A lot can happen in a year.

So I'm back, after a year’s absence I've decided to update this damned thing. Lots to tell? Maybe. Interested? Unlikely. In all seriousness the past year has been an interesting one, and personally one of the best years of my life, I can only hope that whatever awaits me around the corner will be as exciting and rewarding as the experience I had in my final year at University.




Although writing a blog entry on me would be both easy and damn enjoyable for someone as self-absorbed as yours truly, this is not why I decided to return to the blog.

I go to the gym; it's one of my hobbies. Most gyms screen music channels so to encourage and motivate those using the facilities to train that extra bit more, sounds stupid, it is, but it works. Not my gym though, no, we get BBC News 24. I don't follow the news, personally it depresses me and, being a depressive, cynical so and so by nature I try not to encourage these thought processes. Still, over the last 3 months I've been paying slightly more attention.

Tabloids such as News of the World have been accused of, among other shenanigans hacking into the phones of various individuals, including victims of the 7/7 bombings, relatives of British soldiers fighting overseas and Katie Price. Granted, I don't know all the facts and I'm too lazy to take my research beyond the much maligned Wikipedia and what I see on the news everyday but there's something about the situation that really bothers me.

I love how fickle the public can be, it would perhaps be unfair to blame the British public specifically but it is they who I have been most exposed to. Whether it's the News of the World, The Daily Star or, my personal favourite, The Sun, it seems that the public will lap up any story fed to them, believe it and spread it willingly as gospel, no matter how dubious or hurtful it might be. More often than not, these stories are best received when they are at the expense of a celebrity.

First world celebrity culture is another one of my main gripes. There are celebrities out there who actually have talent, who have achieved the level of celebrity by setting themselves apart from everybody else and showcasing their talents. Then there are those who exist solely in the tabloid solar system, people who achieve fame and fortune almost exclusively through tabloid journalism and magazines aimed at a predominant female demographic. Even sadder is that some of these celebrities were once talented individuals who went out and achieved something but have since fallen from grace.

It saddens me greatly that in 2011, publications such as The Sun and The Daily Star are able to not only exist but thrive within our culture, the blame however cannot rest at the feet of the editors and 'journalists' behind these publications but instead with the British public who happily spend money out of their own pockets to not only keep the papers alive but those working for them rich and successful. How then, does this tie into the recent phone hacking scandal.

As I mentioned before, tabloids such as The Sun thrive off spiteful journalism, exploitation and heckling those who are on the verge of self-destructing with a sadistic voyeurism and glee. It has proved a recipe for success. However, when the means to these horrifying ends are exposed as underhanded, the world goes up in arms and labels the papers reprehensible.




"Say What?!"


Say what indeed. Still, this didn't really strike a nerve until 2 weeks ago by the unfortunate news that Amy Winehouse had died at the age of 27. I got some flak for this at the time, but it is an opinion I still believe has some truth to it and I'm going to share it with you all again now. Amy Winehouse is not a role model, should not be looked up to by future generations and should not be heralded as a national treasure.

Young Amy was admittedly a talented (very) young lady who wrote and performed some great music, she was certainly unique and I was, in fact a fan. Of her music. Personal demons plagued her throughout her career and she was, no doubt a troubled young woman, her personal life, drugs and alcohol problems span out of control so fast that it was amazing she stayed alive as long as she did. All this by the way, was played out for the world to see and brought to you in colour by the British press.




For years this went on, story after story of a woman whose life was spinning out of control, a woman who desperately needed help and support. She received none; the public of course, lapped up stories like this and apparently enjoyed watching someone’s life tailspin before their eyes. So when young Amy finally reaches ground zero, the public mourn, the same public who sat by and watched laughed at her expense and sat around doing nothing suddenly are in mourning, and what do the papers say.



Well I don't have an image for this, but let's just say there was an abrupt about face, urging the public to sympathise with her family and remember what great talent she had, both factors which were seldom discussed when she was actually alive. The sad truth is Amy's star fell long ago into that aforementioned tabloid solar system where a star's life is played out in a bricolage of scandal, shame and disgrace. Was she talented? Very much so. Should she be remembered as an icon or national treasure? Certainly not.

I'm sure there will be those who do not agree with me and think I am being rather callous, that is of course fine but the fact remains, she is dead and we all sat by and watched and what's more, it will happen again.

I told you the news brings out the depressive cynic in me.

