Monday, April 6, 2009

A Body Slam of Truth Amidst a Ring of Lies

I've heard all kinds of analogies when it comes to what it takes to make a marriage work.
There is one about two people floating in a canoe which will capsize if both people aren't focused on staying afloat.
There is a beautiful image of silverware that must be guarded away from misuse and cherished which applies to how we should feel about our marriages.
I've heard about tandem bicycles that can go for miles if only both people will pull their weight or the idea of a Chinese finger trap that the only way to make it through adversity is to come together instead of pull apart. I think there is a truth to all of these examples.

Today I was listening to a podcast and the subject was professional wrestling and in such and unlikely place I found another bit of truth. I feel that most of my exposure to professional wrestling was secondhand. I remember that my dad would watch it sometimes and as a little girl I would find myself very excited to join him. There would be all these flashing lights and the wrestlers would make a grand entrance all decked out in wild costumes and big fancy robes. There was always a good guy, and a "heel" which I learned today is wrestler talk for the bad guy. The bad ones were always much more interesting and had better outfits ("outfit" being my word, is surprisingly not part of the wrestler lexicon). I was really into it, all the way until they started the actual wrestling, at which point I would roll my eyes and leave the room. My dad would always yell for me to come back if anything exciting happened, like someone throwing a folding chair and I would come running to see. After awhile I began to realize that it isn't really that exciting if it happens every time. Anyway, I guess that you could say, for me, the pageantry is what I was looking for. Brandon, on the other hand, told me that the day he learned that pro wrestling was fake was ten times worse than when he heard the truth about...well, I don't want to spoil it for any of my young readers, but we'll just say it had something to do with a certain fat man who wears red.
So, anyway, back to the podcast, it turns out that even though it is basically all a show there is a pretty tight code of ethics to which the performers/athletes stick. For example, as in the world of magicians, it is completely un-cool to spill the beans about how certain moves look like they would hurt, but don't.
Apparently in this world of fake fighting, the most important rule is this:

You must do whatever you can to protect your opponent.

So, basically, if things go wrong, and someone is going to get hurt, it had better be you.
Perfect, I thought. A new, and very appropriate example that I can share with my young women who, surely, are all big fans of WWE.



So when Ray Misterio body slams Jimmy "the Superfly" Snuka it may look like they are trying innovative torture techniques, but they are really just trying to protect each other. That's just like marriage.

Well, okay, maybe it's not lesson material, but I really do think it is a good image.
If both husband and wife are focused and protecting each other, I think the marriage is going to work out.
So maybe there is a little truth in professional wrestling after all.



P.S. It turns out one of the most famous wrestlers, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson followed in the footsteps of his father who was the famous wrestler "Rocky." My little Rocky already has a good showbiz name. Although since Rocky was already taken maybe she should try
Raquel "the Rock Star" Rigby. I guess it is a good thing because she's got the stance down, although this looks more like Sumo that WWE. She can get an early fan base off of the fame of her parents, Marci "Maniac" and Brandon "Bonecruncher" Rigby...hmm...yeah right.

2 comments:

becky rigby said...

Marci, let me know how your hispanic young women relate to WWF. I can tell from Raquel "the Rock Star" Rigby's picture that she is going to be the heel. =)

Can't wait to see you again, hopefully it's before Lake Powell.

Marci said...

Becky, WWF is so 90s. If you were in the know about wrestling you would know that it is now
World Wrestling Entertainment, or WWE, which clearly states that the matches are for entertainment purposes only and not real fights.