| Opinion | Jan. 17, 2008 | 12:34 am |
Midget wrestling? Maybe NU does have a sense of humor
By
When I saw the headline “DU books ‘hardcore midget wrestling’ group” on the front page of The Daily Northwestern, I was furious. Where was the news about that delightful squirrel they featured two months ago? That’s what the people want to know. But I read on, and apparently this is what happened:
Delta Upsilon had an open rush event in which the Half Pint Brawlers – a professional midget wrestling company – performed a variety of stunts, including, but not limited to: Simulating sex, stapling dollar bills to each other and running between people’s legs. Wait, never mind, that last one is the squirrels again. But the first two totally happened.
The Daily’s headline implies that DU is being investigated by the university for hazing, a fact never fully backed up in the original story, because the event may have produced “mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment, or ridicule for the purpose of affiliation with a group, team, club, or their organization.”
But the media’s quick takedown of DU made it apparent that what’s actually at stake here is our own sense of superiority. I’m astounded at NU’s ability to whack itself off: Tucked inside The Daily’s Forum section was the finger-wagging warning that “There’s no place for such vulgar events at Northwestern,” and the gratuitous reminder that “Students at this university are known for their intelligence.” And let’s not forget the face on that FOX anchorlady (as Ron Burgundy would coin her) when she expressed her shock that such things could occur at Northwestern – “a prestigious university.”
Sure, midget wrestling isn’t a caviar tasting. It isn’t sophisticated, and it certainly doesn’t advance anyone intellectually. But, honestly, who cares? The wrestling was legal (at least according to criminal law, if that counts for anything) and performed by paid, trained professionals. Maybe it wasn’t tasteful, but does that make it a scandal? It certainly doesn’t make it hazing. Why isn’t anyone stepping back and saying, “Midget wrestling? Hilarity does exist!”
If I could make a living wrestling midgets, do you think I’d be wasting my time writing for NBN? Hell no. I’d be clotheslining Shelly Shortstacks before you could say “human growth hormone.” It seems that the Half Pints like what they do and have a sense of humor about their occupation. To clarify, Northwesterners, a sense of humor is when you can accept and make light of a situation.
Sure, it doesn’t sound that PC to advocate midget wrestling, but it’s also not fair to associate DU with the tainting of the entire Greek community. I mean, what exactly are other frats doing? Holding fireside chats on Dostoevsky? Inviting Renée Fleming to sing in their basement?
Besides, the best thing about the Greek system isn’t what it does right (you know, the rituals and the songs and the homoerotic tension as you accidentally brush your brother’s knee at chapter so very late at night…). It’s the parties where you serve alcohol to minors. Not that that ever happens at a school this elite, of course.
But I digress. What we need on this campus is more debauchery – and less of a stick up our $49,379-a-year ass. We are not better than everyone, and we are not above everything. So relax. The midget wrestling, it’s been done, so why not try ‘Bring a Homeless Friend to Work Day’? Switch the new sorority pledges’ door decorations? The fake nails will fly.
Of course, you can always start small by challenging a vicious squirrel to a sidewalk brawl. See, and you thought The Daily never taught you anything.
Turtle said,
January 17, 2008 @ 4:02 am
Lisa Gartner is by far the best journalist at this school.
Aaron said,
January 17, 2008 @ 5:02 pm
I think the reason why this event got so much media attention is that its the perfect example of how fucked up the Greek system truly is. Yes, it may be legal, but it’s not particularly funny. You mentioned giving alcohol to minors very casually as if its not a big issue. DU never had a very good reputation on campus to begin with, but the Greek system as a whole is just an excuse to drink excessively and to make trouble.
Turtle said,
January 17, 2008 @ 5:39 pm
Aaron, people like you make this world a significantly more intrusive and boorish place. Who cares if you think its funny? Were you there? These performers put on a great comedy act. Are you just assuming that midgets cant be good performers or comedians? Other people enjoy this, so why not let them watch it? No one is getting hurt, and this is what these midgets love to do. As for underage drinking, once again, don’t partake if you don’t want to. If you haven’t caught on, the idea here is freedom to do or not to do whatever you want, so long as it doesn’t bother others. I don’t understand how wrestling midgets or underage drinking is bothering you, except maybe you resent that other people are having a good time. Frats make this campus tolerable for the majority of students here. Mind your own business.
Aaron said,
January 17, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
Turtle, we obviously have very different views on the world, but let me argue your main point.
“If you haven’t caught on, the idea here is freedom to do or not to do whatever you want, so long as it doesn’t bother others.”
