contradictions of the rules of Fight Club
There was a moment when boxing was really important to television, whether live or filmed or whether because it was sponsored by men's grooming products and even associated with specific nights in the week. And then it began to disappear into pay-per-view venues experimenting with use of closed circuit video or then onto some forms of cable television. Its usual association with some kind of legal or illegal wagering has always made it complicated and primarily gender-asymmetric and of course class, race, and culture has been a prime factor in the primordial animalism of human
blood sports.
But it has
come back, not as the satire that is professional wrestling, but as televised mixed martial arts or ultimate fighting performed by
both genders, with a seriousness that leaks into social media and cultures more used to having one-on-one bouts of weaponless fighting whose objective is not to kill one's opponent. It may be a result of losing that ability to fight according to our nuclear arsenal being able to eradicate entire civilizations, but it has become time again to end any media distribution of such brutality unless it is theatrical. It is a sad commentary on the state of the media that reality television, whether Cops or Real Housewives gets its best ratings due to episodes of fisticuffs. Notwithstanding that the
real costs of pugilism are evident across sports that create head injuries.
The war against media violence should be declared won/loss depending on which side you fall in terms of the use of weapons both small and massive, but in the short run, hand-to-hand combat as entertainment needs to lose its televisual presence, except perhaps around the Olympics, which in itself has managed to reduce that coverage in favor of other events. Maybe it will even have an everyday impact, reminding us that Fight Club was more of a psychotic delusion than something to reenact on social media.
Girl, 14, Shot Dead During Fight Stemming From Facebook Dispute
An argument on Facebook turned into a fistfight that was to be recorded and posted online, but it ended in gunfire that killed a 14-year-old girl and wounded two others in Alabama on Friday, authorities said.
Birmingham police said 14-year Kierra'onna Rice was shot and killed at around 5 p.m. in Birmingham after two males opened fire after Rice and several other girls met at a park to fight, NBC station WVTM reported. Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper told the station that some in the group planned to record the fight so video could be posted online.
The other two victims shot were in stable condition Saturday, police said. Police told WVTM they have suspects and formal charges are pending.
Fight Club purposely shapes an ambiguous message, the interpretation of which is left to the audience. Fincher elaborated, "I love this idea that you can have fascism without offering any direction or solution. Isn't the point of fascism to say, 'This is the way we should be going'? But this movie couldn't be further from offering any kind of solution."
At a time when most fighters let their managers do the talking, Ali, inspired by professional wrestler "Gorgeous" George Wagner, thrived in — and indeed craved — the spotlight, where he was sometimes provocative, frequently outlandish and almost always entertaining. He controlled most press conferences and interviews, and spoke freely about issues unrelated to boxing. He transformed the role and image of the African American athlete in America by his embrace of racial pride and his willingness to antagonize the white establishment in doing so. In the words of writer Joyce Carol Oates, he was one of the few athletes in any sport to "define the terms of his public reputation."