My problem with Drew McIntyre's new gimmick
Posted: Mar 2nd, '12, 04:00
"Look at that homo in the ring!"
"He''s flirting with dudes? That guy's a faggot!"
"This is why I don't hang around with gay people"
These are all things I can guarantee will be said the moment Drew McIntyre's new gimmick makes it to TV. Another thing I expect to hear when I tell people that I am gay:
"Like that *censored* off the wrestling?"
Now, I'm not one who gets offended by things very easily, but god damn I will flip shit if I hear that said to me.
My point here is that Drew McIntyre is not going to get heat for flirting with people and being vain. He's going to get heat from the fans for being gay and flaunting it. It's long to be Goldust all over again. It's not 1997 anymore, times have changed, but the WWE fans aren't going to know that. The rednecks are going to have an excuse to finally shout faggot at someone again, and what kind of message is being sent out to the millions of children that are watching the product? To a ten year old, what they are seeing is everyone hating someone because he's flirting with a man of the same sex. Oh I get it! Being gay must be a bad thing! And suddenly we have another generation of gay people having to fight just be seen as equal to everyone else, and mor having to put up with the misconception that being gay means you wanna get with every guy in the room.
This doesn't just stop with WWE enforcing the gay stereotype. It happened to Muhammad Hassan too. WWE brought in a Muslim character, made him a terrorist and did absolutely nothing to help the Muslims struggling to be seen as equal in the United States.
If time has proven one thing, it's that slapping a stereotype on a heel does nothing. It reinforce the idea that being in that group or community is wrong. Society should be fighting to end the use of negative stereotypes as a whole, not make the world point and boo at them. Negative stereotypes shoe play no part whatsoever in professional wrestling.
"He''s flirting with dudes? That guy's a faggot!"
"This is why I don't hang around with gay people"
These are all things I can guarantee will be said the moment Drew McIntyre's new gimmick makes it to TV. Another thing I expect to hear when I tell people that I am gay:
"Like that *censored* off the wrestling?"
Now, I'm not one who gets offended by things very easily, but god damn I will flip shit if I hear that said to me.
My point here is that Drew McIntyre is not going to get heat for flirting with people and being vain. He's going to get heat from the fans for being gay and flaunting it. It's long to be Goldust all over again. It's not 1997 anymore, times have changed, but the WWE fans aren't going to know that. The rednecks are going to have an excuse to finally shout faggot at someone again, and what kind of message is being sent out to the millions of children that are watching the product? To a ten year old, what they are seeing is everyone hating someone because he's flirting with a man of the same sex. Oh I get it! Being gay must be a bad thing! And suddenly we have another generation of gay people having to fight just be seen as equal to everyone else, and mor having to put up with the misconception that being gay means you wanna get with every guy in the room.
This doesn't just stop with WWE enforcing the gay stereotype. It happened to Muhammad Hassan too. WWE brought in a Muslim character, made him a terrorist and did absolutely nothing to help the Muslims struggling to be seen as equal in the United States.
If time has proven one thing, it's that slapping a stereotype on a heel does nothing. It reinforce the idea that being in that group or community is wrong. Society should be fighting to end the use of negative stereotypes as a whole, not make the world point and boo at them. Negative stereotypes shoe play no part whatsoever in professional wrestling.