Sport v. Spectacle?
Sport v. Spectacle
The NEW Gladiator television show can in no way be considered a sport, much for the same reasons that Barthes considers wrestling a spectacle. It is aired on television pearly for entertainment purposes, and it works. Having this show on again brings many of us back to our childhood, where it was cool to be able to stay up late enough to watch the Gladiators, and then the next day reenact the show. Also it connects with many of our childhoods, because Hulk Hogan (a former WWF wrestler) is the announcer. The NEW Gladiator connects with the audience by making them feel like they, too, could be the next American Gladiator. They use everyday people to compete against the gladiators to help make the emotional connection with their audience. “Ordinary people fight the best athletes of their time,� this was an actual quote from the announcers.
Another reason that American Gladiators is a spectacle and not a sport is because of some of the things that the announcers were saying never would be even thought about in real sports. For instance; ‘Skater Dad Chad,’ and ‘He is usually putting out fires, but today he is going to have to start one.’ Also, even the tone that the announcers were using was very deep, and tough guy sounding, but when you are watching NFL or any other sport the announcers do not sound like that. During the show, there was also a lot of puffery being included by the announcers. For instance; ‘life changing event,’ a comparison about ‘David and Goliath,’ and ‘the biggest event in 2008!’