Advantages of Planar Magnetic Drivers There are so many advantages to this type of driver in a headphone that I'm surprised it hasn't caught on more. Let's work our way down the list.
Planar Sound Wavefront --- In my opinion, this may be the most important characteristic advantage of Orthodynamic headphones. Standard dynamic drivers are fairly small and essentially operate as a point source of sound radiating a spherical section wavefront. When a spherical wavefront hits your ears it reflects on the outer ear in a geometrically different way than a planar wavefront. This causes the focusing of sound entering your ear to behave somewhat differently than it would normally. It is surmised that this disturbance of the reflective characteristics of your ear may inhibit normal localization of sound, and therefore disturb the audio image heard.
Headphones like the Stax electrostatics, AKG K1000 earspeakers, and Sennheiser HD 800 with it's large ring-radiator, are known for their excellent audio imaging likely due to the more planar wavefront they present the ear. I find the imaging (such as it is on headphones) to be quite good on the latest crop of planar magnetic headphones, though possibly not quite as good as those mentioned above. My guess is that the high-end planar magnetic headphone makers (Audez'e and HiFiMAN) need to move the drivers a little forward and angle them back towards the ear to make improvements here.
Low Distortion --- Unlike dynamic drivers that are driven from the point at which the voice coil is attached (usually near the center), planar magnetic drivers are forced to move over their entire surface. This means they don't suffer from modal break-up found on traditional drivers when the cone surface starts wobbling in undesirable ways at higher frequencies.
Large and Powerful Diaphragm --- Getting powerful, tight bass response is difficult for most dynamic headphones as the driver surface area is relatively small and would have to make large excursions to move the volume of air that good bass response requires. The force used in electrostatic drivers (the static force the makes your socks cling together out of the drier) is relatively weak compared to the electro-magnetic force in planar magnetic drivers. Electrostatic drivers have trouble delivering the horsepower needed for big bass notes. The large surface area of the planar magnetic driver coupled with the powerful drive of the electromagnetic force permits large amounts of air to be moved with authority. My experience with planar magnetic cans is that they offer the best bass response of any type of headphone.
Responsiveness --- The diaphragm in an Orthodynamic headphone is very light, and the electromagnetic force is very strong, so the ability for the signal to accelerate the diaphragm is very, very good. Like electrostatic speakers, planar magnetic headphones tend to sound very coherent and spacious.
Easy on the Amplifier --- Unlike the coiled winding of a dynamic driver, which creates inductive peaks in the impedance characteristics of the headphone, current planar magnetic headphones use a serpentine pattern for their voice coil, which makes their impedance characteristics almost purely resistive. Though they sometimes need quite a bit of voltage to drive them, they are not difficult loads to drive at all.
I took the liberty and posted a link to this article over here (http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/493214/hifiman-he-6-planar-magnetic-...). Hope you don't mind.
Not. One. Bit! In fact, I love it. I think this site should be a gateway for people to find out about headphones; see that there's more than meets the eye; and develop (if it feels like something they might be interested in) a desire to find out more. Readers providing links to further information is a service to folks not familiar with the community of enthusiasts. So thank you very much for the link, JIGF!
Once again an awesome article!
Very informative and loved how you broke them down in the video. Pun intended. Thanks!
so um, he-500 = 1/2 a sandwich = still ortho?
"My guess is that the high-end planar magnetic headphone makers (Audez'e and HiFiMAN) need to move the drivers a little forward and angle them back towards the ear to make improvements here."
It saddens me a little bit that so few headphone manufacturers understand that. It's something that a number of Sony's headphones have been doing for a long time now (I enjoy this chaotic writeup by the inimitable Leonard Lombardo: http://www.sonicstudios.com/mdr-f1.htm ), and obviously the Senn HD800 and AKG K1000 benefit greatly from the angling.
If by any chance at all some folks from Audez'e and/or HiFiMAN are reading: Please do your best to implement this! You guys are AWESOME for reviving planar magnetics while all of the old dog companies rested on their laurels, but you can still bring 'em closer to the promised land.
... I just got a new pair of LCD2s and it does look like the padding creates more of an angle to the ear (and is somewhat softer) than my previous one. I'll take pix and go into more detail in my upcoming review.
That's great news. Looking forward to it.