We few, we happy few!

I must say that writing in this blog is never as simple as I hope it to be when I start out, take for example my post from 2 weeks ago, originally intended to be a quick and juvenile look at Friday the 13th and it ends up becoming a fucking obituary....which nobody will read.

Still! Today's update will be short and sweet!

Maybe.

As those of you who read this (I.E. Me) know I am at University at the moment and after 2 long years of spending government money and being resented by tax payers & working folk nationwide, I am finally reaching the end of my journey.

You see, I've been in education now for nearly 20 years and although it's been a bumpy ride, it's been a ride I've for the most part enjoyed and I will be sad to finally get off. In doing so I will take my final step out of adolescence and into adulthood, and by step i mean told politely to get off and never return.

I always intended my stint at University to be my rights of passage to adulthood, had I made the trip at 18 with the rest of my hoody wearing, fringe growing, wrist slitting brethren from college I feel the experience would have been wasted. Truth be told, I had no idea what I wanted to do until I was 19 and had already been through college and had settled on a career path, alas a life of managing T.K. Maxx was not for me.

Contrary to what many people may think, I do not fit into that student stereotype of no good, money wasting layabout. No, University has been exactly what I set it out to be. When I started my course 2 years ago I had already built up some life experience, I'd experienced love for the first time, I'd learnt first hand the perils of over indulging in alcohol , I'd spent the entirety of my adolescence working and I was steadily leaving my teenage angst's behind. In other words, I was maturing.

Of course this was both a blessing and a curse, by the time I entered University stealing traffic cones, dressing up ironically & generally acting like a tit was something I had little time for and for around 80% of the student population the bloom was not yet off the rose. Still, this is not to say I didn't join in now and then and just because I said I was maturing, this doesn't mean I had matured.

The first year brought about it's fair share of hangovers, heartbreak & unwelcome stomach fat and a summer holiday of even more unwelcome home truths. The biggest of all being that I was no longer a child and although I relished my independence, I couldn't just revert back to my old ways when the bank was empty.

Money is something we all take for granted and when most people have it, they
can't spend it fast enough. Sure you could survive on a 30 pounds a month shopping budget, but when you've got over 1000 pounds in the bank why spend £1 on a pizza when you can spend 5 and boy oh boy won't you look sophisticated drinking this whisky, when everyone else will be getting the same effect from drinking beer. Point being, I've had more then enough first hand experience and observations of money wasting to know that I cannot afford to be so careless with it in the future. Still, I think swigging out of a bottle of Famous Grouse at a house party is pretty sexy, my many nights of sleeping alone will attest to that.

And then came the second year, the year when the partying takes a backseat (For the most part) to hard work, headaches and the inevitable disintegration of household relations.


They say that you don't know somebody until you live with them and this is something every second year student will eventually attest to. The year may start off with more ass kissing then a night at the Academy Awards, but after the honeymoon period is over (About 2 weeks) those 'friends forever' will quickly become the target of venomous tirades once your milk starts being 'borrowed' and those dishes start to pile up and just remember, it's never your fault, not at all, not even a little bit.

My biggest gripe with second year came mostly from observing my fellow students. You see, Film Studies is not exactly a subject that demands to be taken seriously. After all, don't we 'just sit around and watch films all day'. Well, no. Not at all, but that is the general consencus. Despite the hard work of the majority, there will alwyas be those who give the degree and on a grander scale, students, a bad name.


When I was growing up I always looked at University as the pinnacle of education, a home for the academic elite. It seems somewhere down the line standards slipped and any Wayne & Waynetta can now earn themselves a degree. This is a hard pill to swallow for me, not because I'm so great at what I do, but because I worked hard to get here and because I actually give a shit about the subject. An even harder one to swallow is that most students who earn a degree rarely go on to a career in that field, any teacher bitter at their own career (I.E. All of them) will keenly divulge that information to you.




The future's bright for the Portsmouth 2011 Film Studies graduates

But I knew all this going in and I went all the same. When all is said and done I'll have a degree and I'll find out first hand whether or not I can make it in that dog eat dog world of...um film critique. But at the risk of sounding like University has been miserable let me say that the good has far outweighed the bad. I've had experiences here that I'll remember for my entire life. Despite some hiccups along the way University has been what I always wanted it to be a few final years of memories that I can treasure, learn from and drunkenly lament when I'm old and bitter (more so).My last big learning curve when it comes to life experience. It has been and continues to be my rights of passage to adulthood and when its over I'll finally ready to enter the world of 9 to 5 or 9 to 10:30 should I end up on the doll.

