matter in wrestling. Here's the thing: it's all nothing but absolute, 100% bullshit.

WWE has steered away from such subjects as this, for the most part, over the past few years as they've moved in a direction have more family appeal. TNA has generally relied on outdated cliches that they've attemped to dress up with the intention of hoping people will buy into the illusion of controversy.

Some of the statements on the video, some of R-Truth's comments on Raw this past Monday are legitimately controversial. Real controversy is supposed to make people feel uncomfortable, to challenge or out right piss on someone's view of the world & beliefs, to get people talking or debating about right & wrong. And as these two incidents are legitimately controversial, there are going to be instances in which people do take things and blow it out of proportion. For instance, did R-Truth call Alberto Del Rio a "fence jumping Mexican"? Yes he did. Was it a politically incorrect thing to say? Yes it was. Did it get people's dander up just a little? Sure did. Was it maybe even a little downright insensitive? Probably so. BUT, Truth didn't use any sort of racial slurs. He didn't use a mock Mexican accent. He didn't say or do anything to mock Mexico's heritage. A lot of Mexican men, women & even children do "jump fences" to get into America. Saying that isn't racist, it's a fact. R-Truth calling Del Rio that, more than anything else, is a shot at Del Rio's elitist character. Having James Storm, a beer swilling, long haired redneck from Tennessee, get into a Mexican woman's face the way he did in the video might be downright insensitive, but racist? When & if either of these companies cross the line from being insensitive and non-PC into legit racist territory, that's a whole different ball game.

So the next time anyone pisses, gripes or bitches about how little edgy content that there is in wrestling today, just think about these two recent incidents.

 

[multiverseman.com]

What's worse is how lame and unfunny it was.

 

[Dieter_Von_Cunth]

The fact that this is a thread is unreal. People will pick apart any little thing just to bitch about something. Non freaking issue!

 

[kaoscage]

It is a work, I believe James Storm will be turning heel soon as it has been stated he will re form AMW with Harris... Maybe tonight?

 

[Brian in Austin]

No but for satan's sake, Mark Madden rants all the time about what is wrong about TNA. Its gotten to the point that you expect him to react to something like this. Like i said earlier racism is bad but its part of the wrestling buisness.

Here's the thing. As a person, a human being, a real person, we all need to have boundaries. Places we don't go and verbally acknowledge as wrong. This is one of those moments. It was wrong of TNA to endorse this type of language on their air. It's really disgusting when you think about it.

So for me, I don't care if Mark Madden addresses it or not. I, you, WE, need to acknowledge it as wrong on the face of it regardless of whether or not it has always occured in wrestling or does occur in wrestling as 'part of the show.' Point is, it shouldn't be part of the show.

 

[Whatsinaname696]

as penn and teller have said on their show "bullshit" you can get offended by any little or BIG thing.... that's your right... but as an AMERICAN it's our right not to give a fuck whether or not you get offended... if you don't like... don't watch/listen/care about it... but no in america we have sensitivity training... because we busted our fucking asses to have freedom and now every lil fucking group has the right to say what's offensive to them... and for some reason we listen to these bitches... if you don't like people being able to express themselves freely, there are plenty of other countries where you CAN'T... I suggest visiting one of them ( and I know people from countries other than america visit and post on the site... most of them are free too... at least free enough to visit here =) ) so stop your whining and grow a pair... Freedom means you sometimes hear things you don't like... and that you can make BS post like this... so while this post is fucking ridiculous... it's your right... just like it's theirs =)

and to Brian.... if wanna be PC fine.... doesn't mean ANYONE else has to be, and wtf made you god to decide what's right and wrong, you're a nobody like everyone else on earth and as such your opinion holds just as much weight, some people find porn disgusting, some people find football too violent, some people think having animals as pets is wrong.... we're all ******ed in our idiotic views... but some of us know it =)

 

[Minecrafted]

I don't see what the big deal is, they were just words and if she was really that offended by it then she should have just left. TNA is always trying to stir up controversy in any way they can (didn't jeff jarett of someone challenge the royal couple to a match?) It doesn't bother me in the slightest in fact i agree with some of the previous posters. I'm of indian decent and i see racism a lot where i live. Usually whites get the worst of it because lets face it, if someone calls a white person "cracker" or some other racist slur then we barely think twice about it but if anybody says anything about a person of colour all hell breaks loose. Thats just how it is

 

[AntiChristDeicide]

Here's the thing. As a person, a human being, a real person, we all need to have boundaries. Places we don't go and verbally acknowledge as wrong. This is one of those moments. It was wrong of TNA to endorse this type of language on their air. It's really disgusting when you think about it.

So for me, I don't care if Mark Madden addresses it or not. I, you, WE, need to acknowledge it as wrong on the face of it regardless of whether or not it has always occured in wrestling or does occur in wrestling as 'part of the show.' Point is, it shouldn't be part of the show.

True very true. It shouldn't be part of the show, and like i said racism is bad no matter who does it. TNA,WWE,ROH hell every wrestling company on the face of this planet shouldn't use the race card in their shows. But the thing is that a majority of people don't care, maybe because we are living in a world where there is negative stereotypes everywhere we look.

 

[Brian in Austin]

as penn and teller have said on their show "bullshit" you can get offended by any little or BIG thing.... that's your right... but as an AMERICAN it's our right not to give a fuck whether or not you get offended... if you don't like... don't watch/listen/care about it... but no in america we have sensitivity training... because we busted our fucking asses to have freedom and now every lil fucking group has the right to say what's offensive to them... and for some reason we listen to these bitches... if you don't like people being able to express themselves freely, there are plenty of other countries where you CAN'T... I suggest visiting one of them ( and I know people from countries other than america visit and post on the site... most of them are free too... at least free enough to visit here =) ) so stop your whining and grow a pair... Freedom means you sometimes hear things you don't like... and that you can make BS post like this... so while this post is fucking ridiculous... it's your right... just like it's theirs =)

and to Brian.... if wanna be PC fine.... doesn't mean ANYONE else has to be, and wtf made you god to decide what's right and wrong, you're a nobody like everyone else on earth and as such your opinion holds just as much weight, some people find porn disgusting, some people find football too violent, some people think having animals as pets is wrong.... we're all ******ed in our idiotic views... but some of us know it =)

There's certainly no effort on my part to tell others how to think, act, or live. However, there are such things as class and good manners. For me this isn't about being PC, it's about being a classy individual who has lines he or she doesn't cross. It's about personal decency. Unfortunately the more videos I see of wrestlers and those involved in wrestling where they get to 'be themselves', the less impressed I am with them as individuals.

 

[Brian in Austin]

True very true. It shouldn't be part of the show, and like i said racism is bad no matter who does it. TNA,WWE,ROH hell every wrestling company on the face of this planet shouldn't use the race card in their shows. But the thing is that a majority of people don't care, maybe because we are living in a world where there is negative stereotypes everywhere we look.

It's an unfortunate circumstance of our society as a whole. People today are far more rude than in times past, seem unconcerned about others, and a lot of these folks seem to focus only on themselves and 'what's in it for them' showing little regard for those around them.

It's unfortunate but it doesn't mean we have to act the same way. We as individuals can still set those good examples and hopefully influence others.

 

[Whatsinaname696]

@Brian... and ya have every right to be... but no one is forcing you to watch the show or especially the spin cycle and I know the internet is for bitching but sometimes... jesus... people just pick apart way too much... when it's so much easier to just walk away