First off, underage drinking and midget wrestling does bother other people, even if you can’t comprehend why they would.
Secondly, even if they didn’t bother others, that DOES NOT mean they’re right. Underage drinking is not a good thing, neither is midget wrestling. Neither of them have make any beneficial contribution to society, but one could argue they do have a negative effect on society. Needless to say the DU pledges who watched “the show” will never forget the experience, and that’s probably not a good thing. Violence, even when fake, is not a good thing. You make the argument that it was all for entertainment, and that its people like me that make the world a more intrusive and boorish place. Well let me tell you, there are many many MANY great ways to entertain oneself besides midget wrestling and drinking until you can’t remember the night before. If that’s your idea of entertainment, then maybe it’s people like you who make this world a more disturbing place.
stick said,
January 17, 2008 @ 8:27 pm
The funny part of this article is you making fun of the Daily for frivolous reporting (squirrels! ha!), while a cursory search of your articles reveals scoops on “The five people you meet in discussion section,” as well as opinions on girls making out at parties, sexiling, and “what to eat when you’re drinking.” Hard-hitting reporting for sure.
It’s not all amusing irony, unfortunately. Your callous dismissal of those who question DU’s actions as having a “sense of superiority” is alarming. You don’t have to have signed up for an ethics class to realize that a “performance” involving mutilation and self-inflicted bodily harm is immoral, especially when those performing the acts are from a group that has historically been exploited and ridiculed because of a disability which is almost always accompanied by serious health problems. Would you have written this article had the midgets instead been strippers? I remember you’re a feminist because you disapprove of girls kissing each other at parties.
Of course, maybe I should just relax, remove the “stick up our $49,379-a-year ass” (is this a collective ass? This metaphor is more confused than a DU bro in a calc class), hand it to a midget, and have him beat himself over the head with it. We all need some entertainment, and who better to provide it than a psycho-dwarf.
All in the name of debauchery!
Tech said,
January 17, 2008 @ 9:00 pm
Aaron, it’s sad that you must criticize other people and their lifestyles to make a point. Just because you don’t agree with midget/dwarf wrestling doesn’t mean that it’s not contributing to society. You believe that it’s too violent and not worthy of your time, and that’s okay. But to try and say that people who enjoy and participate in the performance art of wrestling are hurting society is a very bold and pompous statement. It’s elitist and close minded people like you who complain and make a stink out of everything that they don’t agree with. Turtle may be right, maybe people get worked up about this because they resent the fact that they aren’t having fun. You can’t make everyone in the world think the way you do and to try and say that people who watch midget/dwarf wrestling are disturbing people shows just how unconfident you are in your own views. If you don’t agree with midget/dwarf wrestling, don’t participate in it, it’s that easy.
Turtle, I agree with everything you said, the question here is about freedom of expression. If it isn’t bothering anyone else or breaking the law, it’s a non issue.
Aaron said,
January 17, 2008 @ 9:27 pm
Name one way, just one, that midget wrestling is contributing to society. Forget midget wrestling for a second and look at professional wrestling. Look at all the professional wrestlers who have died prematurely due to the effects of their “sport.” Look at all the violent incidents that have occurred from people imitating the moves they see on TV. How dare you say that I am being an elitist! Violence in society is a real concern and should not be taken lightly by anyone. And by the way, to call people stapling dollar bills to others and then ripping them off and to call simulating sex acts “wrestling” is an insult to the actual sport that NU is very good at. Head over to Welsh Ryan Arena and watch Dustin Fox and company participate in actual wrestling. You know, the kind that has rules and doesn’t involve chairs. It’s a great sport and doesn’t exploit those who participate for the sick entertainment of others. I’m getting worked up about this because I despise exploitive violence. I have lots of fun in other ways besides watching people degrade themselves in front of others. It’s not a performance art; performance art is the opera or the symphony.
Aaron said,
January 17, 2008 @ 9:29 pm
And one more thing, I have NO problem being close minded about violence.
Jessi Knowles said,
January 17, 2008 @ 11:11 pm
Oh, man…he called you a FEMINIST, Lisa! You gonna take that?
Wait…isn’t it a woman’s right to strip if that’s what she wants to do? Likewise, isn’t it a midget’s right to beat somebody up if…OUCH.
Damn. Thinking to hard again – really difficult with this weak female brain, ya know? Guess I’ll have to go find a girl to make out with…
It may be tasteless, stick, but it’s my RIGHT.
Shayden said,
January 18, 2008 @ 1:30 am
Isn’t the preferred term “dwarf” or “little people”?
Several seasons of “Little People, Big World” has taught me that this is the real controversy.