At the risk of sentimentality....na fuck it, this is sentimental, it's been a hell of a ride and the best thing is, it's not over yet, with any luck this year will turn out to be the best of all and so, should any of my friends at uni be reading this let me say to you & my long suffering liver, Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!

Hollmmmmeeesss!

I just watched Sherlock Holmes for the second time and guess what, I loved it. However, reviewing would require some semblence of effort and I'm too tired. I will say that although the film benefits from a terrific screenplay and some inspired action sequences, it is the two leads who steal the show, Law & Downey Jr have fantastic chemistry and watching those 2 on screen is joyous. The CGI was a bit naff in places and the speed at which the narrative plays out may put off some people, but aside from that, it's a great film and a perfectly acceptable way to spend 2 hours of your life.

Your star rating is ****1/4 (Just to make it all that more pretentious)

Friday the 13th.

No, no film review this time, just a quick rant (that was the original intention) about my miserable day

Aside from a series of bad slasher films, one associates Friday the 13th with bad luck, a day where an individual will be inexplicably cursed with misfortune and perhaps even disaster. Usually I'd dismiss this as superstitious rubbish, however for once the negativity is perhaps justified as I have had one of the worst days in quite some time.

For me personally, the day started off on a dull note as Weston was once again a victim of the stereotypical English Summer, showers of rain, in between fleeting bursts of sunshine. Wonderful. As the day progressed, I was the recipient of bad news (Nothing too serious and I'm against airing personal problems in public so I will not disclose the details.) and minor inconveniences that culminated with me being LATE FOR WORK. Unacceptable. Then, I started coming down with a cold and as any grown man will know, this calls for round the clock attention from your significant other and since she's not around I have to suffer....alone. Unacceptable.

And to top it all off, there will be no airing of Friday the 13th this evening.

'Joking' aside the day became truly tragic as the wrestling world suffered yet another loss.



Former WWE wrestler Lance/Garrisson Cade (Real name Lance McNaught) died today, apparently of heart failure.

I'd be lying if I said I was a fan of Lance, although he was a decent worker and had an entertaining feud with The Hardyz with tag team partner Trevor Murdoch I never found his ring work or personality particularly compelling and despite WWE's best efforts neither did the majority of their audience. However, despite this WWE continued to push him on television (Wrestling carny for building a star and featuring him heavily on their programming), unfortunately young Lance's career was derailed when he was found intoxicated and seizuring aboard a plane and was subsequently let go. As lead announcer and former head of talent relations JR put it 'he made a major league mistake whilst utilizing bad judgement'. Indeed.

You see, wrestling has always been riddled with all kinds of substance abuse, whether it be steroids, alcohol or recreational drug use. Although steroids have no doubt always been prominent in the sport and I am not educated in the area enough to say for certain,I'd go out on a lim and say that substance abuse really became a problem in the eighties and early nineties when wrestling was at it's peak and the wrestlers themselves lived the so called rock and roll lifestyle.Aside from recreational drug abuse, the physical nature of the business leads a lot of wrestlers to take prescription medication (Usually painkillers of some sort) which often leads to addiction, at the time of writing it seems that it was an addiction of this nature that cost young Lance Cade his life.


Over the years the major league promotions (Primarily WWE) made various attempts to put a stop to this kind of behaviour and in 2005 after the tragic death of Eddie Guerrero WWE instituted a Wellness policy to try and deter tragedies like this from happening again, wrestlers noticeably decreased in size and wrestlers who showed up in 'no condition to perform' were sent home on suspensions. However, after the media coverage died down and the heartache of those involved began to subside it went back to business as usual. All this would change just 2 years later.

In the summer of 2007 beloved wrestler Chris Benoit snapped and killed his wife, son and later himself. As well as being severely brain damaged from 20 + years of physicality and careless shots to the head, Benoit was also in possession of large quantities of steroids. The event has forever left a black mark on the sport and the immediate PR nightmare that followed forced WWE to try and clean up it's act, reinforcing its inconsistent wellness policy in an attempt to control any substance abuse by those under employment. As well as the wellness policy, WWE also reached out to any ex employees and offered to pay for them to enter rehab, more than likley in an attempt to repair its public image.