Now if my 11th grade education is correct, the conductive trace would be attracted to the top field and repelled by the bottom field unless the motor principle I learned was wrong.
Was at a hifi-store listening to the LCD 2's while I was reading this informative article. Thank you for taking the time to write it!
This article mentions the high end of HiFiMAN's product line. What about the HE-400? It is lower on their product line. I was wondering what you think about it, if you have heard it before. Would you say it would fit the general description of the higher end models, just a little less so? I am looking to buy these as an upgrade from my old ATH-M50.
So the only critical part is pair of sandwich parts. right?
Then, wasn't there other fragile parts until you disassemble the hifiman? Because, I have a he400i and, you know, It has silvery plastic cover which looks cheap.
Air must be 'moved' before sound radiated out of driver? You mean 'removed'?
I'm not good at English so can anyone explain me?


This week's updates on the project including the latest stories and blog posts.
On Tuesday, we released Doctor Harold Moody's story. His fight for racial equality in Britain makes him one of the most famous people of African descent to have visited Hull and East Yorkshire in the early twentieth century. He was invited to speak at the William Wilberforce Centenary celebrations in July 1933 and returned during the Second World War to visit churches in the region, as the chairman of the London Missionary Society.
In 1972 Cecilia Anim relocated to Hull from Ghana to begin her career as a nurse. She studied and worked in the region's hospitals for several years before moving to London. Her outstanding contribution to the healthcare sector has been acknowledged by several prestigious awards including an MBE.
We would love to further demonstrate the positive impact that professionals of African descent had on the health sector in Hull and East Yorkshire. If you know anybody who trained or worked in the region, please click here to contact us.
Follow the project on social media.


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Alzheimer's Disease Biomarker Assay Heading for IVD Status
by Biocross | Jul 24, 2017 | News | 0 comments
By Labmedica International staff writers
A clinical diagnostic kit that measures the concentration of the Alzheimer's disease blood biomarker APOEepsilon4 was unveiled at the Alzheimer's Association Conference held in London, United Kingdom, from July 16-20, 2017.
The risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD) is increased by three to five-folds with the presence of one epsilon4 allele and between 15 and 20 times with two alleles.
The frequency of the epsilon4 allele is approximately 40% in patients with AD. Furthermore, APOEepsilon4 carriers progress faster to clinical AD than do APOEepsilon4 non-carriers. Therefore, the presence of one or two epsilon4 alleles of the APOE gene is considered to be highly informative in epidemiological research and is currently being used for patient stratification in the latest clinical trials to evaluate AD treatments.
The Biocross (Valladolid, Spain) ApoE4 Blood Marker Assay is an immunoturbidimetry-based test. Each assay kit consists of two reagents: R1 (which contains a highly specific anti-apoE4 antibody) and R2 (a solution containing latex (polystyrene beads). During the assay, the anti-apoE4 antibody induces the agglutination of latex beads in the presence of apoE4 in the sample. This agglutination is proportional to the concentration of the apoE4 and can be measured manually or automatically with a spectrophotometer.
The ApoE4 Blood Marker Assay can be used with manageable cost in any of the clinical biochemistry analyzers that are available in most hospitals or clinical centers. The risk indicator is determined by a cost-effective and accurate blood test that is scheduled to obtain the European IVD CE mark and will be submitted for [U.S.] Food and Drug Administration approval by the end of the year.
Matthew Mittino, CEO of Biocross, said, "Introducing our risk test ApoE4 Blood Marker Assay to experts, researchers, physicians, neurologists, and specialists in neurodegenerative diseases from more than 70 countries, will mark a before and an after within clinical practice. It is a risk indicator that is already a qualitative leap, a cost-effective alternative in front of the existing ones. Now, the next step is to carry out an important information work to show its advantages to all professionals of the industry and to make it useful for improving people life quality."
LABMEDICA.COM

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Donald Trump Jr. 'Chops the Mullet off' in New Photo Amid Aubrey O'Day Drama
By Stephen Andrew - April 2, 2018 12:53 pm EDT
Donald Trump Jr. took to Instagram this past weekend, amid the Aubrey O'Day affair drama, to let his followers know he chopped off his "mullet."
(Photo: Donald Trump Jr. / Instagram)
In the photo shared to the 40-year-old's Instagram, he snapped a selfie while sitting in the stylists chair.
