Sheamus, Casual Racism and the Disconnect

Great White... Supremacist?
Photo Credit: WWE.com

Had it not been for the obvious real life things happening on RAW last night, the episode would have been remembered not for tragedy or for how people responded terrifically to it, but for once again, a terrible, awful pre-recorded comedy segment. I've actually come to grips with WWE running those segments, and hey, some of them can be good. However, that only works when the obvious "hero" in the segment isn't acting like a raging bigot.

I mean, Sheamus pretty much ragged on every racial and religious group last night except maybe Asians and the Inuit. It would be great if WWE were actually an organization made by the KKK and made for white supremacists. However, the company theoretically reaches out to every ethnic group, race and religion. Maybe that's going a bit too far, since it didn't seem malicious, but who the fuck am I to designate what a Jewish guy should or should not react to how Sheamus portrayed their religion? Same with the other groups he offended.

Some might say that the stereotypes were harmless, but shouldn't we be above using those outdated, outmoded, mostly negative and usually false identifiers for comedy? One might think so, but this is also the same writing crew that thinks having Sheamus defeat Alberto del Rio ad infinitum on pay-per-view is good feud building. Oh yeah, they also thought calling the guy "Great White" and not have him associated with sharks is warm and welcoming to everyone, not just, y'know, white people.

The sad thing is that he was in the right. David Otunga argued to have a move banned because Sheamus used it on a referee and it hurts people in matches. If we're looking to ban moves because they hurt, then what's left? The Worm? Kelly Kelly's stink face? Dancing? There needs to be some reasonable expectation that a move is going to be devastating and that you could get hurt. If anything, attacking a referee should be considered a rogue act, one that Sheamus was already given an "unprecedented" fine for, if one actually remembers. However, if this were actually in a courtroom, Sheamus' actions would have landed him in contempt, and not because he was outraged at being railroaded either.

I get that we're in the Seinfeld era now and that there are no such things as white knights anymore. Sheamus as a character has been rat vomit since he started feuding with Daniel Bryan to me, but last night's segment raises that character repugnance to new levels. It goes from "flawed hero" to "flat out exclusionary and possibly racist asshole". Whether it's what works to get crowds to cheer for him is irrelevant to the fact that WWE, a company that theoretically caters to people of all shapes, sizes, colors and beliefs, maybe shouldn't be presenting someone who makes fun of people for things for who they are inherently as a hero.