Although it was arguably the severe brain damage Benoit was suffering from that caused him to commit such an unspeakable act, the media circus that followed his death pointed the finger solely at substance abuse, specifically steroids. As a result WWE apparently no longer turns a blind eye and those who violate it are punished. Although the policy usually includes a 3 strikes and you're out rule, Cade was released almost immediately afterwards, no doubt because of the public nature of his offense and despite entering rehab, it seems that Cade never was able to overcome his addictions.

Having followed wrestling now for ten years, I have seen many wrestlers die young, some of whom I have been great fans of and it's always hard to take. Whether a wrestler is working the WWE road schedule or small venues for dirt money, those bumps and bruises take their toll and it's no wonder that some individuals are unable to avoid these traps.

It would be unfair to place the blame on WWE, they are cleaning up their act and they did offer a chance at rehabilitation once they released him, but as someone said to me today, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't force them to drink.

Lance was only 29 years old and is survived by his wife, two daughters and stepson.

'Unleash the Kraken!'

One of these days i'll write a review for a film I do actually like, perhaps even love. I actually find it easier and a lot less stressful to write a review for film's I dislike, perhaps this is a trend amongst film critics or perhaps it's because I am so frequently filled with hate and bitterness towards the world. Maybe.

Blockbusters are usually the easiest films to criticise, often vehicles for special effects and spectacular set pieces at the expense of a coherent narrative & scripting. The recent focus on 3D and the influx of films being produced specifically for the format has only exacerbated the problem. Still. I approached Clash of the Titans with an open mind, I mean, who doesn't like Greek mythology? Tales of good vs evil in fantastical ancient lands filled with beautiful women, gods and monsters and the stories often have a moral at there centre. Perfect material for a Hollywood blockbuster then. Obviously, I wasn't expecting a five star classic, but I was eagerly anticipating some throwaway fun, surely it could at least deliver that much.

Well. No.


First of all, a quick synopsis.

In Ancient Greece, a baby boy is found abandoned at sea and is taken in by a fisherman and his family and named Perseus. 12 years on and the people of Greece are revolting against the gods, as faith in the gods diminishes, so to does the power the gods posses. Enter Hades, who proposes a solution, however unbeknown st to the rest of the gods he has his own sinister agenda, as his plan will see Zeus fall and leave the world in chaos. When Hades actions cause the death of his foster family, Perseus sets out to seek vengeance, along the way learning that he is in fact the orphaned son of Zeus.

Got all that?

Well, first then it's important to mention that the aforementioned substitution of quality acting & narrative for aesthetic spectacle is in full effect here. If you can in fact call it such, the narrative is so clumsy you'd think Frank Spencer had a screenwriting credit. The first half of the film zips along at an insane speed, which is not a good thing, especially in the hands of such an apparently inept director. Characters appear and disappear so frequently that it's impossible to keep track and even if you could, you wouldn't want to as every character has apparently been lifted from an old dusty book of action cliche's. This is frankly, not a good thing. Take for example, the 'comedy' duo who accompany Perseus on his quest. Sure, the comedy sidekicks are a staple of the genre, but in say Star Wars there was a reason for 3P0 & R2 to actually be there, it's not as if Luke brought them along for their banter, especially as one of them can't even f*****g speak. Point is, there are plenty of characters here who serve no purpose whatsoever except to meet the expectations of the genre. Which they don't. Why even bother?

In fact the only character you could possibly care about is Perseus and that's not only because his character receives the most screen time, in now way is his character remotely interesting. In fact Perseus's foster family are on screen for such a small amount of time (5 minutes) that you won't care in the slightest and certainly won't care about his quest for justice. Of course, even the dullest character on paper can be brought to life by the right actor on screen, having done this twice (With Avatar & T4) I thought Sam Worthington would go 3 for 3 here. Unfortunately he only displays flashes of the charisma he demonstraedin his earlier efforts and spends most of the film stoic faced and delivering his lines with all the enthusiasm of an M.E sufferer giving a eulogy.

