3 ms·
This willing suspension of disbelief -- or resistance to disenchantment, if you will -- is so central to professional wrestling there's actually a slang term th
by jnd5000 8y ago
This willing suspension of disbelief -- or resistance to disenchantment, if you will -- is so central to professional wrestling there's actually a slang term the professional wrestling community uses to describe it: kayfabe. It's a pretty fantastic concept that describes a lot of social psychology beyond pro wrestling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayfabe
- MaxBarraclough 8y agoIt's just theatre, no? Is there really anything more to it?
- jnd5000 8y agoI think it's more than theatre. We know theatre is fiction, and we think of it as fiction as we consume it. Kayfabe is weirder, more nuanced. As we watch wrestling, we simultaneously hold two visions in our heads that are logically opposed: the spectacle is real and the spectacle is fake. We know the fakery makes it more compelling. But if we admit that it's fake, it loses its power.
- reubeniv 8y agoKinda how I see it, like a ballet for boys kinda thing