The photo come just a little over two weeks after it was announced that Trump Jr. and his wife Vanessa are divorcing, as well as that he once had a romantic relationship with singer/actress Aubrey O'Day while he was married.
The affair between O'Day and Trump Jr. does not appear to have been merely casual either, as a new report indicates that they were trying for a baby.
Us Weekly spoke to a source close to the couple and revealed, "Don told Aubrey he wanted to have a baby with her," adding, "They were trying for one."
Trump Jr., who has five children with his soon-to-be ex-wife, also reportedly continued contacting O'Day after the affair ended. "He'd call Aubrey and leave long voicemails telling her he still loved her over and over," the source added. "He'd cry and say he was nervous his wife would take the kids away."
Interestingly, O'Day previously recorded two songs about Trump Jr. that seem to to have gone mostly unnoticed by everyone until now. Back in 2012, O'Day recorded a dance-pop remix of Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know," as reported by Us Weekly.
She rewrote the lyrics to include lines like, "Now and then I think of when we were together / Like when you told me that your marriage was a lie," and, "But you were scared to ruin your family's name / Your wife's the only one glad we are over."
O'Day also altered the lyrics to sing, "Now you're just some a—hole that I used to know," and "You're just a f—ing liar that I used to know."
In 2013, O'Day put out Between Two Evils, her debut solo EP. That album contained a track titled "DJT" (Donald J. Trump) which is an original track that is reportedly about the affair.
"DJT" contains lyrics such as, "You can say it was all a f—ing fairytale, or you can say it was real," and, "I thought it was forever at the time but maybe I was lying to myself." The song ends with O'Day singing, "I hate me for loving you, hate you for letting our love die."
To understand how all this came to be, you have to jump back to 2012, when O'Day appeared on the The Celebrity Apprentice 5. Unfortunately, the former Danity Kane band member was one of the first to be fired by Donald Trump, along with comedian Lisa Lampanelli.
This, however, is reportedly when she first met and began the alleged extramarital affair with Trump Jr., who appeared on the series as well.
Debby Ryan Changes Instagram Photo Hours Following Cameron Boyce's Death
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Vegan Asks Internet to Eat Hunted Animals Raw in Order to See How Unnatural It Is for Humans, Gets Wrecked Online
Amazon Prime Day 2019: Everything You Need to Know
Walt Michaels, Former New York Jets Coach, Dead at 89
R. Kelly Arrested in Chicago on Federal Sex Crime Charges
Twitter Suffers Worldwide Outage on Website, Social Media App
Tropical Storm Barry Officially Forms in Gulf of Mexico, Could Turn Into Hurricane As It Heads Towards Louisiana


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Gateway Essentials: Marta Randall
By SF Gateway
Related Categories: Authors, Essentials
Marta Randall was born in 1948 in Mexico City, and moved to the USA as an infant. She is the author of seven novels and numerous shorter works. She also edited New Dimensions 11 and 12 and Nebula Stories 19. She has taught writing in a number of venues, including the Clarion workshops and through the University of California at the Berkeley extension. Currently she teaches private workshops and lives in Sonoma County, California.
Her first published SF was the story 'Smack Run' under the name Marta Bergstresser, published in Michael Moorcock's New Worlds 5, in 1973. Her debut novel, Islands, was shortlisted for the 1977 Nebula Award, and it's here that we recommend you start:
You can find more of Marta Randall's work via her Author page on the Gateway website and read about her in her entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction.


Unfortunately she was the only one who knew, but this does not set out to trace the origins of an incorrigible visionary. Instead she is actually disabled - "a mirror writer," she calls herself, which does sound kind of magical, I guess, though here it is simply the first of many unglamorous obstacles to spiritual and professional fulfillment.
Here is writer's block – whether clinical or garden variety is significantly not always clear. Here is imagining a future with the circus, and here is setting yourself straight. Here are career changes and rejection letters, here is something called the Fizzle Box where crazy sounding ideas go to bide their time (a funny name: Felicity Brickhead? A wise lesson: never comb your feathers backwards?) before you can figure out if they're actually crazy. Here are endless re-edits and public indifference. Here is no cake walk, in other words, though even if it is, has anyone ever considered how hard it would probably be to walk across cakes?