Any hope that veterans Liam Neeson and Ralph fiennes would deliver in the acting department were also quickly crushed in short order. If you have read my earlier post regarding Woody Harrelson, you may be familiar with my theory that A-List actors will often jump aboard vehicles like this for a big paycheck and an excuse to dress up and perform in any manner they choose. A chance to slum it for big money. Where as up and coming stars or those whose star has fallen must do as they're told and be happy for the work, or in the latters case, put on a brave face and then shed a tear whilst nobody's looking. In the case of Fiennes, it's a chance to perfect his Voldermort voice and experience the sensation of long locks of hair for the first time. Neeson just phones it in, delivering minimal dialogue and seems to have got the role on account of being really tall and that he can pull off a beard better than anyone.

And then there's Gemma Arteton, how this woman has achieved the success she has is totally beyond me. She is such a black hole of charisma that any semblance of sex appeal she may potentially have vanishes. So yeah, no props for acting in this film.




Just quickly, I should point out that throughout the film, Zeus is wearing a set of armour for no apparent reason other then he's Zeus and he can.....oh and it's REALLY shiny.

Which brings us to the much heralded special effects, admittedly they're pretty impressive, The Kraken inparticuarlar is really good and in 3D I can imagine it looking pretty spectacular, Medusa however is a bit of a let down and would have perhaps benefited from motion capture rather then an entirely computer generated design. Sadly, as impressive as some of the effects are, they are made redundant by the clumsy direction of the action sequences that showcase them. The sequence in which Perseus and company are ambushed by giant scorpions is so badly handled that it becomes hard to tell one character from another and with action sequences occurring so frequently the film never gains any momentum and never rises above being a mundane bore. On a positive note, the CGI enhanced locations and sets do look impressive and there are some lovely aerial shots of the ancient city of Argos. The ancient city of Currys is less impressive.


GET IT!


Still, Ancient Greece has never looked nicer. I presume it's Ancient Greece, I was a little confused at first because I had no idea that Greece was inhabited by everyone but Greeks themselves. Seriously, in the first five minutes we have been introduced to an Irish God, his evil English sibling, a disgruntled fisherman from Yorkshire and his adopted son who speaks with an AUSTRALIAN dialect. Seriously, I have no idea what was going on with the accents in this film, and I certainly had no idea Ancient Greece was such a multi cultural paradise.

And then there's the ridiculous and convoluted plot. Rather then going into meticulous detail, all I'll say is that the gods might have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they'd just handled their business themselves as oppose to getting other people to do their work for them, oh well, I guess standing around on a mountain all day is a lot harder then you think. Oh and one more thing. There are simpler ways to get people to worship you then staging an Apocalypse suggested to you by your banished, overly sinister and more than likely vengeful sibling.

All in all then this was a colossal failure. Adults will be so insulted by the ridiculous nature of the plot and onslaught of tedious action sequences and although this may not bother younger children the violence and gore certainly will.

Conclusion.

A badly directed, poorly acted debacle with too few visual treats to sustain its running time.

Pretentious star rating

*1/2 (All for Neeson's beard) out of *****

Casting Woody Harrelson

The following is a transcript of the meeting between 2012 director Roland Emmerich and actor Woody Harrelson.

*Emmmerich is in his office, Woody Harrelson is sat opposite him*

Emerich: Hey Woody did you read my script for 2012?

Harrelson: I did.

Emerich: Well what do ya think?

Harrelson: Well....it's pretty much every disaster film ever made, only you know cheesier.

Emmerich: So you wouldn't want to be in it?

Harrelson: Sorry.

Emmerich: Not even for the right sum.

Harrelson: I don't need money.

Emmerich: What if I gave you the lead role. You're this struggling writer....

Harrelson: Yes I read the script, look I've gotta go.

Emmerich: Sure he's unreliable, but his hearts in the right place. His wife may be about to divorce him and his kid think his camping trips are lame, but when he saves them from the apocalypse they'll start to realise he's not so bad after all.

Harrelson: I'll see you later.

*Woody goes to leave*


Emmerich: WAIT! What if I write this character, he's strange, a real whack job.

*Woody stops and turns*

Harrelson: I'm listening.

Emmerich: He's real eccentric, a paranoid pot head, every stereotype Woodstock throwback you've ever seen

*Woody becomes wide eyed*

Harrelson: Now you're talking!

Emmerich: So you'll do it?

Harrelson: There are some conditions?

Emerich: Oh?

Harrelson: Can I play him so eccentric and offbeat,that he borderlines on creepy, you know, just like all my characters?

Emmerich: I guess.....Anything else?

Harrelson:Can I bring my own wig?

Emmerich: Sure?

