SM Reader and Hanuman-bhakt Tiger Yogi emailed us a tip this morning, about an absurdly named product:
A company by the name of Smart Mark Video is selling a DVD of something called “independent wrestling” entitled “Wicked Hanuman“!!
Smart Mark, which offers “… only the best in Independent Wrestling!”, markets videos of Independent Wrestling Syndicate events. What is the IWS? I had no clue, so I foraged virtually:
International Wrestling Syndicate (IWS) is a professional wrestling promotion based out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is co-owned, half by Manny Elefthriou aka “PCP Crazy F’N” Manny , who also sometimes wrestles for the promotion, and half by Wild Rose Productions, an amateur internet pornography company that is run by Montreal-native pornstar Carol Cox. The IWS was formerly known as the Internet Wrestling Syndicate and before that as the World Wrestling Syndicate.
IWS is known for its high energy and new young talent possessing a variety of styles, including brawling, comedy wrestling, high-flying, strong style and technical submission wrestling. They usually feature some deathmatch style wrestling matches at their shows, such as “fans bring the weapons” matches, which are a popular attraction at one of their biggest shows of the year, “Un F’N Sanctioned”. [viki]
Okay, I’m still not entirely clear on what all this is about, mostly because my brain shuts off whenever it sees the word “wrestling”, but given everything we’ve read so far, why on earth would you name a product after a sweetly loyal Vanara? Are the stars of the video inquisitive, short, furry, South Indian humanoids? Doubtful. Also doubtful? That anyone involved with this Charlie Foxtrot is either Hindu or knows anything about revered characters from the Ramayana.
Some of you incorrectly think that I am all for mocking Hinduism, but that is not true. At best, I find this ridiculous and at worst, I’m offended. Let me pre-emptively answer your question: no, I would not appreciate a “Wicked John the Baptist!!!” DVD. I wouldn’t advocate violence or otherwise behave in a way which threatens the possibility of getting my point across, but I think calmly-expressed disagreement is more than called-for in situations like this.
I wish people could be sensitive and respectful of all religions, I think tolerance is a matter of courtesy vs. a granola ideal. To that end, I’m emailing less-than-Smart Mark to let them know what I think. I know that within minutes, you’re going to let me know what YOU think, via the comments.
Anna, thank you for posting this! I knew that SM would reach a much larger audience than my own little blog! I shall be writing them too!
Anna, you never dissapoint with “lunch-reading-material” so I want to thank you. Wresting and Porn…oh man this is too easy. I’ll leave it to the geniuses for some excellent snark.
Wasn’t Hanuman known for his strength? While the name is absolutely absurd, it does make sense why they would pick Hanuman out of the pantheon. I don’t think I find this as offensive as the Ganesh toilet seats or the Lakshmi underwear. But yeah…”Wicked Hanuman” really is quite bizarre.
Awesome. First we have Humping Hanuman now we have Wrestling Hanuman.
Somebody is going to get a hurt real bad, that and some bone head is going to trademark the name.
Let’s not forget the original playa himself Sonjay Dutt of TNA wrestling.
WHO YOU CALLIN’ SHORT?! AND FURRY????
Hanuman was known to kick some serious ass, but only if the time really came for it.
Is there a chance that they may have spelled human wrong, after taking one too many piledriver to the head.
i’m not a practising hindu, but what i hate the most is the concept that some religions are OK as targets of humour, while others are not. to this day, i have never seen any sort of humour play on david or some other aspect of judaism in the west (though in the east, there was that cartoon exhibition held in tehran as a retaliation to the muhammed cartoons). i do, however appreciate that south park holds nothing sacred, as in its ‘jesus and pals’ skit.
Jeet, I’ll take the bait 🙂
You know, Hanuman was a, er, bachelor, right? No wonder he wanted him some good ol’ fashioned man-to-man rassling. Wicked, wicked monkey!
And if you loved the Wicked Hanuman series, the outtakes from Pulling Peter are a must-see!
All I can think of is that Dara Singh, who played Hanuman on Ramanand Sagar’s famous Ramayana TV series, was a professional wrestler. That’s no excuse though.
I think all religions/faiths should be fair game in an ideal world (merciless ridicule, questioning etc.). The world is unfortunately very complicated and all other things are not equal (power inequalities, rampant hypocrisy etc.). So I have become an utilitarian about this and reserve my scorn only for all fundamentalists (i.e. religious people who are intolerant).
And, A N N A, you don’t mean HELL. You mean Samsara, the eternal cycle of death and rebirth.
