It is a very rare thing to find a guy who can critically process a David Lynch film AND shift gears into the crazy world of professional wrestling which is now called "sports entertainment." But I am such a man and damn proud of it.
Yes, dear readers, tonight I'm going to check out the latest David Lynch epic Inland Empire and on April 9th I will be attending WWE RAW at The Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, CT which sits just along the polluted Long Island Sound. The last time RAW was held there a very well choreographed fight was done along the boardwalk involving John Cena and Edge which resulted in Edge being thrown into the Sound. What a carnage it was!
I'm also thrilled at going because I have 2nd row seats! Yes mofos, you may actually see me on TV, jumping up and down like a crazed maniac or waving a sign, as someone gets thrown through a table or hit with a steel chair. Now this is absolutely exciting and I'm doing all I can to stop myself from bouncing off the walls.
I hear some of you now:
Confused reader: "Why would you watch something so stupid? Don't you know it's fake?"
Me: "Yes it's fixed but it's still fun to watch and people do get seriously injured no matter how well planned this stuff is."
Confused reader: "So you want people to really get hurt?"
Me: "Not at all. I want them to stay healthy and I respect them as athletes and performers."
Confused reader: "I still don't get it, you're a weirdo."
Me: " I am indeed, but there is more to the tale."
Professional Wrestling as Family Tradition
My grandparents used to watch wrestling at Madison Square Garden when they were young and kept watching it until my grandfather suffered a stroke in 2000. I grew up with it and turned away from the mayhem when I got older and fancied myself an artistic snob. In fact, I remember my acting teachers spitting venom at these men and women because they were being lauded as actors or performers and it was an insult to the 
craft. "How dare they!" I would think to myself. However, it really wasn't an insult because none of us in there would be able to withstand the physical punishment these people go through day in and day out. Sure you can learn how to fall or land to minimize damage but if I pick you up and drop you a good 5 feet to the floor over and over, it's going to hurt no matter what you do. Is wrestling as highbrow as say, a Fellini film? No, but who says everything has to be? This error in judgment that my acting teachers and many of us "artistically minded" folk do is really 
steeped in our insecurities. We want to be perceived as highbrow and avoid the "bad" to project a highbrow image. Sometimes we do it to the point of depriving ourselves of fun.
It was in visiting my grandparents in the convalescent home after my grandfathers stroke that this ridiculous pastime came back into the picture. Only it wasn't ridiculous, it was fun just as it had been when I watched it as a kid. My grandfather, one side of his body paralyzed, speech 
slurred, and anger at his reduced state, would perk up when I brought up wrestling. My grandmother would also follow suit and they would want to know about the latest rivalries and so on. It became clear to me that a good distraction for them would be for me to watch RAW on Monday nights just as they did and come in each Sunday to update them. The other bonus to this is that I was transient and while my grandparents knew I was in trouble, they didn't know how bad. As long as people were taking me in and had cable to TV, I could focus their attention on something fun and not my 
own wretched state.
It worked, and once again I was hooked. Even when my grandfather passed away and my grandmother was brought backed to Puerto Rico to enjoy her final days, I was still hooked and remain so now.
And the result? Second row seats mofos!!!!
(DX taunt to all the fans that know what that is)
On Inland Empire
Sure I have to make a long trip back down to Stamford ,which is where I work and ialso the world headquarters of the WWE, but it's the only place showing it and for 1 week only.
I'm excited to see it even if it is a grueling 3 hours and will have a review up for it, but not on this blog. Ill let you know where and when I do.
I got hooked on David Lynch's work when I started watching the amazing Twin Peaks. What started out as a crush on Shelly the Waitress has ultimately progressed into something that has influenced me in my screenplays and taste in films. He's had an impact, a tremendous one, but will this film open new doors for me as a fan?
The answers, for you, when I return.