Not easy. We all love an underdog story of course, but what makes this book exceptional finally is how unexceptional it apparently considers itself. You would skip right by it in the library or the bookstore (probably in favor of the penguin), and that would be a pity, yet it's probably also true to the spirit of its subject. There's something a little brave, a little honest, and even kind of inspiring about an author who has the nerve to eschew the services of her regular illustrator, and have a go at it herself. The results? Well, let's just say they allow Lester's words plenty of opportunity to shine. We're good at some things, not so good at others, and maybe there is all of the wisdom in the world to be gained by recognizing the difference between the two.


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Q: shiny error Error in .getReactiveEnvironment()$currentContext() : What I basically intend to do is select a subset according to users' input and do some manipulation like computing the percentage of each dataset and draw a ggplot. But when I was writing the shiny app server it kept giving me error as:
Listening on http://127.0.0.1:5884
Warning: Error in .getReactiveEnvironment()$currentContext: Operation not allowed without an active reactive context. (You tried to do something that can only be done from inside a reactive expression or observer.)
Stack trace (innermost first):
    48: .getReactiveEnvironment()$currentContext
    47: .subset2(x, "impl")$get
    46: $.reactivevalues
    45: $
    44: eval
    43: eval
    42: subset.data.frame
    41: subset
    40: server [/Users/Qiner/Downloads/ME Analyst Assessment Files/server.R#7]
     1: runApp
Error in .getReactiveEnvironment()$currentContext() :
  Operation not allowed without an active reactive context. (You tried to do something that can only be done from inside a reactive expression or observer.)

I've tried the reactive({}) function as suggested by existing answers but the error still goes on. Does anyone know the answer? Appreciate it so much! Here is my code:
    server <- function(input, output) {
      library(shiny)
      library(radarchart)
      library(ggplot2)
      library(reshape2)
    top_version<-read.csv("top_version.csv",header = T)
      #plot1 data
      ds<-subset(top_version,top_version$ageInd==input$select1)
      labs<-c('familiarity','favorability','consideration')
      scores<-reactive({
      scores<-list('Women'=c(nrow(ds[ds$familiarity==1 & ds$gender==2,])/nrow(ds[ds$gender==2,]),nrow(ds[ds$favorability==1 & ds$gender==2,])/nrow(ds[ds$gender==2,]),nrow(ds[ds$consideration==1 & ds$gender==2,])/nrow(ds[ds$gender==2,])),
                   'Men'=c(nrow(ds[ds$familiarity==1 & ds$gender==1,])/nrow(ds[ds$gender==1,]),nrow(ds[ds$favorability==1 & ds$gender==1,])/nrow(ds[ds$gender==1,]),nrow(ds[ds$consideration==1 & ds$gender==1,])/nrow(ds[ds$gender==1,])))
      })
       #plot2 data
      scores2<-list("Age 18-24"=c(nrow(top_version[top_version$familiarity==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 18-24",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 18-24",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$favorability==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 18-24",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 18-24",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$consideration==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 18-24",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 18-24",])),
                    "Age 25-44"=c(nrow(top_version[top_version$familiarity==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 25-44",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 25-44",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$favorability==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 25-44",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 25-44",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$consideration==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 25-44",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 25-44",])),
                    "Age 45-64"=c(nrow(top_version[top_version$familiarity==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 45-64",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 45-64",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$favorability==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 45-64",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 45-64",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$consideration==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 45-64",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 45-64",])),
                    "Age 65+"=c(nrow(top_version[top_version$familiarity==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 65+",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 65+",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$favorability==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 65+",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 65+",]),nrow(top_version[top_version$consideration==1 & top_version$ageInd=="Age 65+",])/nrow(top_version[top_version$ageInd=="Age 65+",])))
      #plot3 data
com_1<-subset(top_version,familiarity==as.integer(input$select2) & favorability==as.integer(input$select3) & as.integer(input$select4))
    com_2<-subset(top_version,familiarity==as.integer(input$select5) & favorability==as.integer(input$select6) & as.integer(input$select7))
    abc_0<-reactive({
      de_1<-rep(nrow(com_1),19)
      sum_0<-apply(com_1[,1:19],2,sum)
      portion_0<-sum_0/de_1
      #return(portion_0)
    })
    abc_1<-reactive({
      de_2<-rep(nrow(com_2),19)
      sum_1<-apply(com_2[,1:19],2,sum)
      portion_1<-sum_1/de_1
      #return(portion_1)
    })

      df<-reactive({
        df<-melt(data.frame(i=names(top_version)[1:19],name1=abc_0(),name2=abc_1()),id="i")
      })

   #begin plot
      output$plot1 <- renderPlot({
        chartJSRadar(scores=scores(), labs=labs,showToolTipLabel = T)
      })
      output$plot2 <- renderPlot({
        chartJSRadar(scores=scores2, labs=labs,showToolTipLabel = T)
      })
      output$plot3 <- renderPlot({
        ggplot(df(), aes(x=i,y=value,colour=variable,group=variable)) +
          geom_line()+theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, hjust = 1))
      })

    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Hullo, everyone! I'm going to be honest here and tell you that this part was one of my favorites to write. Just because… well, it was fun. Still working on that special announcement for you guys – hopefully I'll get that finished soon! 🙂 Check out part one if you're new.
