“Everybody’s Just Working the Marks, Brother”: A Kayfabe Reading of Social Identity, Performativity and Performative Identityt

67 “EVERYBODY’S JUST WORKING THE MARKS, BROTHER”: A KAYFABE READING OF SOCIAL IDENTITY, PERFORMATIVITY AND PERFORMATIVE IDENTITY Russell Gilbe DOI: h ps://doi.o g/10.14712/2571452X.2022.64.5 Abs ac : In 2011, ma hema ician and economis E ic R. Weins ein a gued ha kay abe is “[a] sophis ica ed ‘scien i ic concep ’ wi h he g ea es po en ial o enhance human unde s anding.” Kay abe, much like he p o essional w es ling indus y, is an au onomous phenomenon. De ining i solely as a me hod o decep ion is denying i s own au onomy as a social and cul u al nonpa eil. Kay abe plays an in eg al ole in he p ocesses o socie al in e ac ion. I s iden i y, as well as i s use ulness in academic discou se, elies upon he no ion ha all human in e ac ion canno exis wi hou i . Kay abe in many ways pe o ma i ely embodies he ques ions o on ology, he na u e o exis ence, he limi s o eali y and i s pe cep ion and unde s anding. Humans c ea e hei own eali ies and u hs based upon wha hey see, expe ience and belie e. Nobody can decla e wi h absolu e ce ain y ha he eali y hey expe ience is he same as he pe son nex o hem. I does no mean ha ei he eali y is no alid, no ha he u hs which a e bo n om hose eali ies a e wi hou subs ance: i simply means ha eali y is kay abe. Expanding upon concep s o human unde s anding and expe ience ound in Lako and Johnson’s Me apho s We Li e By (1980) and d awing upon no ions o ic ional wo lds and ep esen a ion elabo a ed in Wal on’s Mimesis as Make-Belie e (1993) his a icle will in e oga e exis ing on ological concep s h ough he lens o kay abe, u ilising case s udies om he wo ld o p o essional w es ling, o econ ex ualise how ic ions can c ea e new eali ies and enable a g ea e unde s anding o social iden i y, pe o ma i i y and pe o ma i e eali ies. I will a gue ha by cons an ly engaging in kay abe, humani y is able o imagine hings in o exis ence and, subsequen ly, collec i ely imagine new eali ies. Keywo ds: kay abe, p o essional w es ling, u h, eali y, iden i y, exis ence, on ology, me apho , mimesis, Kendall Wal on, Geo ge Lako and Ma k Johnson Russell Gilbe 68 In oduc ion On and o s age, p o essional w es ling has c ea ed i s own eali y. Mo e o en han no , o ganise s o p o essional w es ling e en s p omo e he in e ac ions hey p esen o he audience as “ eal,” no ma e how elabo a e o exagge a ed hey may appea in hei pe o mance. O cou se, wha cons i u es “ eal” and “ eali y” is he subjec o much heo e ical deba e and i is impo an o emphasise ha I do no in end o deba e he e ymology o he e m “ eal” beyond he pa ame e s o exis ing s udies o ou side o he con empo a y con ex o social accep ance and common sense. I is also no he pu pose o his a icle o p io i ise one heo y o eali y. Ins ead, I in end o make a p oposi ion ega ding engagemen s wi h he concep s o u h and eali y in pe o mance and in hei public p esen a ion. I will assess hese ideas h ough he lens o wha p o essional w es ling calls kay abe, a complex ideology o s aged eali y, and will d aw upon exis ing heo e ical posi ions and analysis o case s udies om p o essional w es ling and he poli ical sphe e. Implici ly, kay abe becomes a means o econ ex ualising how we engage wi h each o he and he wo ld. I will use e ms such as “ eal” and “ ue” in a a ie y o con ex s. Unless s a ed o he wise, I use hem in hei mos widely