Morality

WWE Style

from JoeUser Forums
I love watching WWE (World wrestling Entertainment) and my children love watching it also which brings me almost right to the point of just how appropriate watching mild levels of physical violence is for young children.

Let me lay down some background here pave the way so to speak.

WWE's two programs, RAW and SmackDown are action/adventure soap operas, generally performed in a slapstick manner, which is scripted and carefully choreographed.


That being said if you got in the ring with some of those guys you would certainly feel pretty choreographed in the morning if you had not had a modicum of training.

So the wrestling starts and my children and I watch with delight the exploits of our favorite wrestlers, follow fantastic story lines in this long running soap opera of banter and biff.

Whilst we enjoy watching I had to decide if my kids were able to determine for themselves what is actually happening on the screen considering it could be a little inappropriate. I decided to observe them a little more closely and discovered that their favorite wrestlers are all good guys,... not one heel, (bad wrestler) do they cheer for.
In fact when the main heel "Edge" wins over my sons hero "John Cena" or "Ray mysterieo" gets the raw end of the stick they get quite upset.

They understand that these guys are trained professionals but that never gets in the way of the story lines.

Amazing how many times I worry about stuff wondering if it is appropriate or not for children, but the kids know they are very smart these days.
However the second they start cheering for the bad guy I guess our wrestling days are over.

Footnote:I wonder how they will feel when they get older that dear old dad was pre-tapeing these wrestling shows and editing out the more adult content.
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Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Many years ago when I was younger (well about 15 years) I went through the same thing with my Dad.  I used to watch the wrestling, and my Dad told me how it wasn't real, and they were just pretending, and I did really enjoy it. I generally liked the bad guys too ( well you're supposed to aren't you) I don't think there is anything wrong with finding amusement in the bad guys though, they are there to be laughed at afterall .  Sounds like Dear 'ol Dad is doing a good job
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Everyone thinks there the good guys; even murderers in prison when asked will say they’re not bad. So when there’s a conflict everyone’s side is the good side. Professional wrestling theater teaches kids that the side of the biggest and meanest wins and violence can be the first option in resolving conflict.

Only a very small percentage of adults are anywhere near the physical size of these wrestlers in fact the average size of people is going down now that were not doing as much physical labor. If you look in the audience of a WWE match you’ll see a bunch of scrawny kids. So how will these scrawny kids that will never be as big and by association have as much respect and be winners like their heroes? Some may learn to accept their stature and find better ways to get ahead and gain respect. Some may workout hard and maybe even take steroids to get their respect and a few may just carry a gun, the great equalizer, whereas even the smallest and weakest can get respect from the biggest and strongest.

Anyway you look at it there are no good lessons for our children coming from the WWE.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
How do you feel about the introduction of "extreme" wrestling matchs like ECW? No rules, lots of blood?
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Professional wrestling theater teaches kids that the side of the biggest and meanest wins and violence can be the first option in resolving conflict.
That may have been true in the past sure, but the actual fighting part of a WWE show is more or less academic,nowadays wrestlers have to use their mouths more and more and the issues tackled by WWE script writers are right up there if you care to read between the lines rather than be "sheeple" and follow the moronic masses.

In fact one of the most popular wrestlers is half the size of the average "scrawny kid" sending out a clear message to always persevere in the face of unsurmountable odds and sure the bigger guy will win but if you never give up and do the best you can do, you will be triumphant in the end.

Also a large percentage of the "visible wrestlers" are very active in their communitys and use their star status to help others in need.

So I would say that anyway you look at it there are plenty of good lessons coming out of the WWE.
How do you feel about the introduction of "extreme" wrestling matchs like ECW? No rules, lots of blood?
Well there is certainly a market for that brand of "extreme" but the lines are less defined and in fact often blurred with deceptions of one sort or another.
So whilst I have no real problem with it that is one wrestling show I watch solo if at all.





Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
I’ll give you the WWE has made efforts to script in some morality but that’s all about this. Trying to get the parents to allow their kids to pay to see the show.

It’s still trash talking then fighting, using techniques that would most often result in death in the real world. It’s by no means mild violence.