Abdullah
Hank Scorpio
Thank you, Ishmeal Loves Bayley!
Posts: 6,420
|
Post by Abdullah on Apr 28, 2018 7:53:18 GMT -5
Based on the highlights, it looked like a house show on steroids. I do feel it necessary to call out the "anti-Iran" segment, which I found particularly disgusting. The official KSA narrative is that Iran is to blame for what's going on in Yemen right now, and to drag the Daivaris out there to play up to that narrative at a wrestling show is pretty classless in my opinion. I mean, that's as much WWE as it is the Saudis - WWE love the 'country vs country' crap and I'm sure the guys in the VIP seats loved it especially. There's plenty of blame to go around. I usually comment when WWE does xenophobic angles that the crowd know better, really they do, and they're just playing along with a bad narrative. Being in one of those crowds last night, and being one of the few who laughed at the audacity of it rather than booed, I'm no longer sure that's the case. Stoking tensions is ill-advised. Not that I expect better from the company that had three foreign heels, at the same time, on one show just last year.
|
|
Urethra Franklin
King Koopa
When Toronto sports teams lose, Alison Brie is sad
Posts: 11,089
|
Post by Urethra Franklin on Apr 28, 2018 9:06:22 GMT -5
Based on the highlights, it looked like a house show on steroids. I do feel it necessary to call out the "anti-Iran" segment, which I found particularly disgusting. The official KSA narrative is that Iran is to blame for what's going on in Yemen right now, and to drag the Daivaris out there to play up to that narrative at a wrestling show is pretty classless in my opinion. I was pretty uncomfortable with it, as well. I think what makes this different than simply any other “evil foreigner” trope is the religious aspect behind it. While it wasn’t referenced in the segment, inherent in the KSA/Iran regional rivalry is the religious aspect and I just thought it was all very unnecessary.
|
|
|
Post by theironyuppie on Apr 28, 2018 11:29:39 GMT -5
I thought it was a fun show while watching it, but the Saudi government's response to women being visible in some of the ads is disgusting. The General Sport Authority has tweeted (https://twitter.com/gsaksa/status/990138814193721344?s=21 -- translation below) that as a result, women's wrestling will now be banned from broadcast in Saudi Arabia.
|
|
Abdullah
Hank Scorpio
Thank you, Ishmeal Loves Bayley!
Posts: 6,420
|
Post by Abdullah on Apr 28, 2018 11:35:48 GMT -5
I thought it was a fun show while watching it, but the Saudi government's response to women being visible in some of the ads is disgusting. The General Sport Authority has tweeted ( I still think women will perform in Saudi before the ten year deal is up. My view is they're placating those who feel threatened by all these changes. We're the same country that said radios were the work of a devil and education, for any gender, leads to a dark path. Not all of us agreed but those with power in society, straight men, had the megaphone. A conservative society like ours hates literally everything new. So it's optimistic of me but I hope this will also be one of those things.
|
|
|
Post by RowdyRobbyPiper on Apr 28, 2018 15:05:29 GMT -5
I thought it was a fun show while watching it, but the Saudi government's response to women being visible in some of the ads is disgusting. The General Sport Authority has tweeted ( I still think women will perform in Saudi before the ten year deal is up. My view is they're placating those who feel threatened by all these changes. We're the same country that said radios were the work of a devil and education, for any gender, leads to a dark path. Not all of us agreed but those with power in society, straight men, had the megaphone. A conservative society like ours hates literally everything new. So it's optimistic of me but I hope this will also be one of those things. I admire your optimism. I really do.
|
|
Abdullah
Hank Scorpio
Thank you, Ishmeal Loves Bayley!
Posts: 6,420
|
Post by Abdullah on Apr 28, 2018 15:17:20 GMT -5
I still think women will perform in Saudi before the ten year deal is up. My view is they're placating those who feel threatened by all these changes. We're the same country that said radios were the work of a devil and education, for any gender, leads to a dark path. Not all of us agreed but those with power in society, straight men, had the megaphone. A conservative society like ours hates literally everything new. So it's optimistic of me but I hope this will also be one of those things. I admire your optimism. I really do. It's not unfounded. Saudi women outnumber men as university enrollees. In the 60's and 70's, there was strong opposition to women even getting a basic education from certain corners. I think the mistake people when talking about countries like ours is that they assume our most extreme voices represent us. And it's not really as simple or as neat as that.
|
|
|
Post by RowdyRobbyPiper on Apr 28, 2018 15:27:01 GMT -5
I admire your optimism. I really do. It's not unfounded. Saudi women outnumber men as university enrollees. In the 60's and 70's, there was strong opposition to women even getting a basic education from certain corners. I think the mistake people when talking about countries like ours is that they assume our most extreme voices represent us. And it's really as simple or as neat as that. I read a really good New York Times article about Saudi Arabia essentially starting an entertainment industry entirely from scratch. And bringing in big music names and companies like WWE are part of that. I get the outrage that fans had when WWE went over there, but at the same time I also agree that change will eventually take place. It has to. The old guard won’t live forever and more pragmatic voices will realize that embracing modern views will be of benefit to the country.
|
|
Legion
Fry's dog Seymour
Amy Pond's #1 fan
Hail Hydra!