accep ed sense. These no ions a e in common use when i comes o kay abe, and as such, he concep s o “ eal” and “ ue” a e sociological phenomena. Howe e , ha would be o ano he a icle. I will be ocusing on kay abe. Kay abe In 2011, ma hema ician and economis E ic R Weins ein w o e a b ie a icle abou kay abe, a e m popula ised in he wo ld o p o essional w es ling. He a gued ha kay abe is “[a] sophis ica ed ‘scien i ic concep ’ wi h he g ea es po en ial o enhance human unde s anding.”1 As a c i ical e m, howe e , kay abe is ha d o accu a ely de ine. F eelance jou nalis John Lis e sugges s ha i de i es om he exp ession “keep ca ey,” om he La in e b “ca eo,” which means “look ou ” o “bewa e.”2 Me iam-Webs e desc ibes kay abe as a “ca ny-de i ed e m o he ex eme s ain o me hod ac ing peculia o [p o essional w es ling],”3 whe eas he 1 E ic R. Weins ein, “Kay abe,” Edge.o g, 2011, h ps://www.edge.o g/ esponse-de ail/11783. 2 John Lis e , “The Clandes ine Ja gon o P o essional W es ling,” Johnlis e w i ing.com, 2008, h ps://web.a chi e.o g/web/20081015060222/h p://www.johnlis e w i ing.com/ e ba im.h ml. 3 Michael B ick, “Jingo Unchained,” Ha pe ’s Magazine, 2013. Quo ed in “Kay abe: I ’s Illusi e and Elusi e,” Me iam-webs e .com, h ps://www.me iam-webs e .com/wo ds- a -play/wo d-o igin-kay abe. “E e ybody’s Jus Wo king he Ma ks, B o he ” 69 Ox o d English Dic iona y desc ibes i s e ymology as “o unce ain o igin” and no es ha [kay abe] is o en said o ha e o igina ed in he U.S. a elling ca ni als and appea s o ha e been coined wi h mo phological and seman ic opaci y in mind. I has been in e p e ed as an al e a ion ( ollowing he con en ions o back slang) o he command ‘Be Fake.’4 The use o ca ny o pig-la in a go by p o essional w es le s was p oli ic in he No h Ame ican w es ling indus y o decades. Much like i s B i ish coun e pa , Cockney hyming slang o he Romani-de i ed pola i, he pu pose o ca ny was o acili a e clandes ine communica ion. I enabled hose in he same a e ni y, in his ins ance p o essional w es ling, o engage openly in con e sa ion while a he same ime ensu ing ha no ou side s we e able o unde s and. Kay abe, and i s co e me hod o communica ion, became p o essional w es ling’s ome a: a code o silence and honou ha was o be main ained a all cos s. Kay abe has become symbolic o wha is pe cei ed as he lies, decep ion and ake y ha a e long associa ed wi h he p o essional w es ling indus y. In doing so, i has achie ed an almos nega i e conno a ion in i s desc ip ion. Academic a icles ha e desc ibed kay abe as a “[a] noble lie”5 and “ he illusion ha e e y hing is u e ly since e and au hen ic when i is all jus an ac .”6 E en academic specialis s in p o essional w es ling such as Ee o Laine and B ode ick Chow de ine i as “ he pe o mance o s aged and ‘ aked’ e en s as ac ual and spon aneous.”7 Sebas ian He mann, howe e , o e s an al e na i e iew: “By denying a wo ld ou side o i s signi ica ion […] kay abe cons i u es a pa icula way o hinking abou wha makes a pe o mance eal.” He hen adds: “[u]l ima ely, w es ling’s insis ence on a pe o mance ha has no bounda ies in u n also d ama izes he way in which o he , p esumably mo e unequi ocally ‘ eal’ pe o mances, asse hei own ealness.”8 He ein lies an in e es ing dilemma: he no ion o a concep embedded in decep ion ac ually con eying an elemen o u h. I is no a new dilemma by any 4 OED, 3 d ed., “kay abe, n.,” Oed.com, 2016, h ps://www.oed.com/ iew/En y/39393514. 