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Blue Demon  Click en la foto
Wrestling matches play an
important role in Latin American popular culture, with
idiosyncratic heroes and villains parading their physical
abilities in the theatre of the ring. The young and the elderly
alike enjoy such spectacles, which reach communities within such
fresh and unpretentious frameworks as a Sunday fair, a circus, or
a street performance. But the art of free wrestling has achieved
special status and sophistication in Mexico, where the most famous
wrestling heroes have even become movie stars. Wrestling is deeply
embedded in mass culture, providing a supply of working-class
heroes and somehow releasing a subtext of justice that has been
lost in other arenas of life. In this way, the cathartic element
of wrestling marks its social function, for it carries the
heritage of ancient rituals which for centuries served as channels
for people's belief in good and evil forces. Some wrestlers have
also engaged in timely political activity, thus transcending the
symbolic realm and acting out public performances to serve popular
agendas. A particularly famous wrestler takes the name of
Superbarrio, (literally Super Neighborhood) who has been engaged
in the struggle for justice of the local inhabitants of Mexico
city's historical centre.
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