To Be Someone Must Be A Wonderful Thing

Mass recognition is not good in itself. To argue against celebrity, most people point to the string of reality stars that've appeared in the pop culture over the last few years. These television generated personalities appear to have no notable talent, add nothing positive to society, and are the entertainment equivalent of junk food. However, this is the most obvious target of anti-celebrity attacks. A simpler one - that I'm surprised more people don't mention - is the fact that criminals often become celebrities: Jack the Ripper is close to a modern myth, Charles Manson is a recognisable caricature, and Myra Hindley's image has been reproduced for exhibitions.

All that being said, I actually don't believe fame is bad in itself, either. Jack the Ripper wasn't a bad person because he became famous, it's because he had a habit of killing people. Celebrity is merely a state of affairs, and, the majority of the time, a simple product of good advertising. Celebrity is simple acknowledgement, and nothing more.

It's often believed that you're either going to be a star in wrestling ("superstar" is a copyrighted term), or you're going to be a purist. To put it another way: are you going to be concerned with being famous, or being a good wrestler? If you're going to have the most appeal, then you can't wrestle a style that is esoteric. The mainstream wants easily understood entertainment. This births the romantic notion of appealing to the "real" wrestling fans - the minority of people who'll applaud and become invested in even the most minor of details.

I'm not sorry to dispel this idea, but there is no "real" wrestling fan, just as there is no fake wrestling fan. The closest you'll ever reach to a true fan of the work are the people who've done the work - the people who've been on the mats and swapped sit-outs and switches. The "real" wrestling fan is the wrestler. (I'm fanatical about wrestling, that's why I do it.)

It's the uninitiated that buy the tickets, sit in the seats, and cheer and boo.

You are not automatically a bad wrestler by appealing to the audience. You are not automatically a good wrestler by being unappealing to the mainstream. Business and art are not mutually exclusive, they're independent. And people get bogged down in being different for the sake of being different, to see this sometimes.