5 Da id S. Moon, “Kay abe, Sma dom and Ma king Ou : Can P o-W es ling Help Us Unde s and Donald T ump?” Poli ical S udies Re iew 20, no. 1 (2020): 47-61. 6 Moon, “Kay abe, Sma dom and Ma king Ou ” 51. 7 B ode ick Chow and Ee o Laine, “Audience A i ma ion and he Labou o P o essional W es ling,” Pe o mance Resea ch 19, no. 2 (2014): 44-53. 8 Sebas ian He mann, “W es ling wi h he Real: Poli ics, Jou nalism, His o y in ‘F os / Nixon,’ and he Complex Realism o Kay abe,” Ame ican S udies 61, no. 1 (2016): 18. Russell Gilbe 70 means. Pa el D ábek discusses he concep o pe o ma i e models9 and how, whe he in eal li e o in ic ion, eali ies a e c ea ed h ough b oade social consensus o p oposi ional pe o ma i e ac s. Howe e , kay abe as a concep comes in o con lic wi h D ábek’s no ion o he e o elic models, as in he case o kay abe he al e na i e pu pose is o en no gi en by ee choice and consensus bu a he by p ohibi ion and compulsion. In his ega d, kay abe mo e closely esembles wha Judi h Bu le e e s o as “phan asma ic iden i ica ion.”10 Kay abe, much like all human in e ac ion, can be ega ded as a pe o mance ha makes ambi alen o inde e mina e p oposi ions. Howe e , whe he i is some hing ha is delibe a ely and in en ionally pe o med, as Chow, Laine and Moon sugges , is ano he ma e en i ely. In discussing eali y, we a e, in ac uali y, e e ing o a hegemonic eali y. Reali y is a cons uc ed concep . Humani y c ea es eali y, bo h indi idually and as a socie y. T u h is de e mined by ou expe ience o eali y and ou en i onmen . In ha ega d, one o e - iding concep o unanimous u h canno be de e mined. Aspec s can be ag eed upon – we all die, o ins ance – howe e how ha mani es s i sel and wha happens beyond ha poin is no , and canno , be known wi h absolu e ce ain y. T u h and eali y always ha e excep ions. Pe o ma i e Reali y Richa d Schechne , in ela ion o pe o ma i e eali y, obse ed ha “a spec a o need no in e ene in he hea e o p e en mu de as he migh eel compelled o in o dina y li e – his is because he iolence on s age is a pe o mance. Tha does no make is ‘less eal’ bu ‘di e en ’ eal.”11 I is in conside ing his no ion o ‘di e en eal’ ha p o essional w es ling can p o ide unique case s udies o analysis, pa icula ly when i comes o ma e s such as empi ical knowledge and he p esen a ion o he sel . In my p e ious a icle,12 I looked a how masked w es le The G ea Sasuke was appoin ed o local Go e nmen o ice in his na i e Japan whils emaining in his pe o med pe sona, and I examined he subsequen cons e na ion amongs his 9 Pa el D ábek, “He e o elic Models as Pe o ma i es: F om Speech Ac s o P oposi ion- ali y,” Li e a ia P agensia 30, no. 60 (2020): 100-17. 10 Judi h Bu le , Bodies Tha Ma e : On he Discu si e Limi s o Sex (London and New Yo k: Rou ledge, 1993) 93-119. 11 Susan Benne , Thea e Audiences: A Theo y o P oduc ion and Recep ion (Rou ledge: London, 1997) 11. 12 Russell Gilbe , “Be ween P o essional W es ling and he Public A ena: Cons uc ion o he Public Pe sona,” Li e a ia P agensia 30, no. 60 (2020): 118-33. “E e ybody’s Jus Wo king he Ma ks, B o he ” 71 poli ical pee s due o, amongs o he hings, hei inabili y o see wha hey desc ibed as his “ eal” ace because o his e usal o emo e his mask o o icial Pa liamen a y engagemen s. Sasuke eplied ha he mask was his “ eal ace.”13 In making his s a emen Sasuke was bo h engaging wi h, and des abilising, exis ing cul u al no ms. He was adhe ing o he es ablished kay abe