Dat Dude
Dennis Stamp
Wait, what?
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Post by Dat Dude on Jan 25, 2014 8:45:15 GMT -5
What if they did a storyline where they had a wrestler whose "in the closet", and a heel finds out and tries to blackmail and eventually force-ably outs them to the world? Would that be compelling? Would that cross the line in good taste?
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Bad Moon
Unicron
for reasons known only to the goblins that live in my brain
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Post by Bad Moon on Jan 25, 2014 9:29:37 GMT -5
That would depend entirely on whether the outed wrestler was homosexual in real life or not and on whether he was open about it. Exploiting a performer's personal life for a TV angle is never okay in my book, but if the whole thing was a work I think it would be fine.
That said, swould it be a good wrestling angle? Absolutely. Would it be a good angle with the WWE creative team on the reins? No chance in hell. You just know a storyline like that is well beyond their capabilities as writers.
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TCM
Don Corleone
The Outcome Justifies Even the Biggest Lie
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Post by TCM on Jan 25, 2014 11:22:33 GMT -5
That would depend entirely on whether the outed wrestler was homosexual in real life or not and on whether he was open about it. Exploiting a performer's personal life for a TV angle is never okay in my book, but if the whole thing was a work I think it would be fine. That said, swould it be a good wrestling angle? Absolutely. Would it be a good angle with the WWE creative team on the reins? No chance in hell. You just know a storyline like that is well beyond their capabilities as writers. I mostly agree with this. I disagree that it being a total work would be better. If it was a complete work, it would be more insulting to the LGBTQ community as a whole, because the "outed" wrestler would definitely be promoted as this special individual for battling past one of the worst nightmares a closeted person can have; being outed with no say/choice in the matter. You're essentially lying to a large amount of people. Sexuality is a different beast than pretending you're Italian even though you're Canadian, or pretending you're a xenophobe because it's an easy character to hate. Sure, "playing a character" and all of that, but GLAAD got really upset when Billy and Chuck's "wedding" never happened, because WWE had actually consulted them during the storyline, only for them to go "JK, we're straight". Straight people playing LGBTQ characters is a mixed bag to begin with, but WWE's has a proven record to how they treated things of this sort. I do agree it would make a good storyline, but it would have to be someone who is actually gay, or even bi, otherwise I think it would be less tasteful, and we all know how tasteful WWE can get. WWE's reason in case someone did give them crap about would likely be "current events into [their] storylines" to "create compelling and relevant content for [their] audience" which was the same justification for Zeb. But political gimmick is a lot different than a outed storyline. Because then, how do you justify 1. the outed wrestler being straight after all and 2. doing it in front of the wrong crowd, and next thing you know, a ton of f** chants get bleeped out? |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2014 11:27:03 GMT -5
Orton: Well John Cena I know you have had some Big E Days.
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Post by Raskovnik on Jan 25, 2014 11:30:06 GMT -5
You just lied about being gay to get pushed, Darren Young!
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Post by Straight Edge Scrotum on Jan 25, 2014 11:39:04 GMT -5
Does Bully Ray calling people in the crowd f*****s count?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2014 11:44:58 GMT -5
I say if Santino ever turns heel again, have him do it to someone who's straight then be confused why no one seems to care.
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Post by Magic knows Black Lives Matter on Jan 25, 2014 12:25:12 GMT -5
You just lied about being gay to get pushed, Darren Young! Yeah, that should be ME losing in 5 minutes on Superstars, goddamn it! |
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mattyy
Unicron
holy moly its the big homie
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Post by mattyy on Jan 25, 2014 12:27:56 GMT -5
they did that in the Wrestling Retribution Project. I honestly think it's a decent story, it just has to be done right. I remember seeing a clip of it being done and they overused slurs and it felt just uncomfortable.
