FUat2mb reviewed The World of Lucha Libre by Heather Levi
A fantastic academic work on Lucha Libre
5 stars
I found this book absolutely wonderful. Levi looks a wrestling from a whole new angle. Granted occasionally I felt she was seeing things that weren't there, but that is true of almost any academic work.
Much of the book is based on her experience, as an American Sociological Academic, training to be a luchadora in Mexico City. Its the way she really get to see how training happens gets to actually have real conversations with Luchadores.
I found it incredibly serprising how Lucha Libre had developed quite differently from its American counterpart primarily because it had been banned from being on TV for almost 40 years.
Her take on the class struggle was interesting and how it relates to various characters and takes on this sport. Her emphasis on the sport of lucha, not sport-like, not sports entertainment was also interesting, always while acknowledging the match outcome is pre-determined still …
I found this book absolutely wonderful. Levi looks a wrestling from a whole new angle. Granted occasionally I felt she was seeing things that weren't there, but that is true of almost any academic work.
Much of the book is based on her experience, as an American Sociological Academic, training to be a luchadora in Mexico City. Its the way she really get to see how training happens gets to actually have real conversations with Luchadores.
I found it incredibly serprising how Lucha Libre had developed quite differently from its American counterpart primarily because it had been banned from being on TV for almost 40 years.
Her take on the class struggle was interesting and how it relates to various characters and takes on this sport. Her emphasis on the sport of lucha, not sport-like, not sports entertainment was also interesting, always while acknowledging the match outcome is pre-determined still argued it was less corrupt than every other sport in Mexico.
The only thing that prevented a 5 star from me was her huge obsession with homosexuality in Mexico and insinuating that ever "straight" man in Mexico City would gladly do another guy in the rear but would never take it. I almost skipped chapter 4 completely because of it, but then it got into gender roles related to luchadoras and it made a lot more sense, would have been better if the chapter took the ladies first and the gays later.
I wanted to add every book in the bibliography to me "queue" but most of them where in Spanish.