Posts: 22,715
|
Post by Legion on Apr 28, 2018 16:34:43 GMT -5
I admire your optimism. I really do. It's not unfounded. Saudi women outnumber men as university enrollees. In the 60's and 70's, there was strong opposition to women even getting a basic education from certain corners. I think the mistake people when talking about countries like ours is that they assume our most extreme voices represent us. And it's not really as simple or as neat as that. Change takes time. People need to remember that. Baby steps. Every country that decides to start down the path of progression has to start somewhere, and while there are things going on we can't talk about on this forum that means he is far from a saint, your Crown Prince seems to be trying - and trying is a good start.
|
|
|
Post by The Thread Barbi on Apr 29, 2018 13:43:25 GMT -5
My observations
- Jeddah is a beautiful city - Take away the guys at the front in Arabic dress, and the general public looked like any young, vibrant WWE audience - I do think the front section was reserved for the royals.
My opinion - Having visited a few Muslim centric countries on holiday, I do believe that the news reports about Saudi Arabia are highly exaggerated. The vast majority are just people making a living, want to have fun after a hard day and go out of their way to make a visiting foreigner welcome in their home/town/country etc.
|
|
|
Post by Hit Girl on Apr 29, 2018 13:48:14 GMT -5
The general public of any country are usually decent enough. Conflicts and differences are usually between governments rather than regular people, who just want to chill out and have fun.
|
|
Futureraven: Beelzebruv
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
The Ultimate Arbiter of Right And Wrong
Spent half my life here, God help me
Posts: 15,035
|
Post by Futureraven: Beelzebruv on Apr 29, 2018 13:54:50 GMT -5
On the Daivaris segment.
While Country v Country has a long tradition in wrestling. This is part of an ongoing situation. Less Nazis in the 70s, or USA v Canada, more 1991 Sgt Slaughter which is and was a tasteless angle.
|
|
Peeetah
Hank Scorpio
BANG
Posts: 5,383
|
Post by Peeetah on Apr 29, 2018 14:15:45 GMT -5
Might have just been the acoustics of the arena but it sounded dead to me.
|
|
trollrogue
Hank Scorpio
Nashville City of Music!!
Posts: 5,603
|
Post by trollrogue on Apr 30, 2018 19:30:56 GMT -5
I can't remember which match it was, but the Saudis were totally uninterested in it and were chanting some song for most of the match. That was literally the only time I can remember them being a bit 'smarky' otherwise a Classic Golden Age crowd when kayfabe still mattered, all around.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 30, 2018 19:40:08 GMT -5
It's not unfounded. Saudi women outnumber men as university enrollees. In the 60's and 70's, there was strong opposition to women even getting a basic education from certain corners. I think the mistake people when talking about countries like ours is that they assume our most extreme voices represent us. And it's not really as simple or as neat as that. Change takes time. People need to remember that. Baby steps. Every country that decides to start down the path of progression has to start somewhere, and while there are things going on we can't talk about on this forum that means he is far from a saint, your Crown Prince seems to be trying - and trying is a good start. Especially when one considers that these things have been ingrained in their country basically forever. It’s a lot of years to undo in a short amount of time.
|
|
|
Post by Big Daddy Bad Booking on Apr 30, 2018 20:27:17 GMT -5
Might have just been the acoustics of the arena but it sounded dead to me. I thought as a whole there was less reaction as time went on. That being said, the show was 5 hours long and that crowd was not used to it. Their performance was a whole was admirable, first time in that country for both company and the paying audience (or papered).
|
|
|
Post by RadcapRadsley on Apr 30, 2018 20:29:36 GMT -5
It's important to remember that regardless of what we think of other country's governments, human beings live there. I saw little kids having a blast in that crowd that I bet had never seen wrestling live before. It wasn't just kids either. I saw guys in their 30s and 40s with their wives (true no women alone...) and they seemed to be having fun. My favorite was seeing those 2 guy's in the crowd doing the Millions Of Dollars Prime Time Players dance every time a black wrestler came out in the rumble
|
|