El Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata Vs. The Logic of Coloniality

RM 207

With this research we have correlated lucha libre to the logic of coloniality. By using two perspectives, and a number of scholars ranging from Heather Levi, Octavio Paz, and Doyle Greene, I will be demonstrating the perverse logic in which lucha libre is being studied, as well as distributed. We claim that it is those in power/outsider representations who project themselves onto lucha libre, and luchadores themselves realize that they have lived their lives molding their own masks. Luchadores are looked up to as Gods/ superheroes, and the affect they have among the Mexican culture is one not studied enough. New to the academy, researchers such as myself need to point out the episodes in which this happens in previous academic research and present alternatives. When studying lucha libre we must understand that we are working with an aesthetic and a discipline, both in the ring and in film. The mask, the theatrics and the words spoken in the ring all work together to invert themselves with mysterious power. Things that appeared absurd to our Mexican and euroamerican scholars such as the lucha libre being rigged do not matter at all. We will begin a discourse within academia, which will view lucha libre as the ultimate fight of the people, not just in the ring, but within their everyday lives.