Harrelson: Pay dirt!

*Harrelson leaves, giddy and grinning from ear to ear thinking of the possibilities*

*Emmerich's secretary enters the room*

Secretary: So did he take the job

Emmerich: Well, sort of, we still need a leading man.

Secretary: Well, no offense Roland, no high profile actors are going to take this role.

Emmerich: And whys that?

Secretary: Well because they're inevitably going to take a back seat to your special effects...*The secretary looks at the script...and these characters....they're so cardboard and cliche, no self respecting actor will take this?!

Emmerich: Dammit, you're right. We need someone with at least a little star power, someone who's stars fallen in recent years someone who has no choice but to take these roles.

*Emmerich stops and looks around the room, deep in thought, until he sees a pile of old movie promotional posters in the corner of the room, suddenly his eyes glimmer*






Emmerich: Get me John Cusack!

Wrestling with mania or how I nearly avoided but inevitably ended up with a pretentious title!

I've been looking for something to write about for some time, hence the long hiatus. I wanted to write about something I feel passionate about and that something on this instance is pro wrestling. Quite honestly this subject is a sensitive one for me as it is something I seldom talk about unless I am amongst my closest friends and even then I end up joking about the industry's often ludicrous nature.

Case in point




Believe it or not I actually embrace this side of wrestling, a great deal of its appeal, for me at least, is that it is at times so ridiculous and borderline farcical that you can't help but sit back and laugh at it. But for as much as I enjoy laughing at the ott nature of the business, this is not the sole reason I am so fascinated by it. You see, I love pro wrestling specifically American Pro Wrestling.

Socially this is a potentially fatal statement, perhaps on par with coming out and admitting to being a homosexual sure your friends are still your friends but they would rather avoid the subject and your father will never look at you the same way again. Well, perhaps its not that bad, but it's something that is best left out of everyday conversations.

You see being a wrestling fan has only been acceptable twice in the last 25 years. The first was from the mid eighties to early nineties. A time when Hulk Hogan was not just an a tragic caricature (Imagine that) but the upholder of truth and justice, a time when saying your prayers and taking your vitamins did not have any suspicious connotations. The second time came around in the late nineties when wrestling transitioned from family orientated entertainment into a raunchier, sleazier product, a time that saw the rise of stars such Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock. This is arguably when when wrestling was at its hottest, a time when a child could wear a HHH 'The game' t-shirt and not fear a vicious Grange Hill style bullying.

Sadly,in mid 2001 the wrestling bubble burst yet again for reasons that I am frankly not qualified and too lazy to go into. Conveniently, it was around this time when I started watching. That Summer my younger brother had borrowed a copy of Summerslam 2001 and by chance I had nothing to do so I watched it with him. I watched a match between the recently turned heel (Wrestling carny for bad guy) face off against Kurt Angle for the heavyweight title. For nearly 30 minutes Austin relentlessly beat on Angle, bloodying him and hitting him with every move in his arsenal only for Angle to keep fighting back valiantly. The match ended when a desperate Austin attacked the referee to keep his title (A champion cannot lose unless he is pinned or made to submit)as Angle finally stood up having been robbed of the title that was surely his, lead announcer Jim Ross protested angrily and assured the audience this feud was not over. This was the point I became hooked.

Even back then I knew wrestling was fake, that the punches weren't connecting and that Kurt Angle had not really had his head slammed into a steel ring post ten times only to get back up (albeit bleeding profusely). Still, I was drawn in, by the physicality being displayed, the reaction of the crowd and the story being told in the ring and when it was all said and done, I wanted to see more. It's now 2010 and I'm as big a fan as I've ever been.

It's hard to sum up why I enjoy wrestling to the extent i do and perhaps my views are jaded somewhat by my fascination with the inside nature of the business. Over the years I read various wrestling insider websites and documentaries have developed a mild understanding as to how the business works, such as how matches are put together, insider terms and the business decisions and thought processes behind them. I use the term mild, because even after my 9 years as a fan and spending as much time as I do, reading up on the insides of the wrestling. It is an industry so complicated and with a history that so vast and racked with politics, scandals and just general wackiness that I don't think I could ever hope cover it all unless I became a wrestling historian. As it stands I am happy with it being an everyday past time. My love clearly does have its boundaries.

