As far as this post is concerned, where's the Asian talent in the WWE? As this article points out, there is a lack of Asian folks in this arena of entertainment. And the ones that have made it, they were cast as stereotypes. And if you really look into it, there would be credible evidence that they are prejudice in their choice - or lack thereof - of Asians in mainstream wrestling.
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat was a bad ass back in the days. From what I understand, he is half Caucasian and Japanese. You could probably argue that The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, is part Asian because of his Samoan heritage. But let me go through a list of Asian wrestlers in the mainstream media as I have observed as an ex-fan of this fixed media.
Asian Wrestlers/Wrestlers of Asian Descent:
Harry "Mr. Fuji" Fujiwara - Japanese American
Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - Half White / Half Japanese
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - Half Black / Half Samoan
Rodney "Yokozuna" Anoa'i - (The Fat Sumo Wrestler; Go Fucking Figure!) - Hawaiian
Shoichi Funaki - Acrobatic Japanese
Yoshihiro Tajiri - Acrobatic Japanese
Gail Kim - Korean Canadian
Dalip "The Great Khali" Singh - Indian
Joe "Samoa Joe" Seanoa - Samoan
I wouldn't go as far as to say the WWE is prejudice, but they do have a history of perpetuating stereotypes about ethnic wrestlers in that community. Most of the people I listed above fall into that category. But then again, the kids love this shit, and that's all that matters.
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6 comments:
WWE perpetuates all kinds of stereotypes and I think it's just ignorant but oh well, it's entertainment *rolls eyes* I used to be a fan too though, when it was actually good watching; I'd watch it with my dad. Now I don't know what the hell they're doing and I'm sure they don't either.
i prefer the ufc. they're actually real athletes that train hard in a sport that doesn't lend itself to conventional wisdom.
Oh, Jeebus! I was one of those kids that thought wrestling was real as well! Looking back on it, it was a way to fit in because back in the 1980's, it was the cold war and there was a lot of Russia bashing and Iran bashing. Jumping on the bandwagon was a way to deflect a lot of the anti-Asian propoganda. Remember the Iron Sheik? Remember Nikolai Volkoff?
Of course, WWE wrestling has always been very jingoistic and racist, much more so than WcW. I tried watching WWE a few years back, but I had to stop because I was being bombarded with anti-Asian racism every single episode. I might be an idiot, but I'm not a masochist.
haha...yeah. thank god you turned out ok after growing up and watching that crap as well. i guess it all depends on the times. i'm surprised i haven't seen any arabic wrestlers with turbans on their heads. i might be wrong.
Batista doesn't count as a halfie?
anonymous,
my bad. he escaped me.
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