o p o essional w es ling whils simul aneously challenging he accep ed social kay abe. In doing so he was c ea ing a new, albei empo a y, eali y. Pe haps no mode n poli ician engaged wi h kay abe as e ec i ely as o me Uni ed S a es P esiden Donald T ump. T ump’s p esidency was p oli ic in i s use o kay abe, al hough his is no in o i sel unique o ei he T ump o poli ics, and he e osion o ac -based u h has been he subjec o nume ous books, such as Michiko Kaku ani’s The Dea h o T u h14 and William Da ies’ Ne ous S a es: How Feeling Took O e he Wo ld.15 In he mon hs p io o and ensuing his success ul p esiden ial campaign in 2016 a g ea numbe o a icles, blogs and social media pos s we e published linking he new P esiden Elec o he wo ld o p o essional w es ling. A icles in The Chicago T ibune and Hu ing on Pos espec i ely desc ibed T ump as a “w es ling illain”16 and “heel-in-chie ,”17 “heel” being No h Ame ican w es ling pa lance o an agonis . Popula websi es, such as psychology oday.com and hecon e sa ion.com, published a icles highligh ing he co ela ion be ween he ac ics T ump and his eam used h oughou his poli ical enu e and classic p o essional w es ling opes. Salon.com called him he “p o-w es ling inspi ed poli ician”18 and The New Yo k Times e en wen so a as o ask: “Is E e y hing W es ling?”19 13 Philip B aso , “The G ea Sasuke Faces up o Poli ical Reali y,” The Japan Times, 4 May 2003, h ps://www.japan imes.co.jp/news/2003/05/04/na ional/media-na ional/ he-g ea -sasuke- aces-up- o-poli ical- eali y/. 14 Michiko Kaku ani, The Dea h o T u h (London: Ha pe Collins, 2018). 15 William Da ies, Ne ous S a es: How Feeling Took O e he Wo ld (London: Jona han Cape, 2018). 16 Da id Von D ehle, “Donald T ump’s P o W es ling P esidency,” Chicago T ibune, 2017, h ps://www.chicago ibune.com/opinion/commen a y/c -donald- ump-w es ling- p esidency-20170828-s o y.h m. 17 Ma issa Alexa McCool, “Heel-In-Chie : Donald T ump and he Psychology o P o W es ling,” Hu ing on Pos , 2017, h ps://www.hu pos .com/en y/heel-in-chie -donald- ump-and- he-psychology-o -p o_b_58d 1a80e4b0d804 bbb7317. 18 Chauncey De ega, “Pe e Thiel Pulls Back he Cu ain: Donald T ump is a P o-w es ling Villain Tu ned P esiden ,” Salon.com, 2017, h ps://www.salon.com/2017/01/15/pe e - hiel- pulls-back- he-cu ain-donald- ump-is-a-p o-w es ling- illain- u ned-p esiden . 19 Je emy Go don, “Is E e y hing W es ling?” New Yo k Times, 2016, h ps://www. ny imes.com/2016/05/27/magazine/is-e e y hing-w es ling.h ml. Russell Gilbe 72 These compa isons had good ounda ion. Donald T ump has links wi h he p o essional w es ling indus y da ing back mo e han h ee decades. In 1988 and 1989 he global leade s in p o essional w es ling, Wo ld W es ling En e ainmen (WWE, hen known as he Wo ld W es ling Fede a ion), held hei annual ex a aganza “W es leMania” a wha hey announced as he “T ump Plaza Ho el and Casino” in A lan ic Ci y, New Je sey. Disca ding kay abe, bo h e en s we e ac ually held a he adjacen Boa dwalk Hall wi h T ump sponso ing he p oceedings and occupying a ingside sea in he c owd a bo h shows. In 2007, T ump would appea a “W es leMania” once again, his ime in a mo e ac i e ole opposing Wo ld W es ling En e ainmen owne and p omo e , Vince McMahon (himsel an es ablished media pe sona a he ime as he despised megalomaniac “M McMahon”). The e en was billed as a “Ba le o he Billionai es,”20 and bo h men chose a w es le o ep esen hem in a ma ch. The