Post by coach on Jan 19, 2009 10:42:08 GMT -5
I drove to ATL yesterday and met up with Rich Tate. We ventured to mid-town to see The Wrestler. I must say I was more than pleasantly surprised. The portrayal by Mickey Rourke of the character Randy "The Ram" Robinson was riveting.
I told Rich that Rourke could have been any number of people that I know or have known in the business. The movie was much deeper than just a rasslin' movie. In fact wrestling is just the backdrop. The family dynamics between Robinson and his estranged daughter Stephanie, played by Evan Rachel Wood parallels with so many father-child relations that I personally know of in this business.
I wondered on my ride home back to Columbus why it is that so many of our friends in this business end up with the train wreck and family dysfunction portrayed in this film to a tee. I really don't have a conclusion. Maybe it is that the wrestler can connect to the crowd better than they can their own offspring. In fact, I would say that the fans...or the business itself often becomes the priority in the lives of many of our friends and indeed takes the place of loved ones who are left behind with burning questions that unfortunately never are resolved.
I told Rich that Rourke could have been any number of people that I know or have known in the business. The movie was much deeper than just a rasslin' movie. In fact wrestling is just the backdrop. The family dynamics between Robinson and his estranged daughter Stephanie, played by Evan Rachel Wood parallels with so many father-child relations that I personally know of in this business.
I wondered on my ride home back to Columbus why it is that so many of our friends in this business end up with the train wreck and family dysfunction portrayed in this film to a tee. I really don't have a conclusion. Maybe it is that the wrestler can connect to the crowd better than they can their own offspring. In fact, I would say that the fans...or the business itself often becomes the priority in the lives of many of our friends and indeed takes the place of loved ones who are left behind with burning questions that unfortunately never are resolved.
