Readers sound off on ROH’s controversial interview segment

You have missed the whole point of the outrage over the NYC simulated rape. The point is, some things just aren't fit subjects for comedy—in wrestling or anywhere else. And rape is certainly one of them.

Mary Largen
Arlington, Va.

Powell replies: I definitely understand where you are coming. You believe any joke about rape is crossing the line and I respect that. I referenced the popularity of “Family Guy” because there are people sounding off on the ROH angle who don’t have a problem with the “Family Guy” bits I referenced, and I want to get a better feel for where they are coming from.

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I'm not really bothered by the Ring of Honor angle or “Family Guy,” but I suspect that if people are offended by ROH, it might have something to do with the fact that, unlike Quagmire, these are real people in ROH. Certainly, they're characters, just like Quagmire is a character, but “Family Guy” has the benefit of being complete fantasy in that they're animated.

I think it's similar to how some folks could watch "Dawn Of The Dead" and have no problem with the zombie gore, but they might be much more disturbed by watching "Saving Private Ryan," which perhaps doesn't go as far in its depiction of violence, but is about "real" people being killed.

It’s similar to how watching actual death on the news affects people more than either of those two movies ever could. There's levels of reality at play here. While we all know wrestling is a work, it's designed to have you believe in it in a way that “Family Guy” could never hope to achieve because it's less “real.”
 
Russell D.

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