I got your back, Matt Roloff. DUI and all.
Aaron said,
January 18, 2008 @ 1:37 am
The group called themselves midget wrestlers, so that’s the name I’m going with I guess.
stick said,
January 18, 2008 @ 1:45 am
Jessi, my article was in no way sexist. What a ridiculous suggestion.
In fact, I believe your argument that you have a right to make out with girls:
“Guess I’ll have to go find a girl to make out with…
It may be tasteless, stick, but it’s my RIGHT.”
Comment by Jessi Knowles
Your real disagreement is with Lisa, who argues in her article “Hot girl-on-girl action? Just say no” that straight girls kiss other girls because they are “desperately trying to get attention.” If I said something as inflammatory as that, I’m sure you would have a real argument towards my supposed sexism.
Those implications are false. I was criticizing the article’s attitude towards DU, which has nothing to do with anyone’s gender. Let me reiterate: I simply take issue when someone has no moral qualms against such an event as “psycho-midget wrestling.”
Delta said,
January 18, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
First of all Stick, your pot shot at a fraternity’s intelligence in order to make a point shows a bias towards greek life regardless of this incident. I would have to be “a confused DU” not to point out that the fraternity’s average GPA is higher than the NU Men’s average (and it has to be by national standards). Oops! Turns out frats are just as smart as everyone else.
As for Aaron, if you have beef with fake violence and somehow can connect DU’s show with society’s violence problem I’m sure you can share my outrage that Romeo and Juliet is a publicly performed play when it clearly has staged violence and may promote teen suicide. Think comparing the show with shakespear is off base? Oh did I mention Puppet the pycho dwarf went to shakespearian acting school but found that the only arena he wasn’t descriminated against based on height was staged wrestling?
Jeez people, get a life. As adults you should be more concerned with what you are doing with your life than belittling with others do with theirs.
Aaron said,
January 18, 2008 @ 2:20 pm
You know what would be refreshing, if people used their real names…
Delta, Romeo and Juliet is considered one of the greatest plays of all time. There’s a big difference between violence and exploitive violence. Clearly you have no clue about the difference. Just because “Puppet the psycho dwarf” went to Shakespearian acting school does not justify what he’s doing now.
Jessi Knowles said,
January 18, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
Hey stick man,
I do find straight girls making out with other girls in public for attention offensive – if only because it perpetuates the stereotype that lesbians are sex objects for men to ogle at.
However, they’re free to do what they please. I’m not about to take my personal distaste for it to the level of calling it immoral - it’s just my personal opinion.
And, again, if you have “moral qualms” with strippers or midget wrestling, that’s fine. It doesn’t make these activities illegal or universally wrong.
It seems that nobody in this entire affair has asked the midgets themselves what they think – it could very well be that the enjoy this kind of thing or find it empowering. Until somebody has been proven to be exploited, take your judgment elsewhere.
Tits McGee LAG said,
January 18, 2008 @ 4:16 pm
“…Neither of them have make any beneficial contribution to society…”
Hey Aaron, what benefits have you made to society lately? Thank you.
Unfortunately, you yourself are what people like me call a hypocrite. And don’t pull the “negative effect on society” up on me because quite frankly, that is an extremely close-minded opinion. And if I really gave it some thought I could come up with at least ten reasons on why you, an individual that I have never even met, has a “negative effect on society.”
Turtle said,
January 18, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
Aaron, I haven’t checked in in a couple days; lucky for me, I have a lot of material to criticize you with.
First of all, justify your claims. Just because you think certain things are immoral doesn’t mean they are. I think responsible drinking and responsible violence are completely beneficial to society. I would call trained stunt men a responsible form of violence. I am a huge advocate of learning martial arts and self defense, it is not surprising that the weak people such as yourself put a naive trust in society to protect them.
None of this violence is forced on anyone else. Many religions of the world, i.e. Buddhism, find violence to be a form of meditation. People like me don’t make the world more disturbing; people like me are the true practitioners of tolerance. People like you make unjustified moral judgments and try to force them upon everyone else. “There’s a big difference between violence and exploitive violence”? Any violence in entertainment is a form of exploitation, and thats OK. Who draws the line when its appropriate and when it isn’t? You, Aaron?
Another recent post of yours implies your opposition to professional wrestling. You know, runners and tennis players suffer a lot of injuries in their sports, too. Where do you draw this line? Or perhaps physical activity should just be made illegal to avoid injuries?
