Media Notes

I just saw the new movie directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Wrestler , starring Mickey Rourke. If I had to summarize the aesthetic of this movie, I would describe Marisa Tomei's character giving Mickey Rourke a lap dance as he documents the wounds of a long and successful career in professional wrestling. Tomei then says, "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." She notes she's quoting Passion of the Christ not Isaiah 53, but she gets the point. Randy "the Ram", nee Robin Ramsinski is a sacrificial victim of a sort, bearing the griefs of a world that can't bear forgiveness and the burden of unconditional love. The movie also has political undertones, pitting the heroic Dodge Ram-driving Ram against an African-American named Bob who wrestles as the Ayatollah, carrying Iranian flag as his cheap prop. In these less immediately Iranophobic times, Bob is a car dealer in Phoenix, but in the ring, the assaults on his body and his expressions of disdain for the American hero still stir up primitive and orgiastic emotions in a crowd whose ancestors loved bull-baiting and public executions. The Wrestler is a reminder that the ritualized violence of the past remains a very present part of modern life, whose only enemy is compassion for the Other and the villain. I also think Aronofsky gets a real kick that his title character's signature move is the Rambam.

NBC is desperately trying to hype its new show, Kings about a "modern monarchy." Here's the web site. Yes, it's true. Hollywood has so run out of ideas that they're updating I Samuel. Who has the rights to that anyway?