8. "It's Predetermined, Not Fake"
Let's start with an absolute classic. Wrestling is fake. People go out of their way to impress that upon people with the persistence of incredibly smug mosquitoes. The common misconception amongst non-fans is that the wrestling audience somehow don't know that Friar Ferguson, the 'Mad Monk', didn't really beat up Doink the Clown. Well, no. We know it's not real. Kayfabe's been officially dead for decades. Detractors of sports entertainment have gone to near-ludicrous levels in the past to prove that wrestling is fake. In 1984, the newsmagazine show 20/20 dedicated an entire episode to 'outing' the sport, which resulted in reporter John Stossel getting slapped for going up to a man who worked hard for a living and heavily implying that his industry was rubbish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrX9Ca7LSyQ As such, people are quick to fire back 'it's not fake, it's predetermined', that the violence is still real. The violence thing muddies the argument, and I'll deal with that point in the next slide. Fact is, it is fake. The commentators call it like a real sport, the storylines rely heavily on suspension of disbelief to work, and each PPV begins with a kickoff show in which 'experts', with a straight face, discuss the strategies that superstars should use to win their matches. For what the WWE claims to present to its audience, it's fake. The argument shouldn't be to disprove or qualify that fact. The argument should be a loud and resounding, 'WHO CARES?' Plays are fake, but no one onstage lets on. Operas are fake, The West Wing is fake, why is professional wrestling held to a paradoxically higher yet lower standard?