Everyone in the room goes still, except for Jen, The Finch, and Keller. Jen responsible? Causing amnesia somehow? That seems absolutely ridiculous, but… it's possible, isn't it?
I hear a low growl from Anvil's direction and turn to see his eyes flashing and his fists clenched. I shrink back in my chair and quickly look over at The Finch. He's leaning forward, contemplating Jen with an interested look.
"You mean you won't," Keller says, lifting and eyebrow.
"And how do I know that's the truth?" Keller retorts.
Jen's computer starts rattling on her desk, and I see Brooklyn grab her earrings out of the corner of my eye. Everything metal on me – zippers, the little metal circle thingies on my shoes, my empty locket necklace – starts vibrating. Jen leaps to her feet. "Cade, you're dismissed," she says firmly.
Anvil's voice is thick with anger. "Data does. Not. Lie," he growls, stepping towards Keller. She looks at him, eyes wide, and I think this must be the first time she's truly been afraid of someone.
How can she bargain like that with Jen? Jen's frowning, but she has a look of quiet respect, too. "We have a deal." She offers a hand to Keller, and they shake on it.
Hullo, everyone! Ready for another part? I am! And there are a few new characters here, too. Enjoy, my friends! Check out Part One if you're new!
"Do you know where Voltage is?" I ask.
I gape at him. Is he, Blaze, in a bad mood? Because he sure sounds irritated to me. I look over at Brooklyn, who looks just as surprised as me. "What's going on?" I ask curiously.
What craziness? She seemed fine the last time we saw her. What happened? Does it have something to do with Keller? Blaze looks normal, not like he just left a battle or something. Does IDIA do battles? I force myself to relax. "When are we not on our best behavior?" I ask sweetly.
Blaze gives me a death glare. Apparently now is not the time for humor. "Let's go." He teleports us, and my eyes adjust to the bright white of the IDIA lobby area. We walk towards the door into Jen's office, and I notice that there's a guy sitting at the desk outside Jen's office. He lifts an eyebrow as we approach and then stands up, blocking our path to the door. We stop in front of him. He's fairly tall, but not muscular. In spite of that, he's definitely imposing. I'd guess he's in his thirties, maybe.
"Do you have clearance?" he asks, his voice deep.
I frown and follow him into Jen's office, Maddie and Brooklyn trailing behind. Jen is sitting at her desk with Keller sitting across from her. Keller's back is to us, but there's no mistaking that hair. A guy I don't know, with spiky blond hair and a distracted expression, is sitting on the couch Brooklyn was on before. He's staring up at the ceiling, not seeming to care about us, or anything for that matter. I'd guess he's about Denver's age.


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FEATURE: Architect Arnulfo "Arnold" De Asis
In 1945, the Architecture degree program was added into National University's growing number of course offerings. Since then, it has produced thousands of architects who are continuously bringing pride to National U. One of them is Architect Arnulfo "Arnold" De Asis, a proud alumnus from batch 1978 and a co-founder of one of the country's top construction firms.
While his company boasts of its indestructible foundation having been in the business for 35 years, Architect Arnold De Asis admitted that he had a wobbly start in achieving his dreams.
