Barbarians at the Gate

At the beginning of the year my roommate Jason and some other friends started "MITE Night" (MITE standing for "Most Interesting Thing Ever"), an informal lecture series. Every Thursday night, somebody gives a 15-minute presentation on their MITE topic, followed by 15 minutes of Q&A.

It's a great format. Any topic probably has at least 15 minutes worth of interesting stuff to it, and we've had a number of great MITE Nights covering everything from beekeeping to masonry to puppetry.

I wanted to give a "How to Fill Out A March Madness Bracket" lecture back in March, but submitted my proposal to the MITE Night committee too late to be scheduled. Last night, I finally made my MITE Night debut. The title of my presentation:

"I am a Real American: 30 Years of Patriotism and International Relations as Portrayed by Professional Wrestling"

It's probably safe to say I didn't steal the idea from anyone who was hoping to present in the next few weeks.

Turns out I was too ambitious, though: by the time I got through Sgt. Slaughter's infamous turn as an Iraqi sympathizer during the first Gulf War, my 15 minutes was almost up. I spent too much time on the likes of Nikolai Volkoff and Hacksaw Jim Duggan, and as a result I had to gloss over the snooty Canadians of the late '90s, post 9/11 anti-Muslim fervor, and the WWE's take on the immigration debate.

I did, however, make time to show a clip from this video, the awesome inspiration for my lecture's title.

One thing I knew going in I wouldn't have time to cover is the semi-related, long-running trend in pro wrestling of portraying characters as broad stereotypes based on the wrestler's country of origin (real or imagined), but in a nonpolitical way. Often, these characters are put forth as savages or simpletons, such as New Zealand's Bushwhackers, Samoa's Head Shrinkers, or Kamala the Ugandan Giant.

The man who played Kamala is actually a guy from Mississippi. Having an American pretend to be from elsewhere was a fairly common practice until the Internet came around and everyone knows the truth about stuff like that.

Wrestling promoters certainly weren't the first to assume the savagery of native tribes they encountered. This week's Sunday School chapters include a story of Paul being shipwrecked among "barbarous people" (Acts 28:2). As always, here's a link to what I've been studying to get ready for class. The word barbarian literally means foreigner, but has taken on connotations that probably make most people think of Head Shrinker-types when they hear it. Or, if you're a wrestling fan, you think of this guy.

If you were doing a MITE Night presentation, what would you give it on? What should my next topic be?