A lot of non fans will often talk about Darren Aronofsky's film The Wrestler, how it made them respect wrestlers and what they do for a living, and although The Wrestler did well to make light of the hardships that a wrestler can face in his career, it really doesn't even begin to cover just how much dedication and skill it takes to become a successful pro wrestler. Being a wrestler is a lot more then just being a big man who can throw another guy around, it takes timing and psychology to become a good wrestler. Developing Psychology is perhaps the most interesting part of becoming a wrestler and often sets apart a good and a bad match. Among other things, it also takes a special type of charisma and showmanship to connect with a live audience and those watching at home. Some of the most charismatic personalities and watchable characters I have been created in wrestling, this may seem like a bold statement but it is true. One need only look at The Rock whose natural charisma was such that he outgrew the business and went on to a successful movie career appearing in hit films such as The Scorpion King and...um The Tooth Fairy.



Something The Wrestler also didn't go into is just how fun the sport can be (I'm calling it a sport for now, I'll come to that shortly), at the very least wrestling to me can be escapist fun, like a soap opera but more fun and twice as ridiculous. Take this for example



WWE inparticualr is perhaps so charming because it's one of the last elements of society to not be hit by the hammer of political correctness, of course this isn't always something to be proud of, but at the very least you can just sit back and laugh at how unashamed they are of it.



Representing all of Africa comes Zulu tribesman turned pro wrestling superstar Saba Simba

At it's best however, when the stories are serious and coherent and the matches that follow are executed properly it can be as rewarding as any movie and like any good film a wrestling match can get an emotional reaction out of you whether it's anger, laughter and sometimes it is oddly moving. The matches themselves are also exhibitions of some of the finest athletic ability you will see anywhere.



Shawn Michaels moonsaults onto a prone Ric Flair at Wrestlemania 24

One of the things Aranofskys film did do, albeit to an uncomfortable degree, was highlight the physical nature of professional wrestling. Now, some people will scoff at the idea of wrestling as a sport and yes it's true wrestling is fake, WWE even acknowledge it somewhat by referring to themselves as sports entertainment. Every move is designed to look painful when in fact they are executed as safely as possible and the matches are pre determined. However, to call wrestling fake is grossly unfair, scripted is perhaps a fairer term. In fact for a so called fake sport there is a tremendous amount of physicality involved and something as basic as falling back first onto the mat takes a physical toll. It is also worth mentioning that a wrestlers safety is also affected by the other man in the ring with him, should one of the participants in a match slip or make a mistake the consequences could be dire.

This is not to say that I regard wrestling as being above other forms of athletic competition, I understand that wrestling is indeed fake whereas boxing and the increasingly popular sport of mixed martial arts are real physical contact bloodsports and that along with sports such as rugby, football and tennis these are real competitions decided by who are the better compettiors and not pre determined, It has however, always upset me how the men involved in these sports earn our respect and admiration and yet no matter how many years of dedication and sacrifice it takes to perfect the craft of professional wrestling, they are still treated as the red headed stepsons of the sporting world.

One of the things that I appreciate when it comes to wrestling, or more specifically WWE, has little to with wrestling at all but. The production values in WWE are second to none, whether it's the video packages produced to promote an upcoming event or a wrestlers highlight reel, these are some of the most effective and technically sound state of the art videos you will see anywhere. Then of course there are the sets (The ring area and wrestler entrance way) which are always fantastic especially at the Wrestlemania events which is WWE's biggest show of the year. As far as spectacle I'd say you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who does it better than WWE.



An aerial view of the Phoenix stadium at the conclusion of Wrestlemania 26



Randy Orton makes his way to the ring at Wrestlemania 26

This is not to say wrestling is perfect, there have been moments that have been so truly tasteless and intelligence insulting that I have been embarrassed to be fan. But the way I see it, every TV show, sport or form of entertainment has these moments, anyone who watched England play in The World Cup this year or watches Eastenders on a regular basis would know this feeling quite well.

This entry is not intended to convert any new believers, merely to sum up my thoughts on an industry that not everyone will understand or be willing to appreciate. I suppose it's an acquired taste. I don't know if I'll ever lose the wrestling bug, it's something I've thought about, even wished for at times. The truth is, over the years my love for it has grown even more and I've developed a respect for it.But, Who knows, in five years I may be writing about MMA and how it's so much better then that 'stupid wrestling thing I used to like'. But for now I'm a fan and unashamed to be so.



For the most part.