billionai e who loses would ha e hei head sha ed in he middle o he ing by he winne . Needless o say, McMahon los . Du ing he ma ch, T ump a acked his ellow billionai e and pummelled him wi h punches, much o he deligh o he li e audience who ha ed McMahon. In 2009, T ump announced ha he had bough “Monday Nigh Raw,” WWE’s lagship ele ision show o mo e han wen y- i e yea s, om his ha ed i al M McMahon al hough, as is he case wi h almos e e y hing else in p o essional w es ling i was a p e-a anged s o yline in ended o gene a e ele ision a ings, pay-pe - iew pu chases and publici y. In 2017 T ump appoin ed Linda McMahon, Chie Execu i e O ice o WWE and eal-li e wi e o Vince McMahon as “Adminis a o o Small Business Adminis a ion”21 in his cabine , a posi ion she held o wo yea s. En ep eneu and one ime ad ise o Donald T ump, Pe e Thiel, ga e an in e iew o he New Yo k Times in 2017 whe e he s a ed: “[…] wha I wonde is, whe he maybe p o w es ling is one o he mos eal hings we ha e in ou socie y and wha ’s eally dis u bing is ha he o he s u is much mo e ake.”22 He con inued: “wha e e he supe iciali ies o M . T ump migh be, he was mo e au hen ic han he o he poli icians […] he was so o eal.”23 “So o eal,” much 20 B e Ho man, “Billion Dolla Handshake”, Wwe.com, 2007, h ps://www.wwe.com/ shows/ aw/a chi e/02152007/a icles/billiondolla handshake. 21 Michael D. Shea and Maggie Habe man, “Linda McMahon, Small Business Adminis a o , Resigns om Cabine ,” New Yo k Times, 2019, h ps://www. ny imes.com/2019/03/29/us/poli ics/linda-mcmahon-small-business- ump.h ml. 22 Mau een Dowd, “Pe e Thiel, T ump’s Tech Pal, Explains Himsel ,” New Yo k Times, 2017, h ps://www.ny imes.com/2017/01/11/ ashion/pe e - hiel-donald- ump-silicon- alley- echnology-gawke .h ml. 23 Dowd, “Pe e Thiel, T ump’s Tech Pal, Explains Himsel .” “E e ybody’s Jus Wo king he Ma ks, B o he ” 73 like Schechne ’s “di e en eal,” is an in e es ing u n o ph ase in his con ex due o i s ambigui y. A e all, “so o eal” deno es no eally eal. Howe e , in a pos - mode n socie y he no - eally- eal o en imes supplemen s he accep ed eali y which p eceded i . Kay abe has in il a ed i sel in o he ab ic o socie y. Donald T ump employed i o g ea e ec h oughou his enu e as P esiden bo h on social media pla o ms and in public. His eali y, as con adic o y o un eal as i may appea o a sobe eye, became i s own ac uali y. Many millions o people seemingly accep ed he alse eali y as u h and pe pe ua ed i as such. I is impo an o no e ha I am hesi an o use he e m “belie ed” as i ega ds ei he side. I is open o deba e whe he T ump uly belie es wha he says when he ci es hings such as elec ion aud, o indeed whe he hose who pa o his claims belie e hem ei he , howe e iden i ying and de ining genuine belie is no he mos impo an elemen o conside a ion he e. The s a emen s a e ambi alen and mos likely in en ionally so. P o essional w es ling would call his ambi alence kay abe, and kay abe, he pe o mance o a u h and i s p esen a ion, no ma e how exagge a ed o unbelie able i may appea on he su ace, is he o e - iding concep ha I wish o in e oga e. “So o Real” Wha is he “so o eal” in pe o mance? Campbell Edinbo ough analyses he concep o eali y om a pe o mance pe spec i e in his book Thea ical Reali y: Space, Embodimen and Empa hy in Pe o mance.24 He e ec i ely c i iques how eali y is bo h p omo ed and ecei ed in con as ing hea ical se ings, be i h ough sha ed expe ience, aliena ion o iden i ica