Musings on The Wrestler (spoiler alert)

Hey all, it's been a long time since I've rapped at ya (copyright Jim Anchower and The Onion) but I had some thoughts about The Wrestler that were too extensive for LOV posting, plus, the Twins game doesn't start for about an hour.

A few preilmenaries:

1) 4.5 out of 5 stars; a solid A-; 9 out of ten; 1.75 thumbs up (actually relevant to the movie I suppose)

2) Great 80's hairband soundtrack; although I disagree with the Kurt Cobain hatred (completely understandable though considering Robin and Pam's ages in the movie)

3) Before this year, I was always torn between Darren Aronfsky and Paul Thomas Anderson . Requiem for a Dream is pretty much tied with Boogie Nights as my all time favorite movies. Pi and Magnolia are up there in the top 50 as well. Punch Drunk Love was alright
*Fun fact: Aronofsky was set to do the orignal Batman remake in 2002 and was about to sign Christian Bale on to play Batman before things went to shit and the project failed (per wiki). I love the last 2 Batman movies, but I would love to see Aronofsky's take on it as well. But also per Wiki, Aronofsky will be doing the Robocop remake, which I'd buy that for a dollar

*But I digress, that close race has been easily resolved in my mind this year. Darren Aronfksy >>>>>>>>PT Anderson. Personally, I found TWBB boring as hell; well acted, sure, but the plot stalled and was way to drawn out. Great acting to be sure and a few powerfull moments0....but you could say the same for Gangs of New York (DDL again) which again, was far too long and quite boring.

4) The Wrestler, on the other hand, was solid gold. I don't see it as a Mickey Rourke comback, though, since I loved Sin City and thought 2005 was his comeback year.
-Since cmkod is out of town until tomorrow (and for anybody outside of LOV who happens to be reading this, unlikely i'm sure...that's my wife) I started wondering if it is worth renting again or buying for her to watch.

-A bit of background: my dad and grandpa (now deceased) were huge wrestling fans when I was young. This, of course, led me to become a huge wrestling fan when I was young (approx. 1985-1990). I loved the Hulk, Tugboat, Junk Yard Dog, Andre the Giant, the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiose, etc.
-I always knew wrestling was fake, although some kids at my school dilusionally thought it was all real and argued quite passionately about it (dipshits true....but i was as well because....). While knowing it was fake, I assumed nobody ever got hurt during matches. Now that I am over 10 years old, I see the physical toll WWF took.
-What I much later came to realize was the steroids, painkillers, etc. that most of these people had to take to do their job. Anybody who has read this far (thanks cmkod!) likely knows how many ex-pro wrestlers have died young
-but this brings me to my final point, #5

5) I think the lessons of pro-wressling and this movie are not confined to the WWF/WWE/NFO/whatever the 3 word acronym may be
-I consider myself to be a pretty compassionate person, and I think I have a strong sense of empathy (and sympothy....although technically I "emphasize" more often than not, as does everybody....yet sympothize is more commonly used; there I go rambling again.)
-anyhoo; my point is that very few sports fans (almost none) really "care" about the individual members of the teams they follow. At least when it comes to health related issues (random acts of violence or God are a different story, and addressed later)
*Lets use drunk kod as an example: Kenechi Udeze was a 1st round draft choice by the Vikings in the 2004 draft. He did a solid job (not great, but good enough to justify the pick to fans) until he was diagnosed with Lukemia. When that diagnosis came out, fans were 100X more concerned with our offensive line than with his long term health (and his family). I'm not judging here, I was the same way.
*When Korey Stringer died in training camp.....fans were far more upset about his loss of production than the terribly untimely death of a young man (again, not passing judgment, I felt the same way)
-It seems like the only time the press and fans really take stock is when a player is killed outside of their individual sport. Malik Sealy for example, or Darrent Willaims....or even when it is self imposed like Len Bias.
-Finally, we hear stories about NFL players (mostly NFL) who will forever be paying the price for their time on the field (concussions. back/knee problems, etc.).....but fans do not care about those long term health issues, we just want to see the opposing QB knocked the fuck out. Or, if it is our ex-QB who can't count to 10 anymore, we want to see them at least have brought us into the playoffs for their efforts/disability.
6) Back to the original point; The Wrestler does a powerful, yet very subtle job at tackling this issue. Listen closely to the Rams' speech right before his final match, and then watch him press on knowing that going all out will kill him (ignoring his opponent's pleas to end it now and save his life).
-And one more final point:
7) Marissa Tomei looks old and beaten down in the movie, but her breastesses and body in general look fantastic!
P.S. I'm a huge Springsteen fan....but not as crazy about the soundrack as SG