Listen up!!

Class is in session.

I know this is two weeks after the fact, but Mickey Rourke should have won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in "The Wrestler."

Sour grapes? Sure. Call it what you will. But to be honest, Rourke never had a chance. Never. Win the big prize against the ultra-politically-correct Hollywood establishment? Against the sainted Sean Penn playing the sainted Harvey Milk? Please.

For Rourke to win the gold guy in that situation would be like Ric Flair (now retired) pinning Hunter Hearst Helmsley (Vince McMahon's real-life son-in-law) in the main event of "WrestleMania 25" to win the WWE championship. I guess it's possible -- but if you know the politics involved, it's highly improbable.

See It
Now that you get my point, listen to this: If you haven't seen "The Wrestler," and you're a fan of the squared circle, what are you waiting for? It not only featured the best performance by an actor in a motion picture for 2008, but was perhaps the best film on 2008. It was certainly better than "The Reader," "Milk," or "Frost/Nixon." (Sorry, Opie.)

I saw it about a month ago, and I still think about it today. How Rourke's character, the tremendously-flawed Randy "The Ram" Robinson, just couldn't walk away from any type of applause. How he tearfully admitted to his estranged daughter that he was just a broken down piece of meat.

But no matter how good the script, this film didn't have a chance at Best Picture. Hollywood -- and society in general -- still has a strange bias against pro wrestling shows. No matter how flawless the scripted tumbling, it's still seen as lowbrow fare and not to be taken seriously as legitimate entertainment in any way.

Double Standard?
But the same people who turn their up their noses as pro wrestling are the same people who watch "Dancing With The Stars" or "Survivor" and think it's a real competition.

The same people who roll their eyes at pro wrestling are the same people who can't miss the next episode of "Desperate Housewives."

The same people who mock pro wrestling are the same people who watch "Countdown With Keith Olberman," and think he's funny.

You get the point. They're hypocrites.

B-Work
When I was in college -- before my professorhood -- I always picked wrestling as a backdrop for various class projects, just to tweak the teachers a bit.

In a radio documentary production class, for example, I examined the insane late-70s popularity of the old American Wrestling Association. My instructor gave me a goofy look, like I was smoking banana peels. Heck, this was a "Capital J" journalism class! How could I go lowbrow? Well, I put together an "A" package, but the guy could only muster up a "B" for me. For the record, the documentary he awarded an "A" to focused on euthanasia. Go figure.

Yeah, I never got over it. But I always understood why I was tagged with that "B". It's because pro wrestling -- arguably one of the most popular forms of televised entertainment in our nation's history -- isn't real, and still makes sensitive, sensible people squirm.

Well, squirm away. Just like Randy "The Ram" Robinson, TV wrestling refuses to fade away. That's a fact.

More facts? We all know Rourke should have won the trophy. We all know "The Wrestler" should have been nominated for Best Picture.

Maybe next time.

(Professor Wrestling is a masked employee of Internet Broadcasting, hailing from Parts Unknown. Got a question, comment, complaint? E-mail him right here. )