ion. “[T]he pa adoxical eali y o hea ical space,” Edinbo ough says, “challenges accep ed s uc u es o eali y h ough i s p esen a ion.”25 He goes on o no e ha “[ ]hea ical eali y becomes a ool ha acili a es he mode o obse a ion necessa y o a c i ical engagemen wi h he s uc u es o social engagemen .”26 Edinbo ough’s heo y applies beyond he pe o mance space and cap u es he essence o kay abe. Kay abe is a pa adoxical eali y. I is a mani es a ion o Baud illa d’s hype eali y heo y,27 whe e ic ion and eali y consolida e o he poin whe e he e is no clea dis inc ion 24 Campbell Edinbo ough, Thea ical Reali y: Space, Embodimen and Empa hy in Pe o mance (Chicago: In ellec , 2016). 25 Edinbo ough, Thea ical Reali y 90. 26 Edinbo ough, Thea ical Reali y 91. 27 Jim S a k, “Camb idge Analy ica, W es ling Kay abe and Baud illa d’s Hype eali y,” Medium.com, 2018, h ps://medium.com/pundi igh /camb idge-analy ica-w es ling- kay abe-and-baud illa ds-hype eali y-1c0365d971 . Russell Gilbe 74 be ween he wo. I one main ains and p omo es a açade, o ins ance, does his no he e o e make he açade a o m o eali y? I so, does i hen cease o be a açade? In ac ualising new eali ies, kay abe equi es an elemen o au hen ici y, no ma e how small, in o de o exis and lou ish. I is in conside ing his s a emen ha we come o ou nex b ie case s udy. Ma k Calaway began his p o essional w es ling ca ee in 1987 and spen he nex h ee yea s lea ning and pe ec ing his c a by w es ling in di e en e i o ies ac oss he Uni ed S a es as well as ou ing Sou h A ica and Japan. In la e 1990, he landed a job wi h he Wo ld W es ling Fede a ion and was e- b anded as he in imida ing “Unde ake ,” a pe sona he s ead as ly main ained in a a ie y o mani es a ions o he nex hi y yea s. A e spending o e hal o his li e a den ly pe pe ua ing kay abe in his wo k and in public, Calaway admi s ha The Unde ake pe sona consumed his iden i y. In an in e iew wi h he Hindus an Times in 2020 he decla ed: “I’m only now s a ing o look unde he hood and see who Ma k Calaway is.”28 He wen on o acknowledge ha , du ing his ca ee , “[w]hen I o de ed a d ink a a ba o a deli e y boy came o he mo el oom wi h pizza, he wouldn’ ge his pe son (Ma k Calaway). He’d ge somebody s a ing a him wi h cold, dead eyes. […] Tha ’s one o he easons why (The Unde ake ) was so success ul, because I ne e u ned i o .”29 Asked whe he appea ing in public as himsel was di icul , Calaway’s answe was simple: “I ’s de ini ely been di icul . Ve y di icul . You ha e no idea.”30 Kay abe had become his eali y. In ansg essing one kay abe, Ma k Calaway is building, and engaging wi h ano he . He ein lies he beau y o kay abe. I is a cons an . I is o e e changing and adap ing o he socie ies i inhabi s. Kay abe can mu a e and change shape (in a me apho ical sense) bu can ne e uly die (o cease o exis ). I is so embedded in o cul u al engagemen ha i would be impossible. The e is no a oiding kay abe. I is inhe en . We a e all me apho ical pe o me s in a social and cul u al kay abe, and i is ou o ou con ol. I we a e awa e o ou engagemen wi h i , we can media e how i is enac ed, o how i is ecei ed, bu we canno escape i . I is always all a ound us. E ic Weins ein pe haps pu s i bes when he s a es ha “[k]ay abe […] seems o ha e disco e ed he limi s o how much disbelie he 28 Adi ya Iye , “Fo 30 Y s, He’s Li ed Li e as he WWE S a The Unde ake . Mee Ma k Calaway,” Hindus an Times, 2020, h ps://www.hindus an imes.com/o he -spo s/ o - 30-y s-he-s-li ed-li e-as- he-wwe-s a - he-unde ake -mee -ma k-calaway/s o y- NN30juoY32TChOD d6 EnM.h ml. 29 Iye , “Fo 30 Y s, He’s Li ed Li e as he WWE S a The Unde ake .” 