"I entered NU in 1972, parang naka-one-year lang ako, and then I stopped on my second year because wala akong pang-tuition. My father who has a farm in Samar sinabihan ako na mag-quit ka muna, kasi may bagyong dumating nasalanta ang farm, hindi natin kaya ang tuition."
He was then asked if he would like to continue studying in the province, but he was already locked on his target of becoming an architect. After stopping for a year, he was able to return and study again in National U. He recalled that one of the most memorable experiences during his college life was the struggle to go up and down of NU's main building.
"We had to climb 5 floors every day because there was no elevator. Ang architecture kasi was on the 5th floor, the whole architecture, and because of that, I failed some of my subjects."
Despite the struggles, Architect De Asis worked hard to finish and through his patience and his parents hard work, he was able to complete his tertiary level in 1978. He then entered DMCI immediately after graduation for internship and work. After 2 years, he took the Architecture board exam which he eventually passed and the rest they say is history.
In 1984, he co-founded DATEM with two other professionals he met at work. Right now, DATEM is one of the leading construction firms in the country, accredited as a Quadruple A contractor, the highest rating given by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board to a construction firm. Some of the prominent projects they worked on are the Ascott Hotel in BGC, ABS-CBN's ELJ Communication Center, Venice Grand Canal Mall in Taguig, and Discovery Primea in Makati.
Recently, he was named as the 2019 Presidential Excellence awardee of the United Architects of the Philippines and 2019 Outstanding Professional of the Year awardee in the field of Architecture by the Professional Regulatory Commission, recognitions he would like to share to architects in the construction industry.
But for Architect De Asis, he believes that the setback he experienced in college brought him to where he is today.
"Looking back, I said maybe may kabutihan din na nag-stop for a while, maybe the opportunity of us putting together this company won't be there diba. It is indeed a blessing in disguise."
Now at the tail-end of his profession after working for 41 years in the industry, Architect De Asis is proud to be a product of an institution with distinct core values.
"The education I got from NU prepared me for something bigger in my life. Whenever I talk to students of today or the fresh graduates, I always tell them to revisit themselves, see what values from your university you can hold on to. Because you will never go wrong if you have values where you can anchor your practice or profession."
Now on his retiring age, Architect De Asis is also proud to look back and give back to National U, the place where he started his small dream of becoming big in the field of Architecture.
October 2, 2019 | NU Manila
NU Chorale wins back-to-back championship in Festival Mall's Awiting kay GLEEng Season 9
National U captures sixth straight men's badminton crown; women's team reaches podium


The PADI Discover Scuba Diving Experience (a.k.a DSD/Resort Course) lasts about half-a-day and introduces you to scuba diving in a safe, relaxed and fun way. The experience includes a dive on one of St. Lucia's beautiful coral reefs. It's great for first time divers or people that do not want to do a certification course, but just want to dive.
To participate you need to be at least 10 years old and fit to dive. (Check your fitness HERE). If you would like to make extra dives after your DSD/Resort Course, you can do this with us.
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Is The WWE A Heel? by Matty J. Douglas
By Matthew J. Douglas • Published 4th December 2015
Happy Friday TJR Faithful! I know it's been a while since I've written or y'all, but in my defence, work has been overwhelming as of late. I'm going to try to have something new for you guys every week leading up to Christmas since work is taking a bit of a hiatus for the holidays. Enough about me though, let's talk WWE!
Truth be told, I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to write about this week. There were a few ideas swirling around my noggin. I wanted to write about The New Day and why it would be better if they were WWE Champion, but thought that might be redundant because it's obvious. I wanted to speculate about the morale in WWE after Sheamus gets his umpteenth run as a top guy while dudes who are really over have to sit back and watch from the wings and support. While that piece would be fun to write, it's purely speculation and I don't really like to speculate on things I have no real tangible information on. So this week I've decided to talk about the fan perception of WWE.
Specifically I want to talk about how a majority of fans in some respect view the WWE as heels. Not The Authority, not Sheamus, but the WWE as a heel organization. It's something I'd never thought about until I started really thinking about how to get Roman Reigns over as The GUY! The reason a vocal portion of the fanbase won't get behind him is because he's viewed as the Chosen One. The next big star to lead the WWE into a new decade.
