Cristian Critism of "The Wrestler"

Note: Plenty of spoilers. I recommend you not read this if you think you might see "The Wrestler." If you are sensitive to nudity in movies, read the blog and do not watch the movie.

I watched "The Wrestler" last night. The movie advertised itself as "deeply affecting" and this was true. It started much like a documentary, simply chronicling the sad state of the wrestler. But the first half of the movie did not create much sympathy in me. It would suck to have been a famous wrestler then to be reduced to playing in small events but it seemed honest work. Randy the Ram was a part of a community that liked and respected him, it would matter to much to me that he no longer was a super star.

The strip club scenes were perhaps gratuitous but the director did an excellent job of making the Pam character a female equivalent of Randy. I would not wish Pam a better stripping career but can sympathize with the feeling of helplessness associated with aging and not being able to perform. My sympathy for Pam bridged to a sympathy to Randy. It was also touching to see that Pam and Randy did share a sincere friendship.

Yet, it was Randy's relationship with Stephanie, his estranged daughter, that was "deeply affecting." Absentee fatherhood is a serious American issue and the damage it does was very well represented. Understanding how it would change someone's life to be able to love and be loved by a long lost father broke my heart with caring and hope. I could also hope that the movie would not end in failure because Randy seemed too worn out and used up to screw it up... which did not end up being the case.

Jonathon pointed that Randy failed because "he could not give up his 80's rock and roll lifestyle." There is some truth to that and a night of sin did put him in a situation to fail his daughter when she was started to trust him. But that is not why Randy was destroyed. It was not sin that was his destruction but a lack of faith. When his daughter expelled him for his failure Randy was offered another saving grace in Pam but he refused to believe that there was a saving love outside of the ring.

The troubling part of Randy's decision is that there is a fair chance that he would have survived the match. He could have lived, lost Pam and Stephanie and gone back to his trailer alone. Really from an eternal perspective it didn't matter if he died in the ring or a month or decade later. Anytime left living without faith in the grace given him would have been the front porch of hell. Of course if he lived there is always a chance for him to receive grace but the film as a time-line did represent how a person could choose their own damnation.

My heart goes out to Stephanie because she too refused to believe in the grace given her. If she could have forgiven her father, endured through the hurt she could have saved her father and herself, too. The consequences of her refusal, though understandable, went beyond simply her life.

Less meaningful comments:
I loved the ridiculous nature of the wrestling: the bad guy begging, arguing with the ref. It was very silly.
Who in the heck is Micky Rourke?