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Dusty's Litterbox:
WWE, Champions Of The Mentally Deficient?
April 14, 2004

by Dusty the Fat Bitter Cat

On Monday April 5, World Wrestling Entertainment unveiled a new character by
the name of Eugene Dinsmore. According to WWE's website, Eugene is...
"special".

The character - portrayed by Ohio Valley Wrestling's most recent WWE
graduate, Nick Dinsmore - was seen talking and acting strangely as he was
approached by a disgusted William Regal, who'd just been tricked into taking
on the assignment of managing not-so-young Eugene to superstardom.

The more-or-less moral equivalent of having lost a bet.

This new storyline has already caused a stir in the internet wrestling
community, a large portion of which having walked away from the show feeling
offended that such mockery of the mentally deficient would be allowed to
air.

Was the angle so patently offensive, or is this just another case of viewers
making much ado about little?

PRECEDENTS

Back in the 80's, at the very peak of pro wrestling's popularity, one of the
most charismatic characters the then-WWF had to offer was George 'The
Animal' Steele, a lovable man-child portrayed by Jim Myers, and almost
assuredly the blueprint for Dinsmore's character today. 20 years ago, Myers
portrayed the first mentally deficient pro wrestler of the modern era, and
could regularly be seen doing much more bizarre things than merely talking
funny. 'The Animal' would carry teddy bears, stalk pretty women, and make
meals out of turnbuckles. He wasn't openly acknowledged as intellectually
challenged - it was merely implied. It was a cheap and easy way to attract
sympathy from the crowds, and it worked.

In 1999, a controversy arose over at Ted Turner's World Championship
Wrestling organization, when 'Macho Man' Randy Savage was more or less seen
physically manhandling his then on-and-off screen girlfriend Gorgeous
George. Viewers were outraged by the spousal abuse. But where was this
outrage back in the 80's boom era, when fans were treated to the same
implied storyline, ironically involving the very same wrestler? As long as
it was only implied and not shown, America was okay with it. They were
morally free to enjoy watching it.

The same America that banded together in its righteous indignation over a
nipple slip during the SuperBowl, requesting - nay, DEMANDING - that the FCC
get involved and assured the nation that such a disgraceful thing never be
allowed to happen again. Only once the FCC re-introduced the 7-second delay
did Americans feel safe again, free to finish downloading the remaining 50
megs of Brianna Loves Jenna off Kazaa.

So perhaps it isn't all that surprising to see people get upset about this
Eugene thing. While it's no different than George Steele's act, WWE is a lot
less ambiguous about what Dinsmore is pretending to be. It's spelled out for
everyone this time : Eugene is mentally challenged.

And it just wouldn't be politically correct to enjoy the angle now.

So go ahead and whine, cry, even kick a trashcan if it'll make you feel
better about how good a person you are, and the state of your moral fiber.
But you're still going to tune in, aren't you?

You are watching a show that has recently featured storylines involving
attempted homicide, forced lesbianism, and necrophilia. This is something
you are well aware of before the show even starts. Shouldn't there be a
certain amount of responsibility assumed by the viewer in that context?

Hasn't WWE always resorted to using every easy stereotype in the book when
it comes to portraying anyone that isn't a W.A.S.P.? Just think back at how
effeminate and openly affectionate gay characters have always been
depicted... or how anyone with a French accent obsolutely must be portrayed
with ambiguously homosexual undertones... and don't get me started about the
Asians. Even The Rock was part of a black militant organization looking to
get back at whitey before coming into his own.

It's WWE's creative right to keep offering you the basest and most low-brow
scripts conceivable by adult minds... just as it is yours to react properly
offended and disgusted by it, while continuing to tune in week after week,
buying the pay-per-views, attending the house shows, and loading up on the
merchandise.

Mine is not to question either side's hypocricies.

*My* specific problem lies elsewhere.

