“Who are you and why have you brought us here?”
– Evan, pretending he doesn’t know me
When looking at Subcultures and the people involved with them, it can be difficult to pin down where to begin. There are just so many Subcultures out there, it can seem overwhelming. However, I think the best place to start is a subcultural idea that almost everyone can recognize, and that’s the idea of fandom. Specifically, in this post we’ll be looking at two fandoms, one widely encompassing and one very specific, and how they interacted with each other. This is how I introduced Fantasy fans to Pro-Wrestling.
For this experiment, I brought in two friends, Evan and Mikhail. Both knew very little about pro-wrestling but were hardcore fans of the fantasy genre and its many works. As for my relation to the experiment, I am an avid fan of pro-wrestling, but have little to no experience with the contemporary fantasy genre and fandom.
“Those are Vikings”
“Those are the IWGP Tag Team Champions, War Machine.”
“They’re Vikings, Jonell. Stay in your lane.”
— Mikhail talking to me about War Machine
We spent a lot of time discussing various ideas and cues amongst each fandom. Evan and Mikhail tried to get me to wrap my head around the deep lore and character intricacies behind the world of Game of Thrones, as well as the apparent divides between other fantasy fandoms and even just within the Game of Thrones fandom alone. Meanwhile, I explained to them that everyone who watched pro-wrestling actually did know it was fixed, and fruitlessly tried to describe how a wrestling match constructed its story.
“Ok, but why is there fish?
That’s literally the least intimidating animal ever.”
– Me, reacting to House Tully’s Banner
However, one commonality we were all surprised by was how both fandoms deeply understood the idea of the suspension of disbelief. The suspension of disbelief is the idea of putting logic and reasoning aside for the sake of one’s enjoyment of a story or performance. Both fantasy and pro-wrestling mediums and fandoms alike make liberal use of this idea.
Super Eyepatch Wolf in his video “Why Professional Wrestling is Fascinating” gives a thorough definition on the suspension of disbelief, describing how “what the performers are ultimately trying to do is make us believe what we’re seeing is real.” It’s well known that pro-wrestling is fixed, but its fans suspend their disbelief for the sake of their enjoyment.
Likewise, fellow YouTuber Fudgemuppet and avid fans of the popular fantasy video game series The Elder Scrolls, praise the game’s ability to make steam automatons seem plausible, recognizing the suspension of disbelief in their video “The ABSURD Lore of the Elder Scrolls.” This ability is not only notable in each genre, but deeply admired by its fans.
“Yes, like that.
But more yellow.
And larger.
And with more steam.
And a nicer sash.
And also in a video game.
And not cosplay.
And just better.”
– Evan scrutinizing a Cosplayer who’s just trying their best.
“You must be fun at parties, aren’t you?”
– Me, being sarcastic
“Well, I think it’s nice.”
– Mikhail, just being wholesome
This revelation on how similarly Evan and Mikhail and I approached our respective genres of fantasy and pro-wrestling surprised us a lot, and through it we began to further understand why we liked what we liked. As Super Eyepatch Wolf put it, fantasy and wrestling are just “[stories] about people… [ones] as real and flawed as everyone else.” We love fantasy and pro-wrestling because we feel for those people. Because to us, they are real.
Citations:
[Super Eyepatch Wolf]. (2018, April 1). Why Professional Wrestling is Fascinating [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQCPj-bGYro
[Fudgemuppet]. (2019, January 24). The ABSURD Lore of the Elder Scrolls [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MW1eU1DAuQ
Photo References
*BagoGames. (2018, June 11). The Elder Scrolls: Blades Announced At E3. Retrieved February 6, 2020, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/bagogames/27869747227
*Chanel, G. (2018, July 4). pw20_Justice_for_All-8966. Retrieved February 9, 2020, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/gunther_chanel/29332564358/in/photolist-LG24sf-27rVD3p-27rVCJP-264RR6L-LG25x1-28PPtfr-28PPsPg-LG22PL-KaRYaM-27rVEtR-27rVE78-KaRUjR-28PPsBT-27rVCDi-27JisWb-LG25aN-LG25PJ-LG22r1-KaRYqB-27JiuEm-27Jiupm-28PPt9p-27rVDCH-27Jiuqo-KaRW7t-27rVG2R-LG22ku-KaRW4c-264RR9S-27rVDpr-27rVGsk-27rVEFe-KaRXhp-264RRgf-LG21PE-LG1YRb-KaRZnB-KaRYgD-28PPsGH-KaRXei-27rVDuB-27rVCQF-27Jiu9S-KaRXLk-XZQKF4-LG25WY-27JiubW-KaRWwX-KaRZbK-27rVCGV
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*K, I. (2010, January 3). IMG_2929. Retrieved February 6, 2020, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/ikepanda/4239992559/
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*White, T. (2018, May 30). Daenerys Targaryen – Game of Thrones. Retrieved February 8, 2020, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/timw1/42407765932/in/photolist-27BqTm9-2eergLq-WYkDfk-XD3t3C-2fPPc67-2eGDXZ7-2hDhmHW-bvy4iC-ctwx6h-YP7CzB-2deaQdZ-2hDF5KG-Xtftvo-ajNJct-2hDE4mf-2c8aLwh-2bQAY2K-2hDE4QX-2hDE4A3-23Cpqmp-WuB8mg-WTF3x9-QC6ACA-XtftEb-2eGDYwE-2fPPbvu-2eGDXys-25hMFwM-2hqWcsd-27jtK9f-2hqWcen-8YSpu8-2hqZ2w4-27BuZzn-2bRQANZ-2eGDZ4G-2gv9iHd-27x4CU9-29FMjWB-e7LpHq-25pCsXo-kmSG4Q-XtfsPU-L52D3M-2hDhmgi-2hDhmqw-kmRc7H-27BqRvf-qMDexi-GrkFbd
ゾーヒョー. (2020, January 22). War Machine (professional wrestling). Retrieved February 7, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Machine_(professional_wrestling)#/media/File:War_Machine_IWGP_Tag_Team_Champions.jpg
Note: Photo References with an * have been modified in some way. Approved under Copyright laws and permissions.
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