wrestlingmarks poll

From jeff on 4/24/08 3:06 PM

I like Cryme Tyme , but racial gimmicks in wrestling should not be aloud.

From damn123 on 4/24/08 3:20 PM

I also like Cryme tyme and my answer is same as jeff

From theone86 on 4/24/08 5:49 PM

You always ask why no one takes wrestling seriously, Cryme Tyme is a perfect example. Everyone in the industry always complains and moans and goes on and on about how the rest of the world doesn't repect them, but then when it comes to a racially charged gimmick like this they get all defensive and say it's just in jest. Think about this, how many white people do you think watch Raw every week? How many of those white people do you think interact with black people on an everyday basis? I don't have demographic statisitcs in front of me, but I'm hypothesisizing that it's a decent amount. So say you're a young white person, maybe in your early teens at best, and you've never had anything but a passing relationship with a black person before. How do you think you're going to form opinions about black people? You won't be completely oblivious because race is obvious enough that everyone knows that other ethnicities exist, even if they don't personally experience them on a day-to-day basis, so you still have to form opinions from somewhere. Those opinions form from the images you see on TV. If the only contact you've ever had with black people your whole life is Cryme Tyme, how do you think you're going to feel about black people? You might not be conciously thinking that all black people are crunkers, but those are the only portrayals of black people you have ever seen. Subconciously, that's how you view black people, simply because that's all you've seen. Just go out one day, walk down the street, and try to observe how your mind works. Try to focus on what the first thing that pops into your mind is when you see a face on the street, and then apply that to people of different races. Be objective, don't try to slant your opinion one way or the other. Then really think about where those thoughts came from and how you learned to think like that. You might be suprised at how it turns out.

From JamesP on 4/24/08 6:04 PM

Yeah, but stuff like Cryme Tyme is played for laughs and not meant to be taken seriously. As a black person myself, I'm not offended at all.

From theone86 on 4/25/08 3:06 AM

I think that's a big part of the problem, the first part. Everyone just looks at the race issue as a huge joke. Suddenly it's not something serious anymore, it's something funny. It's not something that requires a lot of discussion and action, it's something to laugh at.

In fact, the biggest problem I have with the Cryme Tyme gimmick is that it's comedic. If they were more serious all it would be is a portrayal of a certain culture, but to make them look like a couple of goofy idiots who steal stuff and sell it, frankly, is setting back the work of people who are going to great lengths to get more positive protrayals of African Americans on TV.

It's also not just black people. This is the second ethnic team that has gained popularity by playing up thievery as a good thing, and look at the other portrayals of ethnic groups in WWE. Mexicools, c'mon, MEXICOOLS. Did you hear the promo they cut their first night on Smackdown? It was ridiculous. And the fact that all the heel announcers make bad ethnic jokes about Super Crazy every time he wrestles? How about the fact that just about every Samoan wrestler in the WWE has, at one point in time, wrestled under the gimmick of a mindless savage? The way they made a joke of TAKA Michonoku and Funaki's language by dubbing over their promos? The way that every Russion is portrayed as some sort of menacing heel with resemblance in the gimmick to Cold War era anti-Communist propaganda films?

Like I said, everyone complains and complains that no one ever takes wrestling seriously, yet any intellectual will tell you that this type of thing is done in poor taste. WWE knows that, WWE isn't stupid, but they still air this type of stuff and then turn around and demand to be taken seriously. Well, if you want to be taken seriously so bad, maybe you should examine exactly what you're putting on the air.

From theminister on 4/25/08 11:36 PM

Why does the WWE always take the heat on these issues? And why is Cryme Tyme used as the only current example of a sterotype?

TNA does the same stuff with little to no scrutiny. LAX is equally as bad if not worse than Cryme Tyme. LAX plays up the Latino Gang culture and what makes LAX worse is that they're not funny. They have always come off as dead serious. I know WWE is the big dog but I think it's utterly hypocritical that TNA gets a pass on this. In fact most people who watch TNA want TNA to use LAX more than they do. Just an observation.

From theone86 on 4/29/08 2:23 AM

"LAX plays up the Latino Gang culture and what makes LAX worse is that they're not funny."

No, that's what makes it better. That's why WWE always gets the heat, is because they always try to make racial gimmicks look comical. Let's get all the middle-class white people laughing at all the stupid Mexicans, sorry, I mean MexiCOOLS.

The difference with LAX is that they aren't afraid to speak about things like oppression and they're not portrayed as a bunch of goofs. They give young Latinos someone to look up to, someone that isn't adhering to every broken, overused stereotype out there. They use a sense of Latino pride as their gimmick, and they show actual Latino culture, as opposed to WWE who just slap sombreros on them and parade them around in the ring like fools.