|
 Greetings, mizfan fans. For those of you who are waiting patiently on a continuation of the Bobby Heenan series, fear not. A pre-WWF wrap up set of dailies will be out before the end of the month, and after that I will start working on the enormous amount of material that is the man’s WWF. Might take a bit to get that ball rolling, especially since I have another (much shorter) project in mind first, but mark your calendars for February 2017 at the latest, and we will begin in earnest. But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today. In case you didn’t know, on November 12, Joey Styles of ECW fame was doing commentary for independent promotion EVOLVE. During the show, he made a joke about Donald Trump. Here’s the offending comment, made towards announcer Joanna Rose… "Joanna, you look great tonight, and if our next President were here tonight, he’d want to grab you by the…” And he trailed off, in much the same way John Cena used to let the crowd say the last line in his particular risqué raps and promos. He was immediately fired over this remark. The decision to part ways with Joey Styles was not solely based on the remark's questionable content. EVOLVE founder Gabe Sapolsky had advised those involved with the show to avoid references to the election, so as to allow viewers to escape thinking about the exhausting hub-bub that has gripped America through this entire election cycle. Styles, seemingly on impulse, deviated from this policy with the improvised joke above. However, to his credit, he immediately apologized backstage to those within the company and to Joanna herself, who reportedly was not offended and understood the remark to be a joke at the expense of Trump. He even went so far as to refuse to take payment for the night and left before the end of the show. Now, I’m not here to necessarily argue that EVOLVE was wrong to let Styles go over the comment. He did go against a specific order from the boss, and touched on what we all know is a sensitive topic for many right now in the process. A part of my mind does have to wonder though, what on earth did they expect from Styles, whom is literally billed as “The Unscripted, Uncensored, Loose Cannon of Commentary”. Normally this isn’t even something I would touch on. I’d shake my head and keep my opinions to myself, content with the fact that it doesn’t affect me directly. However, in light of the recent election result in American taking me by surprise, I’m trying to reach out more, be willing to express my opinions even if others won’t necessarily agree with them, and try to engage in honest and open conversation about why we don’t agree and whether we can reach an agreement. So now I find myself asking, was Styles comment really over the line of acceptability? I wouldn’t argue the comment to be in good taste, of course, but it’s certainly no worse than something you might hear even on SNL, let alone popular programs like South Park. EVOLVE isn’t about risqué commentary, but then again they DID hire Joey Styles, and they aren’t exactly meant to be a family friendly company in the first place. I also understand some people might not be comfortable with jokes about Trump, or about the infamous “grabbing” comment which many feel borders on or in fact is a form of sexual assault. But at the end of the day, do we really want to demonize someone like Trump to the point where even hearing a joke at his expense is too difficult to stomach? It’s a joke about how he comes off as a sexual pig who can’t control himself. He is the fool in this scenario. At least that’s my interpretation, I’m open to other versions but it feels a little like splitting hairs at some point. Then again, I recognize I’ve never been in a position to be negatively affected by the kind of behavior that’s being joked about, so it’s possible my perspective is totally off. If so, I want to learn more about that too, so please don’t hold back your comments. But even so, I can’t help but feel it’s dangerous to give so much power to a man or an action that we are afraid to even make a joke of it. The idea that laughter can take away power from something bad is near and dear to me. I also admit to finding myself bewildered at the general attitude towards Styles now. I’ve seen comments about how terrible he is as a commentator in general, and how he unites fans by how bad he is. Really? I’ve always been a fan of the guy, he’s not perfect but he has something which I find is all too rare these days. He actually seems to have genuine enthusiasm for what he’s watching. It’s why his ECW run worked (and his WWE run didn’t, for that matter). He is actually usually into what he’s watching, and it bleeds through. Just recently I listened to him do commentary for CHIKARA’s King of Trios weekend, and I liked him just find there. He showed an incredible eagerness to learn about the independent scene and join in on the fun, while still retaining what made him, well, himself, toned down to a family friendly setting of course but still unmistakably Joey Styles. So I guess my secondary question is, do people now hate Joey Styles? I know he has his detractors, but I remember people being excited (or at least interested) when he came to Raw for a while many years back, and from what I remember people often speak positively about his ECW run, or at least used to. Maybe times and tastes have changed? But even putting that aside, my main question is whether firing and, more importantly, universally condemning Joey Styles for a remark like this one is justified, or if it’s a case of PC culture going too far. Does Styles’ old school push-the-envelope method just not work in 2016? Or is it only bad timing, making the joke at a time when people weren’t ready to hear it? Or is it a contemptible action regardless? I honestly don’t have any answers. I have opinions, and I hope I’ve made them clear, but as always I can see two sides of the debate. More than anything, I want to know where other people are coming from, and not from a glib 140 character message or a plastered meme. I want to start talking to people again about what they think, what they feel, to learn and to grow and not to be content to sit in my preconceived notions and never change. I fully understand I’m stepping out into a minefield here, but I’m hoping and praying that good discussion and communication will be the watch words of any conversation we have here. I’m a little terrified to even open this door, but I’m determined to see where this goes. So please, this is a column made for commenting… how ‘bout that Joey Styles?
|