The west loves to ‘exoticise’ everything… and I’m sure the ‘Hanuman’ reference was made in the same way one would probably use ‘Wicked Poseidon’ to title rough waters in the Deep-sea, without bothering about hurting anyone else’s feelings.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that Mythological characters are the ‘in’ thing these days with LOTR, WOW and so on … Greek gods have been used extensively in games, books and so on. They must have equated ‘Hanuman’ to be a similar sort of ‘Indian God of strength’…. And really, for an amateur porn company, i really don’t think one should expect much political correctness.
Seems like just another example of cluelessness. Some obscure mythical hero we can latch on to? Duuuude.
I know that Hanuman is a revered God in India , I am saying that these guys in this weird porn company must have equated him for an ‘obscure mythical hero’…
sigh, I agree. I am not religious, but even if I were, I wouldn’t want to pick one that is so insecure about every tiny real or perceived offense.
If anything, the major transgression here is the lack of effort in coming up with a catchy name. If I was picking, I’d have gone with “Jawbreaker Jarasandha” (who actually wrestled, if that’s relevant) or “KOs with Karan” (works both wrestling and, er, the other unmentionable, into one name). But, maybe such behavior is what soccer aficionados would call an “Own Goal” 🙂
… and thought they were being ‘cool’ by making it sound Exotic
I wanted to go with something related to Bhim, but then I am not very good at these things (coining catchy titles etc.)
1st you had Hulkamania, and now you will have Hanumanmania.
Friends marathons, i would submit, are the real, eternal cycle of death and rebirth. (while banging your head on a brick wall)
Randomizer, I wasn’t reacting to your comment #15 (which is spot on). I was referring to the clever folks at IWS.
Well, sigh, when you start your business purveying pugilism related entertainment, feel free to use “Boxing with Bhim”
And if you ever want to market sci-fi to India, I recommend the hit title “Bhim me up!”.
Can I count on these being free, or are you going to charge by the caption?
I think it’s open game to offend any religion. In this case, i doubt it’s even offensive. If someone wants to call themselves WICKED PRAVIN, I will not be offended.
Unlike Anna endorphins flood my brain when I hear wrestling. First off they probably meant this definition of wicked. Hanuman was pretty wicked. Also culturally relevant angle, this DVD features Sonjay Dutt, the original playa from the Himalaya. They also seem prone to using bizzare Spanish names too like “Revolución Enmascarada” which features “stars from Mexico and the United States”. Actually now that I think about it, that’s a pretty cool title alluding to the masks Mexican wrasslers wear. I’m done defending porn/wrestling producers.
What offends me is the ignorance .Same thing offended me about the recent controversy on Stuff magazine ( which Karthik linked to in # 4 above)
If this company has qually offensive titles about all religons its a statement. If it is only “Wicked Hanuman” it is offensive
For you, my friend, they’re free.
Until I start my to-be-blockbuster captioning venture “Krishna christens it!”. See, that way, I’ll corner the market from 2 religions.
There is some old-fashioned wrestling in Bheema and Hanuman #14 ACK.
I recall the first few panels – this Hanuman sleeping in banana grove. Bheema wants to cross grove. Hanuman tail blocking Bheema’s path. Bheema says, monkey, move your tail. Then Hanuman says, I am sleeping,so you move it yourself. So Bheema tries to lift the tail but Hanuman makes that tail very heavy, so Bheema unable to lift. Then they engage in some wrestling. Then suddenly I think Lord Krishna appears and then they recognize each other ( they are brothers since Vayu+Kunti= 2nd son Bheema, Vayu’s first son is Hanuman ). Then Lord Krishna gives one curse each for brothers wrestling and vanishes. I think Hanuman’s curse was, he must sit on the flagstaff of Arjuna’s chariot during war. I don’t remember Bheema’s curse for wrestling. I think Ghatotkacha also makes brief appearance or maybe that is a different ACK.
@23 Shodan – “I wasn’t reacting to your comment #15 (which is spot on). I was referring to the clever folks at IWS.”
😛 Oops, my bad
C’mon folks, lighten up! I seem to be plowing a lonely furrow here (see the subtle Sita allusion?) with the Hanuman jokes…
The wicked is offensive – unless of course it’s meant with its New England meaning. But Hanuman is definitely associated with wrestling. It’s rare for a Hindu pahlawan not to have a promo photo carrying a gada (Hanuman’s club.) Wikipedia claims:
“According to the techniques and methodology used, the wrestling is divided in four types. Bhimaseni, Hanumanthi, Jambuvanthi, and Jarasandhi.
-Hanumanti : Hanumanthi type concentrates on the technical superiority of the wrestler and here superior skill will help one to beat an opponent of greater strength.”