30 Iye , “Fo 30 Y s, He’s Li ed Li e as he WWE S a The Unde ake .” “E e ybody’s Jus Wo king he Ma ks, B o he ” 75 human mind is capable o success ully suspending be o e an asy and eali y become ully con la ed.”31 Aes he ic philosophy, and Kendall Wal on, ejec he no ion o “suspension o disbelie ,” howe e , a guing ins ead ha “[s]ome kinds o ealism consis in co espondence be ween wo k [o kay abe] wo lds and he ac ual wo ld. The mo e ‘simila ’ he wo ld o a wo k is o he eal wo ld, he mo e ealis ic i may be said o be […]. We migh ask ei he how much o wha is ic ional in he wo k is also ue, o how much o wha is ue is ic ional.”32 Sociologis Robe P alle a gues ha u h ‘‘is i s and o emos some hing p ac ical, a posi ion; i is ha which one belie es.”33 I one adop s an empi ical pe spec i e ega ding u h, his s a emen has igou . Howe e , discussing he psychology o spo , Jim Taylo is qui e de ini e in his asse ion ha “[p]e cep ion is no eali y. Jus because you hink some hing is eali y doesn’ make i eali y.”34 Ye , i some hing is expe ienced as eal by he indi idual, such as Ma k Calaway li ing he pe sona o The Unde ake o The G ea Sasuke insis ing ha his mask is his eal ace, hen does ha no make i a social eali y he likes o which Pa el D ábek was e e encing? I i does, hen should ha eali y no be accep ed as such? Humans o m hei own eali ies and u hs based upon wha hey see, expe ience and belie e. Nobody can s a e wi h absolu e ce ain y ha he eali y hey expe ience is he same as he pe son nex o hem. I does no mean ha ei he eali y is no alid, no ha he u hs, which a e bo n om hose eali ies, a e wi hou subs ance, al hough i does mean ha humani y is able o imagine hings in o exis ence and, subsequen ly, collec i ely imagine new eali ies. Simila ly, eali y ele ision, despi e i s name, is kay abe. A e he indi iduals who pa icipa e in i eal? Yes, in so much as hey exis and a e he e o e eal people. Howe e , he pe sona p esen ed by he indi idual is bo h eal and un eal. Humans ac di e en ly in di e en si ua ions.35 How one beha es when in e ac ing wi h hei pa ne , o ins ance, likely di e s g ea ly o how hey beha e when in e ac ing wi h a s ange . I is no o say ha ce ain undamen al a ibu es do no emain, hey do, a he ha he in e ac ion is shaped by he 31 Weins ein, “Kay abe.” 32 Kendall L. Wal on, Mimesis as Make-Belie e: On he Founda ions o he Rep esen a ional A s (Camb idge, MA: Ha a d Uni e si y P ess, 1990) 328. 33 Robe P alle , On he Pleasu e P inciple in Cul u e: Illusions wi hou Owne s (London: Ve so, 2014) 9. 34 Jim Taylo , “Pe cep ion Is No Reali y,” Psychology Today, 2019, h ps://www. psychology oday.com/us/blog/ he-powe -p ime/201908/pe cep ion-is-no - eali y. 35 Lee Ross and Richa d E. Nisbe , The Pe son and he Si ua ion: Pe spec i es o Social Psychology (New Yo k: McG aw-Hill, 1991). Russell Gilbe 82 He mann, Sebas ian. “W es ling wi h he Real: Poli ics, Jou nalism, His o y in ‘F os /Nixon,’ and he Complex Realism o Kay abe.” Ame ican S udies 61, no. 1 (2016): 11-31. Ho man, B e . “Billion Dolla Handshake.” Wwe.com, 15 Feb ua y 2007. h ps:// www.wwe.com/shows/ aw/a chi e/02152007/a icles/billiondolla handshake. Iye , Adi ya. “Fo 30 Y s, He’s Li ed Li e as he WWE S a The Unde ake . 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