O ’ Brien go further to explain how wrestlers perform certain social roles as villains or heroes , the purpose of these roles being that “ the audience immediately [ knows ] the role of the actor and what to expect from him [ sic ]” ( 116 ).
Sharon Mazer takes this examination further , positing that the audience is actually an active member of the performance : “ Instead of leaving passive onlookers in the dark , wrestlers , through their play , make spectators an integral and essential part of the performance ” ( 97 ). She points out that “[ t ] radition has it that a wrestler becomes a ‘ good guy ’ or a ‘ bad guy ’ because of the audience ' s response to him ” ( 108 ). Although it is true that the wrestling performance is completed by the audience ' s ’ participation , I think that there is more to say about the audiences ’ role in the spectacle . It has already been founded and discussed by critics that wrestlers perform social gestures in order to entice a reaction from the crowd . I would add to this discussion that the audience , as well as the wrestlers , is able to perform a socially constructed role . As we have seen , professional wrestling stages a performance , a spectacle of xenophobic stereotypes and images of American whiteness that exclude racialized Others , and now we will discuss how the audiences ' role in consuming and participating in this spectacle in also performative .
The question now is not , Why do fans who understand that wrestling is “ fake ” still enjoy the show ?— but , rather , What makes an audience cheer and often even imitate the social gestures that continue to structurally disempower them ? Souther discusses this disconnect , and how the crowd mentality is fraught with false consciousness , characterized by “ unquestioning loyalty to group authority and uncritical acceptance of the status quo , a status quo
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