THE POPULAR CULTURE STUDIES JOURNAL VOLUME 6 NUMBER 1 2018 Editor NORMA JONES Liquid Flicks Media, Inc./IXMachine Managing Editor JULIA LARGENT McPherson College Assistant Editor GARRET L. CASTLEBERRY Mid-America Christian University Copy Editor Kevin Calcamp Queens University of Charlotte Reviews Editor MALYNNDA JOHNSON Indiana State University Assistant Reviews Editor JESSICA BENHAM University of Pittsburgh Please visit the PCSJ at: http://mpcaaca.org/the-popular-culture- studies-journal/ The Popular Culture Studies Journal is the official journal of the Midwest Popular and American Culture Association. Copyright © 2018 Midwest Popular and American Culture Association. All rights reserved. MPCA/ACA, 421 W. Huron St Unit 1304, Chicago, IL 60654 Cover credit: Cover Artwork: “Wrestling” by Brent Jones © 2018 Courtesy of https://openclipart.org EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD ANTHONY ADAH FALON DEIMLER Minnesota State University, Moorhead University of Wisconsin-Madison JESSICA AUSTIN HANNAH DODD Anglia Ruskin University The Ohio State University AARON BARLOW ASHLEY M. DONNELLY New York City College of Technology (CUNY) Ball State University Faculty Editor, Academe, the magazine of the AAUP JOSEF BENSON LEIGH H. EDWARDS University of Wisconsin Parkside Florida State University PAUL BOOTH VICTOR EVANS DePaul University Seattle University GARY BURNS JUSTIN GARCIA Northern Illinois University Millersville University KELLI S. BURNS ALEXANDRA GARNER University of South Florida Bowling Green State University ANNE M. CANAVAN MATTHEW HALE Salt Lake Community College Indiana University, Bloomington ERIN MAE CLARK NICOLE HAMMOND Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota University of California, Santa Cruz BRIAN COGAN ART HERBIG Molloy College Indiana University - Purdue University, Fort Wayne JARED JOHNSON ANDREW F. HERRMANN Thiel College East Tennessee State University JESSE KAVADLO MATTHEW NICOSIA Maryville University of St. Louis Rochester Institute of Technology KATHLEEN A. KENNEDY PAUL PETROVIC Missouri State University Emmanuel College LARRY Z. LESLIE LAUREANO RALON University of South Florida Figure/Ground Communication KRISTINE LEVAN CARRIELYNN D. REINHARD University of Idaho Dominican University MATTHEW MIHALKA PHIL SIMPSON University of Arkansas - Fayetteville Eastern Florida State College LAURIE MOROCO SARAH MCFARLAND TAYLOR Colorado Mountain College Northwestern University CARLOS D. MORRISON RAYMOND I. SCHUCK Alabama State University Bowling Green State University Firelands SALVADOR MURGUIA MARYAN WHERRY Akita International University Independent Scholar ANGELA M. NELSON JUSTIN WIGARD Bowling Green State University Michigan State University CARYN NEUMANN SHAWN DAVID YOUNG Miami University York College of Pennsylvania MILENA POPOVA University of the West of England, Bristol SPECIAL EDITION EDITORIAL BOARD Professional Wrestling EDITORS CARRIELYNN D. REINHARD Dominican University GARRET L. CASTLEBERRY Mid-America Christian University CHRISTOPHER J. OLSON University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee REVIEWERS DAVID BEARD University of Minnesota at Duluth MATT FOY Upper Iowa University CHARLES L. HUGHES Rhode College JARK KARLIS Georgia College and State University DAN MATHEWSON Wofford College CATHERINE SALMON University of Redlands CONTENTS Editorial: Grappling with the Boundaries of Legitimacy 1 Norma Jones ARTICLES Dance with the Devil: Representations of Femininity, 4 Masculinity, and the Boss-from-Hell in Two Parallel Films ALANNA R. MILLER Brick-olage and the LEGO/Brand Axis 29 PETER B. GREGG Drunk and Diverse: Reframing the Founding Fathers 45 MELISSA SARTORE SPECIAL EDITION Professional Wrestling Introduction: Why Professional Wrestling Studies Now? 65 Legitimizing a Field of Interdisciplinary Study GARRET L. CASTLEBERRY AND CARRIELYNN D. REINHARD, WITH MATT FOY AND CHRISTOPHER J. OLSON Professional Wrestling Scholarship: Legitimacy and Kayfabe 82 EERO LAINE Squared Circle Intentionalities: What a Framework for 100 “Wrestling Studies” Can Look Like GARRET L. CASTLEBERRY Emotions Are Running High: Psychological Approaches to the 121 Study of Professional Wrestling CATHERINE SALMON A Critical Criminology of Professional Wrestling and Sports 138 Entertainment KAREN CORTEEN “I Learned Most of My Anatomy from WWE”: A Health 155 Communication Argument for Health-Related Studies of Professional Wrestling GABRIELA I. MORALES AND MARIO A. DOZAL The Ballad of the Real American: A Call for Cultural Critique 173 of Pro-Wrestling Storylines MATT FOY Analyzing Discourse in Sports Entertainment through Multiple 189 Modalities JOHN QUINN AND CAROLINA SILVEIRA The Well-Wrought Broken Championship Belt: Thing Theory 204 in Professional Wrestling Criticism J. H. ROBERTS AND DOMINIC SEVIERI Squaring the Circle: Removing Violence from the Equation in a 218 