Wrestling is a liar

Dear Wrestling,

I kind of hate you right now--in a way I can only hate you because I love you so breathlessly. Only things we love can disappoint us to our core.

Wrestling, you self-mythologize a lot. You tell us that you're here to tell stories about the good guys winning, that everybody wants to see their mean boss get beaten up. You tell us you're about catharsis, and mythology, and superheroes.

You tell yourself that.

I started reading the Game of Thrones books a few years back. Once I got to the scene where I was meant to be ok with a guy raping a child because he ostensibly let her say no, I quit.

Sweetheart, we tell stories because they are story-shaped. We don't tell biographies or crime novels the same way. Stories have drama and suffering, yes of course, but they also have relief. They have jokes, they have intimate moments between characters, and more often than not, they have the good guys win. Not always, and never right away...but it happens.

Babe, I'm sorry that you're at the mercy of a confused, hurt old man who wouldn't know a story if it sat on his face and wiggled. That's horrible for you, and for us fans. I hope you're able to recover someday.

I'm upset my favorites lost, of course. But it's more than that. It's worse. It's that you just...don't seem to know what a story is, anymore. And hey, I'm new here: maybe you never did.

Obviously this letter is directed to one particular branch in your beautiful and varied tree. I'm afraid I might need to take a break from that, for awhile. That's kind of horrifying to think about, because you're my favorite thing and they're my favorite wrestlers, my favorite writers, actors, creators...but I'm in a pretty bad place right now. If you can't get your shit together, I'm going to have to go away for awhile.

God, that makes me so sad. Usually I power right through the sad and turn it into anger, because anger is energy, it's active, I can work with anger. I've been doing that all evening. Now I feel just...sad for you. Sad that this is supposedly as good as it gets. Sad that this is the only way these people even have a chance at being acknowledged for their excellence, sad that such terrible people are in charge.

I do love you, you know. It wouldn't hurt this much if I didn't.

I hope I get to see you do better.