After my class presentation, a comment was given that provided the inspiration for this post. The comment was about Brock Lesnar’s post-fight speech at UFC 100. He flipped off the fans, and demonstrated poor sportsmanship. He taunted his defeated opponent and was bashing sponsors of the UFC. Here is a video showing a little bit of what happened. This is the only video I could find. The UFC has done a good job of eliminating all video of the incident from the web because they are embarrassed by it.
As you can see, Brock Lesnar took on the form of the villain. What makes the villain so popular? I think using wrestling as a comparison is helpful. Lesnar started out as a wrestler in the WWE. Wrestling is all about creating an audience through entertainment with hero figures and villain figures. Lesnar was considered a villain character and I think in making the transition from wrestling to ultimate fighting, he still has the “entertainer” mentality. Havrilesky’s article touches on how celebrities pull publicity stunts and do crazy things to cause attention because they know their celebrity status depends on their ability to be relevant. We are drawn to the villain as consumers because we love to hate, and love to watch while we hate. In Lesnar’s case, his background in the entertainment aspect of selling himself as the villain has led to lots of attention and money for him. His Pay-Per-Views constantly create huge gates and ticket sales. He has created this “bag guy” image which results in people wanting to tune in to watch him get beat, or to see what stunts he pulls after the fight.
I can remember wrestling as a kid. I was a big fan and followed the sport based on the heros and villains that generated the story lines I was amused by. The Rock is a wrestler who started as a villain. The things he did and the image he portrayed was that of the bad guy. He was constantly booed, but he was one of the bigger stars in wresting. As time went on, he became the hero. The fan base and buzz he built playing up this persona put him in a position where it was beneficial for him to switch his act up. The video below is from a time when The Rock is a good guy amongst the fans and is taking on the Villains of NWO. We are easily persuaded as fans and consumers. We don’t necessarily care who it is, but we need the good guy to root for and the bad guy to hate. Now, The Rock is capitalizing on his image by making Hollywood movies. We are drawn to the competition between good and evil. We want to see the good guy win, but if he doesn’t, it is still entertaining. It also gives us a reason to keep tuning in becuse we want to be watching when the villain gets what is coming to him.