Quest for Excitement RASMUS BYSTED MØLLER AND THOMAS KLINTØE LAURSEN “My Guy or Girl in the Ring” and on My Newsfeed: A Study of 231 Viewers’ Uses and Gratifications of WWE Social Media JACK V. KARLIS Independent Professional Wrestling as Crucible for Research 251 into Masculinity JOHN HEPPEN AND DAVID BEARD The Unbeatable Monster and the Horror of Professional 269 Wrestling TIMOTHY BAVLNKA Redneck Rebel, The Governor, and The Syrian Sheik: Small 283 Town Wrestling in the Poor White South DAN MATHEWSON The Importance of New Japan Professional Wrestling and 298 Professional Wrestling in Japan: A Fan’s Perspective JOE BELFEUIL Twitter, Facebook, and Professional Wrestling: Indie Wrestler 306 Perspectives on the Importance of Social Media CHRISTOPHER J. OLSON SPECIAL SECTION Sexual Assault Awareness Month Introduction 317 NORMA JONES The Popular Culture Studies Journal Interview 318 JENNA QUINN The Popular Culture Studies Journal Interview 324 SARAH GREEN AND BERNADETTE MARKOWSKI Testimonies 329 ANONYMOUS REVIEWS 331 Introduction MALYNNDA JOHNSON Cheney-Lippold, John. We are Data: Algorithms and the Making of our Digital Selves. New York UP, 2017. Elise Taylor Gavaler, Chris. On the Origins of Superheroes: From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1. U of Iowa P, 2016. Alan Jozwiak Levitan, Dave. Not a Scientist: How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science. W.W. Norton, 2017. Zak Kizer Janak, Edward, and Ludovic A. Sourdot, editors, Educating Through Popular Culture: You’re Not Cool Just Because You Teach with Comics. Lexington. 2017. Danielle Klein, Shufang (Amanda) Yang, Alexis Egan, and Julie Parrish Tyma, Adam W. Beer Culture in Theory and Practice: Understanding Craft Beer Culture in the United States. Lexington Books, 2017. Niya Pickett Miller Chow, Broderick, Eero Laine, and Claire Warden, editors, Performance and Professional Wrestling. Routledge, 2017. J. Rocky Colavito Matysik, Larry. Drawing Heat the Hard Way: How Wrestling Really Works. ECW, 2009. Eric Kennedy Flahive, Liz, and Carly Mensch, creators. GLOW. Netflix, 2017. Kathie Kallevig Mamachas del Ring. Directed by Betty M. Park, My Tragic Uncle Productions, 2009. Nell Haynes WWE 2K18, World Wrestling Entertainment, 2K Sports, various editions, platforms, 2017. Bryan J. Carr Cornette, Jim, host. The Jim Cornette Experience. MLW Radio Network, 2013-present. Available on iTunes and MLW.com. Eric Holmes “Women’s Royal Rumble Match.” Royal Rumble 2018, created by Vince K. McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment, 28 Jan. 2018. Available on the WWE Network with subscription. Allyssa Golden ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS 373 Editorial: Grappling with Boundaries of Legitimacy NORMA JONES In the previous editorial, I wrote about how and why popular culture scholars are different. It is no surprise that we cross disciplinary silos and examine issues that may be traditionally outside of the boundaries set by the ivory tower. This, then, begs the following questions: what the boundaries around which we should study and how we should study those issues? For me, it is in these uncertain spaces that we, as popular culture scholars, should have the most impact. These, perhaps, uncomfortable spaces are our wheelhouses and our playgrounds. In them, we can help to break down some traditional silos that divide us, artificially. It is up to us to help use the tools of popular culture to not only understand elements of humanity, but also potentially help address issues that plague us. It is up to us to break the walls that silence. In other words, it is up to us to grapple with the boundaries of legitimacy. About this Issue You might notice that we have changed our format this year. Instead of a double issue presented during at the annual conference Midwest Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association conference, we will be releasing issues twice a year. The Popular Culture Studies Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1&2 Copyright © 2018 1 2 Norma Jones In this issue, Alanna R. Miller addresses cultural understandings of gender through two films. From there, Peter B. Gregg discusses LEGOs and brick-olage. Then, Melissa Sartori considers history and its relationship with popular culture. About the Special Edition - Professional Wrestling The concept of grappling with legitimacy is especially important when considering our special edition. When Garret Castleberry approached me about creating a special edition on professional wrestling, as a field of interdisciplinary study, I had these very thoughts of the boundaries of legitimacy and appropriateness in mind. Just like our previous, award- winning, special issue regarding popular culture and autoethnography, we have an opportunity run to (as Bob Batchelor put it) a new space in popular culture studies. We