The Wrestler: "I'm An Old Broken Down Piece Of Meat"

Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler is the story of Randy “The Ram” Robinson (played by Mickey Rourke), a washed-up professional wrestler well past his prime. When he was at the peak of his popularity in the 1980s, he was loved by all wrestling fans for his reckless behavior, an example of violent masculinity. Now in his 40s, he lives in a trailer park and does small shows on weekends to make ends meet. After he gets a heart attack due to the strain wrestling and steroids have put on him over the years, he decides to fix his relationship with his estranged daughter. The Wrestler is a thoughtful film about the results of a lifestyle of the pressure of overt masculinity.

Randy’s real name is Robin. He changed it to his stage-name of Randy because Robin is too feminine for a professional wrestler. The need for his name, and nickname, to match the tough nature he tries to be in the ring is an example of how in society a man is not considered masculine just by his actions but by his social image. Hegemony creates an specific image for Randy and is he does not fulfill it then he is brushed away, which is what happens in the film. The “Ram” character Randy creates is the embodiment of professional wrestling: a carefree, muscular, and charismatic man whose only goal is to physically beat another man. Because he thought himself to be invincible, physically and emotionally, Randy pushed away any family he ever had.

After his heart attack he is told by a doctor that he should not do steroids anymore. The fact that steroids took away his job is sadly ironic. Steroids were the things that gave him the size and power that he could not achieve on his own. The need to be big and formidable in what is a very masculine career is what ends up almost killing him. The film does not dwell a lot of his past but through Rourke’s performance the viewer can see the broken shell of what he once was. The pressure to be an indestructible image of masculinity crippled him but he attempts to heal himself.