This is like the anti-Batman forever. Rarely is the male anatomy so ridiculously mangled. I understand being conservative, but this is just going to confuse young boys more than anything. Has being careful gone overboard -DF
WrestleMania's lead-in: 'Nipplegate'
Scott Maxwell | TAKING NAMES
March 28, 2008
Anybody who's ever seen a professional wrestler knows their bodies don't look like most folks'.
But the wrestlers featured on a massive sign in downtown Orlando look So that's what steroids do.... © Orlando Sentinel
They're missing nipples.
Yep. John Cena, Triple H, Randy Orton and even Big Show. All nipple-less.
And Ken-like.
Even more unsettling is the fact that government is partly responsible for the missing areolas on the banner that hangs on the side of the Lynx office building, facing Interstate 4, and promotes this weekend's WrestleMania.
Mayor Buddy Dyer claimed to have the, um, skinny.
"Apparently there's an ordinance that prohibits them from being displayed," he said.
"For men's nipples?" I replied, immediately becoming uncomfortable about discussing such a thing with Buddy.
He shrugged, saying, "It does seem a little overboard."
It turns out, it was.
There is, in fact, no city law that bans the display of male chests. In fact, the exact same image can be spotted -- with nipples aplenty -- on Lynx buses.
Comparing the two pictures is like playing a disturbing game of "Spot the Differences."
What happened, said a similarly uncomfortable city spokesman, Carson Chandler, was that city staffers asked the WWE and folks to create banners that weren't too provocative. And somewhere along the way, the nipples were airbrushed out before the giant sign reached Orlando.
Yes, airbrushed . . . which at least means they didn't involve hubcap-sized pasties.
The art of wrestling
Buddy's "Nipplegate" chat actually took place at the WrestleManiArt event Wednesday night at City Arts Factory downtown. The event was meant to kick off the week's worth of wrestling festivities in a sophisticated fashion -- by mixing wrestling with art and hors d'oeuvres.
Among the sights and scenes:
*An extensive silent auction (benefiting United Arts) that included many pieces by wrestler Jerry Lawler. Some were of Lawler himself. Some were Christmas scenes. And some were just plain random -- such as the one of an older gentleman in a checkered shirt that had a Post-it note below it that read, "This is a drawing of my girlfriend, Renee's, grandfather."
*WWE CEO Linda McMahon, thanking Buddy for visiting her headquarters in Connecticut to court the event last year, noting that he is the only mayor in the country to have done so.
*Central Florida Sports Commission leader John Saboor showing he knows just how to praise the people in the room -- and not offend those who aren't -- by describing Dyer as "my favorite mayor . . . [slight pause] . . . of the city of Orlando."
ANTI-GAY RHETORIC FALLS FLAT
If the folks pushing to add a gay-marriage ban to the Florida Constitution hope to win over many people, they'd better change their strategy. Because the angry, rhetoric-filled effort they tried out Thursday in Orlando fell flat.
In fact, during a debate before the bipartisan -- but often conservative-leaning -- Tiger Bay political club, the only widespread applause came after an opponent of the ban questioned the true motives and impact of the so-called "marriage protection amendment."
"You do not protect your marriage in any way by taking away other people's rights," said Nadine Smith, the head of Equality Florida.
Smith argued that the amendment could actually infringe upon the rights of unmarried couples -- both straight and gay -- when it comes to things such as health care and end-of-life decisions.
Her other primary point was that banning gay marriage seemed unnecessary, seeing as how it's already banned in Florida. "The day before this election, same-sex couples can't marry," Smith said. "The day after this election, same-sex couples can't marry."
Amendment supporter John Stemberger, with Florida4Marriage, responded by calling Smith's points "pathetic."
And when pressed to explain why Florida needed to outlaw something that's already illegal, he began warning the crowd about "activist judges" -- and even "Governor Live-and-let-live" (his nickname for Charlie Crist). In struggling to give reasons for Floridians to rally behind him, he resorted to describing statements from Rosie O'Donnell as a threat to the "common good of society."
Stemberger is capable of being personable. But when he stepped on stage Thursday, he came across as precisely what many people already think amendment supporters are: angry, fear-mongering and anti-gay. And while that may play to the many people who already agree with him, it's not going to win him new support.
Scott Maxwell, who may have nightmares about his lengthy nipple discussion with the mayor, can be reached at smaxwell@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6141.
|
