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Post by carp (SPC, Itoh Respect Army) on Dec 26, 2013 11:13:52 GMT -5
The other thing is, the stereotype of the French (at least French men) is being fancy and cultured and a little effeminate. So there's a little bit of a subliminal anti-gay thing in there too. More than that, though, is just a basic slobs vs. snobs thing, with Americans casting themselves as the salt-of-the-earth regular people getting looked down on.
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Post by thelonewolf527 on Dec 26, 2013 11:15:20 GMT -5
WWE made a big mistake not signing Pierre Escargot to a contract in the mid 90s
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Post by "Gentleman" AJ Powell on Dec 26, 2013 11:55:25 GMT -5
This-plus the typical stereotypes mentioned in other posts. Delete this post if it becomes too political but here goes: in the psyche of American pop culture the French will never live down having been the only major European power to surrender to Nazi Germany during the second world war. When the former president of the United States was pitching his case for war in Iraq in 2003 the French were among the most outspoken in their opposition; this astonished many Americans because of how supportive the French had been following the 911 terror attacks, and it upset many Americas even more that France was siding with countries that many Americans typically see as enemies like Russia, China, and Syria in defense of Iraq, which was still under the thumb of Saddam Hussein at the time. I remember some people in New York even staged "anti-France" protests where they poured bottles of French wine down the sewers and the White House kitchen officially renamed french fries as "freedom fries" out of sheer spite. For my own part, I've actually long thought a French heel would be great, but not as a stereotypical, cowardly, effeminate snob-rather, as a disgruntled revolutionary who hates on everyone and everything. I think that would be a lot closer to the real image of a villainous France than the cartoon characters we typically imagine. I like the idea of a pissed off French revolutionary, maybe he could wrestle in common workers clothes line with dirty jeans and a plain white shirt to show that he's just a working class punk who wants people to be hurt. I thought Dupree could've done something like that when said "It seems like you and the rest of these American rejects, have the mistaken perception that the French are nothing but cowards and sissies" maybe the on going anti-French sentiment could've sent Dupree over the edge or something like that. I could've seen Dupree pulling that off in his ECW run. Not now though, since he now has flaming forearms and an Ikea bookshelf tattooed on his chest.
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Post by azrael502 on Dec 26, 2013 12:06:03 GMT -5
cheese eating surrender monkeys Damn you to hell thats my line ya bastad
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ratetankmark
Samurai Cop
Equalist Lex Luthor
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Post by ratetankmark on Dec 26, 2013 12:09:56 GMT -5
I like the idea of a pissed off French revolutionary, maybe he could wrestle in common workers clothes line with dirty jeans and a plain white shirt to show that he's just a working class punk who wants people to be hurt. I thought Dupree could've done something like that when said "It seems like you and the rest of these American rejects, have the mistaken perception that the French are nothing but cowards and sissies" maybe the on going anti-French sentiment could've sent Dupree over the edge or something like that. I could've seen Dupree pulling that off in his ECW run. Not now though, since he now has flaming forearms and an Ikea bookshelf tattooed on his chest. I have no problem admitting that Dupree was probably the best looking superstar on the entire roster, until as you said he got those insanely stupid tattoos.
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Post by 2 Cold Scorkum on Dec 26, 2013 12:10:08 GMT -5
cheese eating surrender monkeys Damn you to hell thats my line ya bastad quoting simpsons lines is the cheap pop of the internet
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Post by ________ has left the building on Dec 26, 2013 12:13:04 GMT -5
Because Vince never got their love of Jerry Lewis and eating snails for food.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2013 12:13:44 GMT -5
I could've seen Dupree pulling that off in his ECW run. Not now though, since he now has flaming forearms and an Ikea bookshelf tattooed on his chest. I have no problem admitting that Dupree was probably the best looking superstar on the entire roster, until as you said he got those insanely stupid tattoos. I think this actually makes Dupree better for the Revolutionary shtick just because of how batshit crazy it makes him look.
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Post by azrael502 on Dec 26, 2013 12:14:22 GMT -5
Damn you to hell thats my line ya bastad quoting simpsons lines is the cheap pop of the internet Meh
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ratetankmark
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Post by ratetankmark on Dec 26, 2013 12:20:51 GMT -5
I have no problem admitting that Dupree was probably the best looking superstar on the entire roster, until as you said he got those insanely stupid tattoos. I think this actually makes Dupree better for the Revolutionary shtick just because of how batshit crazy it makes him look. I guess, but what happens if/when the shelf life would run out and they have Dupree doing something else. Are all Revolutionaries crazy?
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Post by Red Impact on Dec 26, 2013 12:27:38 GMT -5
It's been a long-running stereotype of the French in the US of being snooty and effeminate, and WWE loves to play up to stereotypes. So they make a pretty easy snotty, arrogant heel to rile up the crowd. The politics of the world only make things worse.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 26, 2013 12:40:51 GMT -5
I think this actually makes Dupree better for the Revolutionary shtick just because of how batshit crazy it makes him look. I guess, but what happens if/when the shelf life would run out and they have Dupree doing something else. Are all Revolutionaries crazy? Of course not but they could easily acknowledge him as a guy who used to be known as a handsome up-and-comer and has clearly had something happen to him to cause some level of psychosis.
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Sephiroth
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Post by Sephiroth on Dec 26, 2013 12:43:59 GMT -5
It's been a long-running stereotype of the French in the US of being snooty and effeminate, and WWE loves to play up to stereotypes. So they make a pretty easy snotty, arrogant heel to rile up the crowd. The politics of the world only make things worse. The foreign heel is a staple in wrestling. The problem is that we are a much more politically correct society today, so an evil foreigner is harder to pull off. The social/political climate of the times would have rendered an evil Arab/Muslim character aka the Iton Sheik as a given-but due to political correctness we get evil French or Canadians instead. I personally thought Kozlov should have made references to Vladmir Putin in his promo's, since Putin portrays himself as a Russian superman and is a figure many Americans view with mistrust, but in today's WWE such an idea is inconceivable.