SPREADING IT THICK

The following was sent by WWE to anyone expressing concerns about the Eugene
character after Raw aired last week :
Thank you for your email to WWE. We have introduced a new character on WWE
Monday Night RAW, Eugene Dinsmore. Eugene is a person with a mental
disability. His dream is to become a professional wrestler.

WWE intends to portray the character of Eugene as a hero, as are the many
people with disabilities around the world (many of whom are WWE fans) who
must everyday face challenges to live the type of life many of us take for
granted. Eugene, despite his disability, will get a chance to achieve his
dream of becoming a professional wrestler. We hope that Eugene's story will
encourage other people with disabilities to strive to achieve their dreams,
whatever they may be.

Story background: In the recent edition of Monday Night RAW, viewers learned
that Eric Bischoff, an underhanded schemer, has a nephew named Eugene. At
the behest of Bischoff's sister, he has let his nephew Eugene join RAW to
pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Bischoff tricks the
despicable William Regal, a slimy, upper crust Englishman, to manage Eugene.
Upon meeting Eugene and seeing he has a mental disability, Regal immediately
complains about his task, similar to how many people who are uncaring and
ignorant initially react to the mentally handicapped. However, Eugene will
persevere and he ultimately will get his chance to perform in the ring. WWE
is very grateful you took the time to contact us, and we thank you for your
email.

Here, the company claims that it intended to "portray the character of
Eugene as a hero, as are the many people with disabilities around the
world". It adds that Eugene will "get a chance to achieve his dream of
becoming a professional wrestler", and that the company hopes his story will
"encourage other people with disabilities to strive to achieve their
dreams."

Now I'll defend WWE's right to produce an angle like this, and don't even
mind highlighting the hypocricy of those who pull out their moral compass
selectively. However, I do have a slight problem with the company pushing
its luck and actually trying to portray itself as some sort of champion of
the disabled.

Someone got a wee bit greedy, there.

Nick Dinsmore isn't mentally challenged. He's an actor playing the part of a
mentally challenged wrestler. If the company truly cared about the
intellectually disabled, as is implied by the form letter above, and really
believed that they were just as capable as anyone else of reaching whatever
goals they set for themselves... why is a normal joe being used to prove the
point?

In what way is this any different than having a white man paint himself
black, and scripting him to win the WWE Title in the company's misguided
attempt to show its fans that a black man can carry the title too?

How can you imply with a straight face that the angle was conceived to
encourage the disabled to achieve their dreams? Their dreams of what,
exactly? Of no longer being disabled? So that they, too, can have the chance
of becoming a pro wrestler like Nick Dinsmore? The only people Dinsmore is
likely to inspire through this are people with really bad hair. Dinsmore has
proven that someone with really bad hair can become a professional wrestler.
Nothing more.

Neither he, nor WWE, have yet to show any actual faith in the mentally
challenged (Steve Austin notwithstanding).

A few months ago, WWE hired a physically disabled wrestler by the name of
Zach Gowen. They got a few headlines from it, and then let him go. He was a
proverbial blip on the radar screen. Now don't get me wrong, maybe there was
more to his release than we know - being disabled doesn't mean he's
incapable of screwing things up for himself, just like anyone else - but he
didn't last. And the mentally challenged person playing Eugene didn't even
get a chance to start - they went with a normal wrestler to play the part.

CONCLUSION

If the point WWE is trying to make is that an intellectually challenged
person can do anything the rest of us can - a line that sure looks good on
paper and makes the company look real nice - why wasn't one hired to play
Eugene?

Maybe it's because an mentally disabled person would have problems following
a script, remembering his lines, or executing a complex ring choreography .
I couldn't say, I don't know enough about the intellectually handicapped to
say. But if those are the reasons why an average joe was chosen to play this
part - and the character was only created to entertain on a primitive level
while attracting cheap sympathy the way George Steele did two decades
earlier - then stop patronizing everyone with false sensitivity and paper
intentions...

..or worse, actually portraying yourself as a champion of the mentally
deficient.

Respect the pussy,
Dusty the Fat Bitter Cat



--- Internet Rex 2.29