This just in: if you murder your wife and child, you get a three-hour television tribute!
Watching Inside Edition this morning (give me a break, I’m a grad student on summer vacation… at least I’m awake before noon), they shared that the wrestler Chris Benoit had murdered his wife and child, then took his own life. After Vince McMahon came out with the announcement, he condemned yet another incidence of brutal, deadly violence against women and children the station aired a three-hour tribute to the guy. According to the show, his wife had already complained of being battered by her husband. One wrestler (Steve Austin, I think?) says, “I have nothing but respect for Chris Benoit… I love you, Chris.”
The WWE is saying that they didn’t know about the causes of death when they aired the special, and they’ve since removed all Benoit merchandise from their site (again, they say - I haven’t verified this). One has to wonder if this is actually the case, though, or if the WWE is just back-pedaling; some reports say that other wrestlers’ wives, such as Steve Austin’s ex-wife Debra Marshall, have also been the victims of domestic violence but that their assaults have been hushed up.
Even more disturbing, perhaps, are some of the remarks when you do a quick search of technorati for Benoit. Responses have been somewhat mixed, with some folks condeming his actions and others, like this blogger on Myspace, saying that
Just because he did something alwful [sic] like that doesn’t undo all the wonderul [sic] things he did for the WWE and the wrestling business.
…Pardon? Others have more complex responses, such as this blogger who concludes that, regardless of what made Benoit go apeshit and kill his family, the WWE needs to have a stronger stance against both drug abuse and domestic violence, and I absolutely agree. I’m curious what the company will do to address the violence against women that seems to be pretty rampant among its star employees, and is now starting to result in women being killed. I’m guessing, rather than taking this on as a major issue, it’ll look at Benoit as an isolated incidence instead of the larger problem that the company seems to have with its employees, you know, beating on women. Ugh.
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The criticisms of my students would serve as a good warning to visitors of Seeworthy: she talks too fast, she's too hard on us, she assigns too much work, and you have to be a dyke to get a good grade.
In other words, I'm a big, fat, queer, feminist meanie, and I am totally out to get you. Graaagh!
I do think its the case that they put the tribute together before the were aware of the circumstances around their deaths and the WWE has been quick to back peddle as soon as more was learned. I’m actually a wrestling fan and I’ll tell you without a shred of irony that Chris Benoit was my favorite wrestler. I’m horrified at what he did but it also seems increasingly clear to me that this whole case is very complicated without much in the way of easy conclusions. That said, there are clearly things the wrestling community needs to do in response to this. I’d suggest that making a man they saw as a friend and respected peer out to be a monster would send the wrong message. When we, as a society, do that it only serves to make such awful crimes more removed, unreal. It gives people an out, to tell themselves “Well, I’m not a monster. That’s not me.” as the continue down the road that led to this awful conclusion. Horrible crimes can be committed by good people. Thinking that these acts are just done by “others” only fuels the deluded mindset of people at risk for desending into such violence.
One thing the wrestling community needs to do is increase awareness of domestic violence and respond as a community to declare this to be unacceptable. This is really a major problem in sports, too, so wrestling has a chance here to lead on this issue and hopeful others will follow. Men in environments like this need to step up and be a part of the solution and I think wrestling has a unique opportunity to take that message to their fans as well, who are often just to kind of people who need to hear this. Dehumanizing Chris Benoit would fail the effort to get people’s attention. They should not detach themselves from it, but rather use it as an opportunity to engage. This man was their friend. Someone they respected. He is the man who did this. That shouldn’t have to mean accepting what he did. Rather, it should give his actions an immediacy that might allow them to better look at themselves and their behavior.
This is more than domestic violence, too. The details I’ve seen suggest a man consumed by depression and mental anguish but who refused to talk about it, refused to do anything about it. There is a social stigma with men about seeking help for their mental health, and I’m sure that is especially strong in such a male-centric environment as wrestling or sports. That culture needs to change. Keeping it inside isn’t okay. Lashing out at your loved ones isn’t okay. His friends and fans both can learn that they need to seek help. Depression is especially a problem in wrestling, and often the first anyone learns of these problems is in suicide. Its happened again and again. Something has to be done. This tragedy can show people that its not just themselves that they hurt by refusing to get help. Death has become so present in the lives of wrestlers. Its unimaginable how often they must deal with the deaths of their still young peers. On top of an already stressful lifestyle, it pushes people past a breaking point. Pushes them to hurt themselves and to hurt others. We need to address that in our society, and WWE can do something to address that in their community. Washing their hands of this isn’t the appropriate response. Silence is no longer acceptable. At long last, hopefully they can see this and make changes. They can remember and honor the memory of their friend. They can respect what he accomplished and what he taught so many others in his industry. They don’t do this by ignoring his memory. They don’t do this by ignoring what he has done. They can this by remembering the good in him and learning from what happened to be more aware of the problems they face themselves and being more active in responding to it than Chris was. You can’t hope to make sense of this all, but they can honor their friend by making changes in their lives. I really hope they do.
You probably should do your own research before posting your conclusions about things you see on other blogs. If you actually went and read the complaint (from 4 years ago), Nancy said she was concerned because Chris threatened to destroy some furniture. If you actually looked at the timeline of information, you would see that no one was calling this a murder/suicide on Monday night. You seem to have jumped to conclusions unwarranted by evidence easily available to you in the time it took you to type this post.
Molly,
How long ago the complaint was filed doesn’t matter. Likewise, I can easily see how amped-up, raging asshole threatening to smash furniture and belongings to bits could easily terrify a woman… because once all the furniture is smashed, it’s obviously the woman who’s the next step. After all, we’re just property, right? (And before you counter that… he did murder his wife like she was his to dispose of. That’s a pretty clear indication of his regard for women.)
I didn’t jump to conclusions. The conclusions were pretty much already there, and I just elaborated on them. I’m not into wrestling much (the whole Hulk Smash!!! thing never appealed to me), so I relied on some wrestling fan sites. I apologize if I offended your gentle sensitivities.
Only not really. And none of your comment addresses (as BStu’s eloquently did - thanks, BStu!) the issue of drug abuse and domestic violence within the larger WWE framework. Nice try, though.
Only not really.
Molly, I can tell you loved Chris Benoit. I did, too. He was an extraordinary performer, genuinely without equal in his field. I will remember that and I hope we all, in time, can remember and honor that part of his legacy. We won’t respect his memory, though, if we cannot be honest about the totality of his life in the face of its tragic end.
Nancy Benoit’s police report is a telling and very valid thing for Sheana to bring up, and the conclusions she drew from it are more than fair. Sure, the complaint was withdrawn after she reconciled with her husband. This sadly a common event in abusive relationships.
I believe Chris Benoit suffered from depression and I believe that this played a part in his abuse, but coming to understand the issues he struggled with and failed to overcome requires us to be honest with ourselves. It is fair to assume that he was, at the least intermitently, abusive towards his wife.