The complaints over 'unrealistic' angles

[JPopStarKami 0]

I've been reading a lot of complaints that the finish to the last RAW was unrealistic and enough to ruin the entire show, and I have to say I realise that there's a LOT of stuff that one could consider 'unrealistic'. Think about it.

 

The Undertaker has a lot of crazy and supernatural and over the top angles (he comes out of a _flaming coffin_ at Survivor Series once, and let's not get into this...)

 

 

Yeah, there was a camera there too. There are cameras EVERYWHERE. Okay, I suppose the 3 camera shoot does make it worse, but my point is there's cameras that have been the witness to 'attempted murder' before and nobody's done anything. Think about it. This most certainly wasn't the worst of them. Kane and Undertaker once 'shot flames' at each other. And how about Y2J's debut and return? Who did he get to put up all those mystery vignettes for him? And then there's Mae Young's pregnancy, I think you know where that ended up...

 

If you think hard enough about it, everything in wrestling has some degree of unbelievability to it. I just don't understand why people are complaining this much about a crazy angle that supposedly 'ruins' an otherwise awesome show, the best RAW in years.

 

It's a TV show, they've done way worse and far more unbelievable stuff before, why can't we all calm down and enjoy it?

[franchise632 0]

Its a matter of degrees....some people are willing to suspend their disbeliefs for many things....to complain about cameras picking things up in wresting is a point that is so overly made...if there weren't cameras then there is no show. Its just part of the way things are. A lot of people are just really tired of the "he just barely escaped with his life when 'wrestler x' tried to run over 'wrestler y' but he was able to just get away". In some ways I think people are just tired of them going to the well so many time and knowing that it never really pays off. I think it could have been just effective had JBL left him laying with the tire iron shots.

[cabbageboy 0]

See, the difference is how absurd and unrealistic it is. The Undertaker going out and doing a satanic mass with human sacrifice...that's not exactly something that you see every day. So the viewer can thus suspend realistic expectations and go with it and have some silly enjoyment.

 

Stuff like Cena/Bradshaw from this past Raw? It's very possible in real life for a guy to kick the shit out of another guy and try to run him over with his car, and if you do this with a video camera taping it you will obviously be caught and do serious prison time.

[LuckyLopez 0]

As far as the cameras thing for me at least its a matter of internal continuity. If you want invisible cameras, fine. I can suspend disbelief enough to play along just like I play along with the relative lack of legal action for really screwed up stuff. If you want to acknowledge the camera men, great. I'm happy to work with reality with you. Its going back and forth whenever it suits your means that drives me insane. Its just lazy and poor storytelling. WWE wants to be treating like any other TV show but I can't think of any TV show (with the possible exception of soap operas which are deemed the lowest form of TV by many) that would be allowed to change up the basic laws of reality within one episode just to avoid having to explain things. Or a segment like the Cena/JBL thing where a camera man clearly follows Cena out to the parking lot and then it converts to a 3 camera shoot that includes camera angles from places that just make no sense within the reality world of WWE.

 

24 and Lost can stretch the storytelling devices because they exist fully in a world of fiction. But WWE embraces reality when it suits them and uses it. So they simply don't get the play by the same rules. If they wanted to just tell a fully dramatic story using the common tools of TV and film that would be one thing. But they want the best of both worlds and complete freedom to do whatever they want.

 

And as far as unrealistic stories go, I don't see the point in listing past ones to excuse it. Those annoyed me too. They are the constant low points of wrestling, IMO. Any time WWE, WCW, TNA, or anyone else has just gone over the top in a situation that didn't play out logically or have any kind of natural affects just turned me off. If they don't others, so be it. But as was said they could have conveyed the same basic message in plenty of ways without making it unbelievable. They just wanted to go for the gusto and IMO it ruined the story by being over the top and ridiculous. Its the same sort of criticism I'd lobby against any TV show or film that did something similarly over the top.