My guess is there’s a desi wrestler on the circuit named Hanuman, and this is a highlights tape.
maybe he turns against rama? perhaps an alliance with ravana is in the offing? maybe he runs off to mauritius with sita afterwards? i guess we’ll only know if we play…
C’mon folks, lighten up! I seem to be plowing a lonely furrow here (see the subtle Sita allusion?)
Clever, but the terms “plowing” and “furrow” brought something distinctly non-Ramayana to mind.
Well, you are from the midwest with all its fields, after all. I can see how things like sowing oats come bang to mind!
Apparently “Wicked Hanuman” is the name of the promoter or wrestling company. There is a “sonjay dutt” listed as a wrestler on the video. Also, see “Wicked Hanuman’s” myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/wickedhanumanwrestling
To whom it may concern,
We mean absolutely no disrespect towards Hindus or anyone else for that matter. We understand your concerns however we did not choose the name “Wicked Hanuman”. The individual who promoted the event chose that name, we just taped it and distribute it. It is our understanding that the name was meant in a positive manner, as “wicked” has a positive meaning when used as slang (as in cool) and Hanuman relates to wrestling, as stated here: http://www.webonautics.com/ethnicindia/festivals/hanuman_jayanthi.html. We apologize if anyone is offended by this, it certainly was not our intent, but that does not excuse threats that have been made. We welcome anyone to send feedback, however there is no need to threaten us, as has been the case, as we mean no harm nor offense.
Thank you for your time, Adam
Adam:
Thanks for responding so promptly and courteously. I am truly sorry that people are resorting to threats; I can only surmise that these people are deeply offended and are acting out of that pain. No one (especially here) wants to see further hurt done, to anyone. I appreciate your clarification. The additional information you provided is helpful. I hope this all gets resolved amicably.
That’s exactly how I read it as well. Those of you who have seen the Broadway musical “Wicked” will know what I mean.
M. Nam
Does Wicked Hanuman paahk his mountain in Haahvahd squah?
Dammit, Rahul! I’m so handicapped on the smartass comment front by having a goddamn job where I gotta work and stuff. 😀
But sweet! I get to follow up Adam from Smart Video’s comments! This is like being right behind an almost-famous person in line at, um, Burger King or something.
Hey Adam! I have a bunch of ideas for a whole lineup of borderline (offensive) Hindu-related wrestling stuff!
There’s Bruisin’ Bhima, of course (part of Pandavoltron), and Screaming Sita. And we could have Sh**-kickin’ Shiva. And Browbeating Brahma!
I wrote this in my post:
…and I meant it. We can’t request tolerance or respect by making threats. I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir though, and none of you did anything like what Adam mentioned.
this is a bit late, but clueless (#21):
Oh my god, that’s pure gold. I think it should be “HanumanAmania,” though. That makes it extra-special fun to say! I sure can’t say it while keeping a straight face, that’s for sure.
Adam, I appreciate the quick response and the clarification.
I am not sure about which comment you were referring to, but if it was mine that is quoted above, you will find the explanation here.
Now coming back to topic, is there a possibility to work out a discount on the videos you guys market? 🙂
I’ve been on the receiving end of all kinds of threats from SpoorLam’s real-life saffron-balled counterparts, so I can easily believe Smart Mark has received threats already. I’d link to the hate site whose enthusiastic commenters declare I should be hanged, but they’d love the attention. There’s a reason Martha Nussbaum thinks some of these folks are “overcompensating.”
Karthik,
No worries, I wasn’t referring to you or anyone who posted comments, some of which made me laugh (Hanumania is priceless). 🙂 There were just some emails that were of a threatening nature, an example of which I’ve shared bellow since the person didn’t use a real email address or name.
It was that email that made me look on the web, which is how I stumbled on this page, as I didn’t want anyone to get the wrong impression about us. And for the record we do not deal in porn, one of the companies that we distribute is owned by an adult video distributor (International Wrestling Syndicate). That company was not involved in this show either.
If you all have any questions do not hesitate to send them via the contact form or if you leave them here I will try and come back to answer them.
Thanks again for your time, Adam
I love the phrase “saffron-balled”! Although I am grateful that this is not an ingredient of the average north indian entree, saagtikkamasalapaneer.
Salil # 42,
And why leave the ladies out ? ( Exotic Indian females + “Apsara” costumes + wrestling = $$$$) For example: ” ‘Scary’ Shoorpanakha” ” ‘Loopy” Uloopi” and a really NSFW one for Putana
I would go on but I am really afraid that someone will actually go ahead and create DVDs like this
now, Runa and me can be in business with Rahul our slogan writer.