Some help for an essay please

[Guest Sykotic2002]

OK intelligent people of this board.  I have to do an essay for school and I could sure use your help.  Here's how it's suppose to be done:

1. Choose an item or event that seems pretty insignificant in historical terms.

2. Think carefully of ANYTHING that item or event could have affected.

3. Write a report explaining the impact the item or event had on our history, and your theory of how our society would be different without that item or event.  At least 1 page.

Here's some of the stuff that has to be included on what it changed.

1. Time PEriod

2. Politics

3. Pop Culture

4. Social Interaction

5. Entertainment

6. Fashion

7. Sports

8. Civil Rights

9. Families

10. Education

11. Mdical Care(Medicine)

12. Transportation

I'm planning on doing it on the boom period in wrestling from 1997. It only needs to be a page, so I don't need alot. Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thanks

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

If you only have a page, I'd maybe concentrate on the Steve Austin phenomenon, probably the biggest thing in wrestling of recent years. Although I personally would find it tough to link any aspect of wrestling to all 12 of those points you list.

 

Good luck though!

[Guest Brian]

You're writing on wrestling with those requirements? Good luck.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

Steve Austin/Mike Tyson might be a good thing to touch on.  That, and the sales figures of Austin t-shirts, which were selling at some ungodly amount (like one every 30 seconds, or something).

[Guest Sykotic2002]

I don't need to use all 12 of those off that list.  Some a couple.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

Well Austin definetly links to pop culture and fashion.

 

And maybe even politics - his initial big feud with McMahon was kinda based on the worker revolting against the boss, the working class against the  wealthy middle class.

[Guest Downhome]

Ok, first off, Pro. Wrestling hasn't had any type of TRUE historical effect on the world, so don't even go there or you'll just be made a fool of. Write a paper on how Pro. Wrestling has affected POP culture, and then you have something to work with. Here are the following issues from your list you should touch on...

 

1. Time PEriod

3. Pop Culture

5. Entertainment

6. Fashion

7. Sports

 

...and from those, I'd focus mainly on Pop Culture and Entertainment, obviously. Also, I wouldn't focus on just 1997, but instead, I'd focus on 1996-1997. Yes, I'm talking specifily about the nWo. As much as many don't want to admit it, the nWo is what first helped make Pro. Wrestling cool. I mean seriously, before the nWo if you wore a wrestling shirt, you were made fun of, but once the nWo was around, there were TONS of people wearing the Black & White, and it was almost that you weren't cool if you DIDN'T follow the sport and own one of those shirts.

 

But yes, I'd focus on the nWo, and as a side note, I'd talk about the emergence of Stone Cold Steve Austin, as him WITH the nWo, change Pop Culture as a whole, they really go hand in hand in this department if you ask me.

 

Sincerely,

...Downhome...

[Guest EI Cubano]

Getting a page out of that should be easy, fitting everything into one page should be a bitch. The boom of 1997 and the WWF attitude era changed quite a few things on your list, my take...

 

1. Time PEriod

2. Politics: Wrestling drove forward a new wave of attempted censorship with players like Pat Buchanan heavily involved and wrestling long time thorn-in-the-side Phil Mushnick throwing fuel into the fire. Numerous studies were done including a famous Indiana University (?) study that concluded that WWF RAW had exhorbitant amounts of simulated sex, cursing, profane hand getures etc.

3. Pop Culture

4. Social Interaction: Phrases like "thats the bottom line" became mainstream and the effects of wrestling on younger children came under fire as an increasing amount of elementary students began using the phrase "suck it" and doing crotch chops.

5. Entertainment

6. Fashion: An Austin T-shirt was sold every 40 seconds and a Bill Goldberg T-shirt was sold every 90 seconds. Austin 3:16 and nWo apparel became socially acceptable.

7. Sports:

8. Civil Rights: Certain groups became increasingly agitated as Vince McMahon pushed a "gang wars" storyline between a "gang" of millitant blacks, a stereotypical Mexican gang and a faction of bikers who were implied to be racist.

9. Families: Families became more divided as responsible (or overprotective, depending on your personal beliefs) parents began prohibiting their children from watching the show. As I have personally witnessed, the WWF in some cases actually brought the family together as it was something that could unite the entire family.

10. Education: School systems began banning certian WWF related gestures and slogans and many (specifically in Kansas) went so far as to ban WWF related apparel.

11. Medical Care(Medicine): A bevy of injuries were reported, including several deaths, as children mimicked dangerous wrestling manavuers on their peers.

12. Transportation:

[Guest Sykotic2002]

THanks alot El CubAno and to everyone who helped out.

[Guest Some Guy]

I don't mean to nit pick but Los Boriquas were Puerto Rican, not Mexican.  Great post though.  For civil rights you could expand to WCW and the Lenny and Lodi gay thing.

[Guest Sykotic2002]

What does GLAAD stand for?

[Guest El Luchadore Magnifico]

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

 

And good luck with your essay, Sykotic. I actually did my junior research paper on the boom and slow downturn of pro wrestling.

[Guest Zero_Cool]

Hey ELM, remember when you had talked about that Spanish report you had, where you and a friend did commentary on like a AAA match?  Haha...

[Guest El Luchadore Magnifico]

I WISH it was an AAA match. We ended up commentating on a HHH-UT match that was on Smackdown! The match was horrible, and it actually included UT grabbing HHH's crotch, which didn't exactly impress my Spanish teacher. It was loads of fun, though...