 

I can't "calm down and enjoy" something that I don't enjoy. I'm simply not capable of enjoying such poor drama in such a poorly constructed universe. Let alone unbelievable production techniques that take me out of the story. I wouldn't on Lost either.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

A more effective way would have been to keep just one camera, show JBL's initial attack, have JBL screaming that the camera be turned off and as the camera backs away JBL goes to his car and ALMOST runs him down, stopping just short and getting out and basically saying "I could have done it, I really could have" and just walking away as the show fades out.

 

That would have worked better and wouldn't have involved "OMG! The two cars collided and Cena barely escaped" and it wouldn't have had the three camera shoot that included an angle pointed from Cena's POV.

[MillenniumMan831 0]

JBL could have also threatened that Cena wouldn't be so lucky at the parking lot brawl at the Bash.

[Papacita 0]

Honestly, I would've been ok with the multiple camera angles if they didn't go for the Cena POV shot with the car headed towards him. It's not even a matter of being nitpicky, but that sort of thing is jarring when you're trying to maintain the belief that you're watching a live sporting event.

[Diamonddust 0]

I do miss the old days of how they'd actually explain why a camera was backstage to capture a beating. They'd explain it as if, for example, the Horsemen hired the camera crew to document the mayhem in order to send a message or something along those lines.

[Atticus Chaos 0]

The Vickie/Edge/Wedding planner angle struck me as unrealistic. It didn't seem like a regular invisible camera, just one HHH had planted in edge's hotel room. But then that raises the question of why HHH is going around putting cameras in wrestlers hotel rooms. Does he usually do this? Is he a pervert?

 

Maybe if he'd said 'I've suspected Edge of having an affair for a while so I planted a camera to catch him in the act.' it would have made more sense. But it just seemed like HHH usually films Edge and just happened to come across footage of him and the wedding planner.

[Darth Pipes 0]

Excellent complaints about the cameras being in certain places. I agree. In the past, we've had cameras filming Kane threatening to light RVD on fire and Bischoff forcing Linda McMahon to kiss him. Yet the cameraman just sits there and let's a crime take place. You see, this is the one thing I liked about David Crockett from the old NWA shows. When Tully Blanchard slapped Baby Doll in the face, he actually charged right after Tully. He's the only one who injected some realism into the role. In wrestling, an announcer or wrestler can watch someone stabbing someone else and do absolutely nothing.

 

Another example...remember that whole "Lita is pregnant" angle? They shoot a backstage segment where she's talking to another Diva and saying she wants to keep things a surprise from Matt Hardy. Yet if she wanted to keep things a surprise, why say this in front of a camera? A week later, Matt still doesn't know what she's talking about despite the fact that it was broadcast last week on Raw. Stupid.

[The Niggardly King 0]

Eh, if anything there needs to be more unrealistic angles. I want 20 cameras in place for the next beatdown backstage segment, or "random" ambush. I want so many quick cuts that I don't know what the fuck is going on.

[Thanks for the Fish 0]

I agree completely with Lucky(and others), it's switching between invisible camera and visible camera that is infuriating. Sometimes when two wrestlers are sharing "a secret" we're supposed to recognize that there is supposed to be no camera there and all the other wrestlers simply cannot tivo and watch the show later and see it (for some crazy-assed reasoning), while other times wrestlers know the camera man is there and play to the camera or even acknowledge the camera man's existence. Don't even get me started on the "wrestlers eye view" camera. It's utterly ridiculous and usually causes me to turn off the television in disgust.

 

 

[Chazz 0]

I remember when The NWO tried to kill The Rock in an ambulance with Hogan slamming into it with a semi going full speed. On the next television show, Vince McMahon announced that in agreement with whatever state they were in's District Attorney, they would have to deliever a public apology in lieu of any jail time or fines. Attempted murder and thousands worth of damage to a city ambulance, and all they got was they had to publicly apologize? Gotta love pro wrestling's version of the justice system.

[jackmcmanus21 0]

these kind of angles can be pulled off if they are done well. If they were going to hit Cena with a car, at least have him looking hurt like 3 weeks after. He came out on RAW absolutely fine...it was irritating. In the old days, Ricky Steamboat would get hit with a ring bell and sell it for 6 months.