It seems that Harry's and the Evil Prof's editorial on the whole BEYOND THE MAT mess has stirred up a bubbling caldron of heat for the guilty parties who's mail appears to keep bouncing back. HMMMMMMM, I wonder why? Here's some that bounced right into Father Geek's E-Mail box. I'll just have to post it to make sure they can see what the fans think, right?
I think it is reprehensible for your network, along with UPN, to cater to Vince McMahon so completely by pulling the ads for Beyond the Mat at the last minute.
From a business standpoint, it may make sense in the short-term, in that McMahon makes your network a lot of money with his WWF venues. However, there are larger issues here than money-monopoly issues, coersion, ethics. That a network as popular and well respected as the USA Network would so easily capitulate to Vince McMahon speaks volumes. One of the prevailing tenets of the "USA" has been the idea of standing up for the little guy. By pulling all the ads for Beyond the Mat, fully aware of the financial impact it could have on that movie's success, shows that your network is not only unfairly hurting other companies, like Lion's Gate and Imagine, but that you really don't deserve the name that you bear.
Maybe you should think about changing it to the WWF Network. Or Vince's Personal Playground. Seems more appropriate, I think.
WaHoo
Here's another one that couldn't get thru to the intended...
Here was the message I was attempting to send: What an absurd bunch of cencorship ... you guys are actually going to pull the ads for Beyond the Mat!!!!!! Unbelievable. All because McMahon wants it that way? Because he is a spoiled child who didn't get his way?? Why in the world is USA letting McMahon dictate advertising policy anyway?
I'm disgusted with USA's handling of this matter.
Stonecold
And here's one from North of the border...
Just thought you'd like to know that Lion's Gate Films, which is a Canadaian company, has yet to decide if Beyond The Mat will receive a theatrical release in Canada. They've said that they want to see how it does in the U.S. However, keep in mind that for the most part, major film releases are, at the very least, released in Toronto and Vancouver simultaneously with the U.S. release, so it sounds to me like they're wimping out.
Trawna from Toronto
Yet another returned message...
Barry Diller, Vince McMahon and all you other goons, listen up!
The fans know what's going on and we don't like it. We're aware of McMahon's campaign to squelch the release of Beyond the Mat. You guys are idiots. Evil idiots.
I live in L.A. and saw the one-week limited release of Beyond the Mat at the AMC Century 14 last year, and I know what a great flick this is. It shows the human, personal side of the lives of wrestlers, and will only raise the profile of your franchise. Even you, McMahon, come off looking no worse than we all know you to be, trying to hire a guy who can puke on command to be a wrestler.
But to refuse the director the chance to advertise his film to the fans who watch WWF on USA and Smackdown on UPN is just stupid and shortsighted. First off, your ad base is shrinking, what with Coca-Cola and others shying away from your "extreme" content. Second, you need all the good PR you can get, with wrestlers dying in your stupid stunts and stuff like that. This movie is great PR for you, because it shows that wrestling is more real than it could ever be if your bookers didn't script it. It's real because real people suffer life-changing events during the course of their involvement with wrestling.
Well, I'm spreading the word to everyone I can think of to go see this movie. We're all going to see the movie multiple times, and I have one friend who is a Nielsen viewer who has already pledged to me that he's going to watch WCW instead of WWF every Monday night until you guys lift the ban on Beyond the Mat ads. And, not that you'd car, but I'm selling my WWF stock over this issue.
You guys are making a big mistake and the market will punish you. You've been warned.
Oswald
