theonion:The Onion’s Person Of The Year 2014: (TIE) Malala Yousafzai And John Cena I really love The

theonion:The Onion’s Person Of The Year 2014: (TIE) Malala Yousafzai And John Cena I really love The Onion, and feel that when they get it right they really Get It RIGHT. For instance, the issue they put out right after 9-11 still stands as the best reflection/critique of how we in the USA felt–go look it up.This piece about the PotY is also really funny, but… I find myself stupidly annoyed by it.  Obviously Malala Yousafzai deserves all the attention she is getting for her work, the stand she took, and the awful attack she survived.  As a symbol for the work needed to be done for equal rights across the world, she is a bright light and loud voice who keeps the focus where it needs to be–which is to say not on herself as a symbol, but on the Work Needed To Be Done.And to make their point, The Onion decides to make an admittedly funny comparison to pro wrestler John Cena.  It is funny, but doesn’t quite work for me because John Cena and pro wrestling are not pretentious enough to think what they’re doing is important–I really really hope they aren’t, and I don’t see serious evidence of it.  Yet this news parody implies that there’s a need to tear down the ego of the WWE’s current public face (their Face if you will).The Onion has used pro wrestling to delightfully skewer other institutions in the past, this piece on letting pro talent compete in the Olympics from 1998 is still one of the funniest bits they’ve ever done.  My problem with the PotY piece isn’t that is knocks pro wrestling (who cares!), its that there are more fitting targets that would have better shown the contrast between what one one young woman has done, and what so many more powerful people have failed to do.  There are bigger people needing a tear-down.There’s probably a lot of wrestling fans who don’t know who Malala Yousafzai is, but the fact is WWE and pro wrestling in general are a small niche in the larger worldwide entertainment and sports market.  Numbers show about one million people saw Wrestlemania 30, and well over half of those people only tune in to see this single annual event as a distraction from daily life, instead of following the weekly WWE programs.  Its like the Oscars, or those who watch the last episode of a TV show they never bothered to follow.Thankfully, there are a lot more people in the world who know who Yousafzai is–if not by name specifically at least her story–than know do John Cena.My real point–and I guess I have two here, are first: Putting John Cena against her isn’t too far away from picking on say … Alex Trebek, a random stand-up comic, or open mic guitar strummer for not doing more to make an impact this year.  Its just shooting down a guy for doing a job–one that he simply does well and works hard at.  The Onion gave themselves a squash match (=an easily won contest, as they say in the wrestling biz).Second, and much more important, is that at its best The Onion can draw a comparison between two worthy targets and shame the one that needs to be shamed.  Instead of Cena, why not put Obama next to Malala–it is arguable her work this year will have more lasting impact than the few things the CiC was able to get done in the past 365 days.  Better still, why not put the record of the entire US Government or UN against her?  My personal recom- mendation would’ve been to co-award The Onion’s PotY award to the Taliban member(s) who tried to assassinate her, list off how in the past year(s) their voices and power have continued to weaken, how they’ve spent the past 2 years on the run, without time to regroup and commit greater atrocities.  It might be a little harder to make that funny but The Onion has done it before, because they work hard at their job and can usually step back enough to swerve around the first (obvious) joke, and take their creative challenges to the next level–much like how Cena will surely defeat Lesnar to get his championship back, and how Malala Yousafzai won’t be silenced by ignorance and violence. -- source link

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