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ratetankmark
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Post by ratetankmark on Dec 26, 2013 13:01:59 GMT -5
I guess, but what happens if/when the shelf life would run out and they have Dupree doing something else. Are all Revolutionaries crazy? Of course not but they could easily acknowledge him as a guy who used to be known as a handsome up-and-comer and has clearly had something happen to him to cause some level of psychosis. Yeah. Maybe he got those tattoos for some symbol against the American stereotypes of The French, I don't know how flames and bookshelves say that but it would be interesting to hear their explanation, hey Dupree isn't even that old, he's still in his 20s and I'm sure they could bring him back without too much of a problem.
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Post by tigermaskxxxvii on Dec 26, 2013 13:14:45 GMT -5
Because Vince is a member of NO MA'AM.
I'm surprised with the "French men are cowards who surrender easily" sterotype they never booked any French heels in a "I Quit" match. You figure that'd just book itself.
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Post by "Gentleman" AJ Powell on Dec 26, 2013 14:31:42 GMT -5
Of course not but they could easily acknowledge him as a guy who used to be known as a handsome up-and-comer and has clearly had something happen to him to cause some level of psychosis. Yeah. Maybe he got those tattoos for some symbol against the American stereotypes of The French, I don't know how flames and bookshelves say that but it would be interesting to hear their explanation, hey Dupree isn't even that old, he's still in his 20s and I'm sure they could bring him back without too much of a problem. Worst comes to worse, they have him wear a full body suit of some sort. And yeah, ECW Dupree was down right handsome, with his flowing locks. *Ahem*
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Post by EvenBaldobombHasAJob on Dec 26, 2013 15:51:10 GMT -5
It's been a long-running stereotype of the French in the US of being snooty and effeminate, and WWE loves to play up to stereotypes. So they make a pretty easy snotty, arrogant heel to rile up the crowd. The politics of the world only make things worse. The foreign heel is a staple in wrestling. The problem is that we are a much more politically correct society today, so an evil foreigner is harder to pull off. The social/political climate of the times would have rendered an evil Arab/Muslim character aka the Iton Sheik as a given-but due to political correctness we get evil French or Canadians instead. I personally thought Kozlov should have made references to Vladmir Putin in his promo's, since Putin portrays himself as a Russian superman and is a figure many Americans view with mistrust, but in today's WWE such an idea is inconceivable. WWE's also a company with global aspirations now so there's probably a concern about alienating large portions of their audience. that's why Kenzo Suzuki's "Hirohito" gimmick was thrown out almost immediately. WWE does big business in Japan and they don't want to go offending them.
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mrjl
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Post by mrjl on Dec 26, 2013 16:00:20 GMT -5
The other thing is, the stereotype of the French (at least French men) is being fancy and cultured and a little effeminate. So there's a little bit of a subliminal anti-gay thing in there too. More than that, though, is just a basic slobs vs. snobs thing, with Americans casting themselves as the salt-of-the-earth regular people getting looked down on. there's also some arrogance thrown in there. At some point there was the idea the French stuck their noses up at Americans. I think it was while De Gaulle was in charge
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Sephiroth
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Post by Sephiroth on Dec 26, 2013 16:03:33 GMT -5
The foreign heel is a staple in wrestling. The problem is that we are a much more politically correct society today, so an evil foreigner is harder to pull off. The social/political climate of the times would have rendered an evil Arab/Muslim character aka the Iton Sheik as a given-but due to political correctness we get evil French or Canadians instead. I personally thought Kozlov should have made references to Vladmir Putin in his promo's, since Putin portrays himself as a Russian superman and is a figure many Americans view with mistrust, but in today's WWE such an idea is inconceivable. WWE's also a company with global aspirations now so there's probably a concern about alienating large portions of their audience. that's why Kenzo Suzuki's "Hirohito" gimmick was thrown out almost immediately. WWE does big business in Japan and they don't want to go offending them. So what we need to do is find a country where WWE doesn't do a lot of business so it will be easier to make an foreign heel. I therefore propose the first ever evil wrestler from the Federated States of Micronesia-he could even be a little person out for payback against HBK and Triple H for humiliating the "little people's court" because it is actually the Supreme Court of Micronesia.
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Reflecto
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Post by Reflecto on Dec 26, 2013 17:13:05 GMT -5
. The other question would be the hate on Canada. All baby faces knownly from Canada gets moved to a US area. The Heel from Canada are still from the Canada area. Even though they go there all the time I don't see the point or reason for it. The same reason why they keep remaining them of the screw job for all those years until Bret came back. The bigger reason for that: When they moved most of the big Canadian babyfaces in 2004, WWE had high hopes on Hirohito (and to a lesser extent, John Heidenreich, Unfrozen Nazi) taking off huge- to the point they changed Jericho/Benoit's nationalities to American so that they could run a World War II feud in WWE. No, seriously. People complained about Hirohito, so Kenzo Suzuki was named as himself- but the hometown change stuck around. (Meanwhile, since then big Canadian faces who come to WWE have come in under their Canadian hometowns, so it's seemingly over. It just isn't noticed since there hasn't been that many big Canadian wrestlers to make it in WWE in the last decade- period, with Santino Marella [who has a fairly good reason to 'not' be Canadian] as the biggest Canadian-born star since 2004.)
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