that leaves them underserved ” ( 274 ). As a recent example , large members of the WWE crowd chant in response to The Real Americans ’ catchphrase , “ We , the People !” and mimic the patriotic hand-over-heart gesture that usually follows the Pledge of Allegiance . The gesture invites a mimicked response that draws a visual comparison between U . S . patriotism and the Nazi appropriation of the Bellamy salute . The call and response mechanism between The Real Americans and the audience is an ugly reminder of how ideologies are spread contagiously throughout public and political spheres . Both the audience and the wrestlers participate in this image of the spectacle . Here it can be seen that an interpretation of the audiences ’ participation as a simple judge and jury , via cheering heroes and booing villains , is oversimplified , and that the audience performs not as individuals , but as a mass population that includes the wrestlers on stage and in the ring . This goes beyond booing or cheering ; it establishes the audiences ’ performance of hegemony in the United States .
Of course , a wrestling crowd in the United States is not a monolith of race , ethnicity , gender , or class . Research done by the Nielsen Media Research shows that WWE ’ s weekly program , Monday Night Raw , is “ USA ’ s [ television network ] most watched program among Hispanic viewers ” and “ the # 3 most watched program on ad-supported cable among Hispanic viewers ” (“ Company Overview ”). We could say that those fans chanting The Real Americans ’ catchphrase are only the white Anglo-Americans in attendance , but that possibility is doubtful . We could also chalk this phenomenon up to an occurrence of false consciousness on the part of any audience members imitating The Real Americans who may also identify with an ethnoracial minority group . However , I think it is
194