I’m sure as a stupid DU boy, I should just assume you’ve already read Nietzsche, but just in case, I think he explains you fearful oppressive morality quite well “yet all this, in its cold and unprejudiced interpretation, means nothing more than ‘once for all, the weak are weak; it is good to do nothing for which we are not strong enough’” Let people do what they want. If it doesn’t bother anyone else, mind your own business.
Aaron said,
January 18, 2008 @ 5:33 pm
How dare you call me a hypocrite? As you said, you’ve never met me. I like how everyone calls me close minded. I have yet to hear a convincing argument in FAVOR of midget wrestling.
Aaron said,
January 18, 2008 @ 5:41 pm
“I think responsible drinking and responsible violence are completely beneficial to society. I would call trained stunt men a responsible form of violence. I am a huge advocate of learning martial arts and self defense, it is not surprising that the weak people such as yourself put a naive trust in society to protect them.”
Too bad frats don’t practice responsible drinking. Drinking in moderation is fine, but that’s not what frats are all about and you know it. Responsible violence? What does that even mean? Martial arts and self defense are great, too bad these midget wrestlers were practicing neither. You call me weak because I don’t like violence and I trust society? No argument there, if that makes me weak, so be it.
“Any violence in entertainment is a form of exploitation, and thats OK.”
A very disturbing statement. As I’ve said before, violence for the sake of violence is NOT OKAY. Violence that’s part of a bigger picture (like in Romeo and Juliet) is fine.
There is a lot of evidence to show that professional wrestling is unhealthy for those who practice it. Runners and tennis players, for that matter all athletes suffer injuries. That’s a given. But premature deaths? Very rarely. The proportion of professional wrestlers who suffer premature deaths is way out of wack. Furthermore, I have no problem if kids imitate Roger Federer hitting a tennis ball. I do have a problem if they imitate people smashing chairs over eachother’s heads.
“If it doesn’t bother anyone else, mind your business.”
As you’ve seen with the Daily editorial and my comments, it does bother other people. I’m sure the parents of the DU brothers are absolutely thrilled this occurred.
Aaron said,
January 18, 2008 @ 6:29 pm
Oh by the way, it’s funny you call me weak. I’m the only one besides Jessi and maybe Shayden using my real name in this argument. Now who’s weak?
Justin said,
January 18, 2008 @ 8:41 pm
Haha great piece!
Tech said,
January 19, 2008 @ 11:02 am
Aaron, get a life. Find something better to do than checking a newspaper article every 20 minutes to see if you can argue with someone. We get it, you don’t like eploitative violence, sex, and whatever else you babbled on about. Chill out and mind your own business.
Dude, it sounds like you need to get laid.
Aaron said,
January 19, 2008 @ 12:50 pm
Mind my own business? Whose business is this may I ask? The story was on the front page in the Daily and was written about on NBN twice. If everyone minded their own business, comment sections like these wouldn’t exist, and journalism would be dead.
Aaron Is A Tool said,
January 19, 2008 @ 3:21 pm
Actually Aaron, this is the business of the midgets, the spectators, and the DU fraternity… interestingly, no one involved has any problem with it. And if people minded their own business, journalism would not be dead. People would write about important issues that affect our lives, civil rights, international affairs, etc, instead of intrusive bullcrap about celebrity gossip and which frat events the Daily approves of. But nice attempt at another entirely unjustified claim.
Aaron said,
January 19, 2008 @ 4:33 pm
And yet someone leaked the photos/video to the Daily…hmmm…maybe that person had a problem with it.
Emily said,
January 19, 2008 @ 6:57 pm
I’m actually just really curious how Aaron has time to post a comment every couple minutes.
Aaron said,
January 19, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
Well if you look at the times I posted, you would see that I do not post every couple minutes…
pomegranate buddy said,
January 21, 2008 @ 10:56 pm
Lisa Gartner, you amaze me. I love to read your stuff.
matt said,
January 31, 2008 @ 11:52 am
just to let you know midget is not the correct term for a little person. I have a question for all of you, would it be as funny (for yall) if the people wrestleing were not little people if they were just regular height people. All you people are doing is takeing advantage of there height.
kaitlyn said,
January 31, 2008 @ 10:29 pm
So this is what it takes to get Northwestern students all riled up? Duly noted…
Posh said,
January 31, 2008 @ 11:10 pm
Lisa Gartner, please keep writing. Thanks!
Page said,
February 3, 2008 @ 3:44 pm
Despite the article being written in the tone of someone who clearly worships Ellen Page’s character from Juno a bit too much, I generally agree with the content. Forget the low standard of moral conduct at Northwestern– how about the shitty sarcasm-meets-boorish writing style that our $49,379 university can’t nip in the bud?