Why do some fans reject this so vociferously? We don't accuse other TV shows of pushing an agenda in their storytelling, when in fact most shows do want to have a focal star much like the WWE does. That's when it all hit me: The WWE is a heel, and many will reject whatever it is that they're trying to accomplish because it is the work of a villain. It doesn't matter how heroic you try to make Roman look on TV, because that portion of the audience has been conditioned to view whatever the "company agenda" is, as the work of a deceptive villain. What's more interesting to me is that the WWE has conditioned them to view things that way.
For around 2 decades now, the show has revolved around an authority figure trying to push their agenda. The institution for most of those 20 years has been portrayed as villainous and deceitful. From Vince McMahon to Eric Bischoff to The Authority; heels have run the company in its most public forum on Television. It isn't at all remarkable that in this day in age, with social media and more access to behind the scenes information than ever, that fans still view the powers that run the WWE in real life as villainous, and thus reject what their agenda is. Whether that be by booing John Cena and Roman Reigns (the guys the show revolves around, thus the guys the the villainous WWE wants us to like, so many reject them), or hijacking segments to push our agenda like fans did during one of the most fascinating WWE segments of all time, The Title Ascension Ceremony on Raw. The fact is that while they want us to believe that Roman Reigns and John Cena are battling "The Authority", they are company guys, which ostensibly makes them heels by association to a portion of the audience.
Now the WWE doesn't help their heelish perception in many cases in real life. For every touching story about them making a kid's dream come true, there are the stories about people walking on eggshells, afraid to speak out of turn. Case and point, not only is there a story out there that Brad Maddox was fired for using the term "pricks" in a pre-dark match promo (which on its face seems egregious to the average human being), now there is a story that they are considering suing him because his new ring name, Mad Braddox, is too similar to the Brad Maddoz name which they own (rich coming from a company that brought in Bryan Danielson and renamed him Daniel Bryan). Stories like these don't help the company's reputation as evil any, and in fact reinforce the idea that the company is villainous, which the heel TV Authority figures have put in our heads.
Let me put it this way: If you had an older brother that was always picking on you and playing pranks on you and that you viewed as "evil", you wouldn't trust anything he wants you to do or tries to do for you. He could buy you and ice cream sundae and you'd reject it, because you think it's all part of an evil plot. In case it isn't clear, WWE is the evil big brother, Roman Reigns is the ice cream sundae, and the fans are the tormented little brothers.
This must make the show hard to put together. Everything that you're doing needs to be subversive. Anything you're trying to push to fans has to seem like you're not trying to push it. It's a big game of reverse psychology, and quite frankly, I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it. To act like you're not into what you actually want to push as a main attraction is not an impossible thing to do, but it's so damned tedious. For the audience as a whole to fully embrace Roman Reigns, they'd have to convince us that they don't really want him as their next top star.
Now there are a few ways to combat this. Firstly, you can saturate the TV narrative with great characters, and literally be willing to adopt the viewpoint of your audience as it occurs, not unlike what they did with Daniel Bryan. Another option is to at least make it seem like guys are getting to speak in their own voices (a la New Day, who are over because they feel the most authentic). The other option is to exploit the audience's love of the medium, and to turn the WWE babyface.
Right now fans view WWE and its representatives as villains because of the corporate structure of it. What if you turned this around and made those in charge protecters of the medium, which in this case is weekly televised wrestling (which we are all fans of). Make the heels be guys that are actively trying to ruin the institution that is the WWE, and the people in charge (the figures of authority) are trying to protect the WWE from these invaders and saboteurs. In a perfect scenario, the company chosen guy isn't a trick or an attempt to push a nefarious and greedy agenda, but instead in a chosen champion fighting for the continued success of our favourite institution.
Now it's hard to say exactly how you would go about making this happen. It isn't as simple as installing a babyface authority figure. It would take planning and unbelievably great execution to get fans of the product buy in to the WWE's face turn. That being said, until it happens, whomever the WWE pushes on fans as the next "guy", will be rejected by a sizeable portion of the audience, because they will always be viewed as a trojan horse and an agent of the evil, heel empire, that is the WWE.
There you have it, but as always I want to know what you think! Is the WWE a heel? Is this a part of why fas reject company approved focal points? How do you counteract the idea that the company is a heel to so many?
Until next time folks, I'm Matty J. Douglas imploring you all to go see Creed. It's phenomenal! Conversely it'd be a good movie to borrow from when writing Roman Reigns' narrative.