Titus O’Neil talked about stereotypes in wrestling and entertainment as a whole in a new interview with Uproxx. Here are the highlights:
On stereotypes in wrestling:
“I think entertainment as a whole plays strongly on — too strongly on stereotypes in some cases, not just in professional wrestling. You have stereotypical characters that play stereotypical roles in television shows, and I’m very happy to see that there are more people that are very creative, that have gone outside of the box and played characters that have nothing to do with ‘stereotypical’ culture that they come from, or their background. There are directors out there, and producers out there, that are now putting better content, better movies, better TV characters. The world is changing, so we all have to change with that world. Again, if it’s in the fabric of the country, then why wouldn’t it be portrayed on film any differently?
“I think it’s gotten better; there have definitely been more opportunities for minorities in film, both behind the camera and on screen. But at the end of the day, there has to be, I think in order for certain things to have a genuine feel to it, it has to be some stereotypical aspects to it in order for people to kinda connect the dots, because that’s what they’re accustomed to seeing. So when you see different characters that are outside of what people are normally seeing, then it’s like, ‘Oh wow, that was really amazing.’ But let’s not lose track of the fact that there’s been at least four or five movies that have come out over the past two years that accurately portray, or told stories that were untold, like Selma, or Hidden Figures, or even recently here, Detroit or The Birth of a Nation. There are so many movies out there that show the depictions of, and that’s only captured in two hours, that’s only what they tell. They can only tell so much in a two- or three-hour period.
“I do think in professional wrestling that we’ve done a lot better with portraying characters and letting people be kind of more of themselves. Again, I think that it’s just like any other entertainment aspect, there will always be some type of stereotypical role or character played. just because that’s in the fabric of entertainment, it’s in the fabric of our culture.”
On whether he’s transitioned from an in-ring performer to a managerial role:
“No, I mean I’m not, I don’t even know about you considering me as a manager. You know, I’m more like trying to just lead a stable, because eventually I am going to return to the ring in the right situation. But right now, I’m having a lot of fun helping other people have a lot of fun. I feel like Apollo has definitely benefited from the aspect of being able to show more of his personality, as well as Tozawa, and they both have tremendous in-ring talent. It’s just a matter of helping show their personalities more, because as you know, everybody knows in entertainment characters sell. You can be the best wrestler in the world, the best singer in the world, but if you can’t perform and have personality and character to you as an individual, then a lot of times there’s just a disconnect.”