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Reflecto
Hank Scorpio
The Sorceress' Knight
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Post by Reflecto on Jan 25, 2014 16:30:21 GMT -5
I mostly agree with this. I disagree that it being a total work would be better. If it was a complete work, it would be more insulting to the LGBTQ community as a whole, because the "outed" wrestler would definitely be promoted as this special individual for battling past one of the worst nightmares a closeted person can have; being outed with no say/choice in the matter. You're essentially lying to a large amount of people. Sexuality is a different beast than pretending you're Italian even though you're Canadian, or pretending you're a xenophobe because it's an easy character to hate. Sure, "playing a character" and all of that, but GLAAD got really upset when Billy and Chuck's "wedding" never happened, because WWE had actually consulted them during the storyline, only for them to go "JK, we're straight". Straight people playing LGBTQ characters is a mixed bag to begin with, but WWE's has a proven record to how they treated things of this sort. I do agree it would make a good storyline, but it would have to be someone who is actually gay, or even bi, otherwise I think it would be less tasteful, and we all know how tasteful WWE can get. WWE's reason in case someone did give them crap about would likely be "current events into [their] storylines" to "create compelling and relevant content for [their] audience" which was the same justification for Zeb. But political gimmick is a lot different than a outed storyline. Because then, how do you justify 1. the outed wrestler being straight after all and 2. doing it in front of the wrong crowd, and next thing you know, a ton of f** chants get bleeped out? The question of these: If that's the case- would it be more, less, or equal for a storyline if it was: The [legit] "outed wrestler has this happen. The heel outs that they're gay, and the storyline goes that way. The payoff, though, after months of struggling with the issue, comes with the [whether worked payoff] "Outed" wrestler saying "Yeah, I am gay. I can't hide it. But if you did this to me, you broke the bond- the only reason [heel] knew I was is because he's my ex-boyfriend!" (giving a proper "comeuppance" for the heel, and giving a payoff to a "star gets outed by a bitter ex" part of the angle)? |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2014 16:35:28 GMT -5
I say if Santino ever turns heel again, have him do it to someone who's straight then be confused why no one seems to care. You are the gay, Jerry stupid Lawler! |
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Post by Cyno on Jan 25, 2014 19:59:07 GMT -5
If the wrestler was actually gay (as opposed to it being a work), then he'd have to be ok with it coming out. Outing someone without their consent for some heel heat is really scummy.
I'm not really fan of the idea if the entire thing, including the face's sexual orientation, is a work. It would feel like it's trivializing the process of coming out, which can be and often is extremely difficult to do.
So there's like one way of doing this in a tasteful manner and a lot of ways to really mess it up.
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Post by Aceorton on Jan 25, 2014 21:33:40 GMT -5
Here's why it's a terrible idea: How do you keep a gay character the good guy in front of normal wrestling fans? Homosexuality has been laugh-and-point heel fodder since Gorgeous George. You can't trust the general populace, especially Bible Belt sort of fans, with that sort of stuff. Darren Young has avoided it only because it's not part of his on-screen character.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2014 22:15:48 GMT -5
If Vince suddenly wanted to mock media outlets around the world TMZ then I'd be shocked. "You're heels for prying into lives!" I'd actually be for it if the heel would get suitable comeuppance, but I don't trust the WWE with that. *Booker T/Triple H image here* Here's why it's a terrible idea: How do you keep a gay character the good guy in front of normal wrestling fans? Homosexuality has been laugh-and-point heel fodder since Gorgeous George. You can't trust the general populace, especially Bible Belt sort of fans, with that sort of stuff. Darren Young has avoided it only because it's not part of his on-screen character. Most old school wrestling fans of that nature (and I think most old school fans aren't so bad in general anyway if companies stories don't excuse such attitudes) seem to have been overruled by the younger fans (by that I mean people under 25 now), most of whom are reasonable to those who don't feel as repressed nowadays. If they don't feel kind at least the majority know it's out of order to ever insult someone for sexual preference or skin colour and such. |
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Post by JTG Fan on Jan 25, 2014 22:17:28 GMT -5
Like Michael Cole with Josh Mathews?
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FinalGwen
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Particularly fond of muffins.
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Post by FinalGwen on Jan 25, 2014 22:34:52 GMT -5
I feel like it'd have to be handled very carefully if it was done, and I can't say I'd trust WWE's writers or WWE's audience with it (They're chanting along with the xenophobic heel team, I can't give them too much credit).
If it did happen, I feel like it'd also have to be treated as a despicable act, with the heel having ramifications come from it, maybe a fine or something. However, that can't really be done with WWE's traditional heel boss setup. It's awkward to say "Beating up people's fathers in the audience is fine and dandy and will bring no repercussions, but this is right out." However, with more sympathetic bosses, you could have them help out and publicly condemn it on Twitter and so forth, and have them end up springing a match on the heel or something.
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Dat Dude
Dennis Stamp
Wait, what?
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Post by Dat Dude on Jan 25, 2014 23:35:32 GMT -5
Would audition reaction be different if it involved Divas? Like if AJ outed a fellow diva?
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Post by champviadq on Jan 25, 2014 23:43:25 GMT -5
This topic could definitely work, sounds decent enough to try. Can't say that it's been done before so it would be fresh. However, this would be very difficult to pull off in a TV-PG environment. This type of storyline would've been great 15 years ago or so.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2014 4:05:39 GMT -5
The gay wrestler must become very serious....in giving the heel an ass kicking!
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FinalGwen
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Particularly fond of muffins.
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Post by FinalGwen on Jan 26, 2014 4:09:09 GMT -5
This topic could definitely work, sounds decent enough to try. Can't say that it's been done before so it would be fresh. However, this would be very difficult to pull off in a TV-PG environment. This type of storyline would've been great 15 years ago or so. No, no, it REALLY wouldn't. I honestly can't imagine a worse time period to do it in. |
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