Loving to Hate

They say the perfect villain is someone you “love to hate.”  Some people find this statement confusing because they don’t understand why anyone would take pleasure or enjoyment out of hatred — a negative emotion.  Don’t you normally “hate” rude obnoxious people, which makes you feel angry to be around them and want to avoid them, so how can you “love” to hate them as well??

For any true fan of pro wrestling, the meaning of “loving to hate” is immediately obvious — the villains are a turn-on.  You can’t get enough of their raw superiority.  Of course we love to hate a brash, bragging bully.  Arrogance is alluring.  The more evil/ cocky/ selfish/ vicious they behave in the ring, the more entertaining and exciting is the match.  You want the baddie to harm that cute boy next door and gloat the entire time, and in the end, you’re thankful to him for shocking, insulting, and offending you because of the excitement and tension his antics create.

One way the villains in pro wrestling build a love/hate relationship with the fans is through a cocky victory pose.  After dominating the spent man, they stand with a boot on his chest or face, flexing and posing over him to enrage and enthrall the audience.  The fans want to slap the arrogant show-off across the face for his cheeky antics, but at the same time, they admire his confidence and are itching to strike the same pose over someone.  Wouldn’t you want to stand with your foot on the chest of that young hot-shot who got the promotion you deserved, or that bully who always makes fun of you, or the traffic cop who refused to give you a break?

Any guy looks great when flexing his biceps, even a guy with little buggy-whip arms, but when a well-muscled pro wrestler in trunks and boots strikes a victory stance, he can look positively stunning.  This is the pose and the body type that sculptors were picturing when they wanted to depict what the gods look like.  So another way to “love to hate” is to love seeing that perfect, chiseled physique held in a prideful pose while hating the dirty cheating that put him in this position.