Blog 2 Robert Glasson 9/26/17

            I want to pause for the moment on the ideas of front of stage and back of stage. Having not heard the concepts expressed in such a manner is a large part of why I want to look deeper into them. I have more commonly heard and seen the ideas of the social penetration model aka the onion model, aka the ogre model. To me these ideas are simply expressed by what people can see when they engage with you and what they cannot. Deeper is the notion that the interactions between what they do see and their perceptions are what creates the reality in which both parties engage.

            For me personally I am a huge professional wrestling fan. Yes WWE/WWF depending upon when people have interacted with it. And yes, I know that it is fake. But that leads me to the concept at hand. With professional wrestling being fake we are left with a performance of the company showing the watchers what they want them to see with keeping other parts hidden away. That is only the surface level however, the deeper level is the metaphor of being able to look at the moves that are put on in the ring as another instance of front or stage vs back of stage. In that the moves are all designed to appear to those watching from the front of stage like they are damaging and extremely impactful, where those people who are in the back of stage know that the moves are carefully created and executed to protect both performers in the ring. The final level to this complex metaphor are the promos that are delivered that blur the lines between reality and fiction. With fans knowing of what happens “backstage” there are subtle references to what happens when the cameras end being delivered on air. Thus, providing a sense of an even further backstage existing.

            I bring all of these levels to the forefront in an attempt to create a multi-leveled idea, layering the differences in what each fan knows to the depth that one can gain via the social penetration model. With the basic fans on the outside knowing that it is fake, the next layer knowing how the moves are fake, and finally the fans knowing all of the incidents that happens without the cameras catching them. To where the casual fan may have a wide breadth of knowledge, the die hard fans that have a deeper knowledge and can get way more from the same programming.