Misused: Kayfabe

Alright, the examples list was a mess of general examples and bitching about politics and other things that didn't fit.

I stripped out all the blatant violations but there's several left (like the reality show ones) that I'm not sure are correct, so I wanted to get some other people to scrutinize the example list. One person on Ask The Tropers suggested restricting this to professional wrestling. While I don't think we need go quite that far I'm tossing it here for discussion.

I'm also wondering if the description should be tightened up? It's gotten a little bloated over the years.

I do think it needs to keep the juxtaposition of being a bit of unreal reality. As such, it can't exist in a work of pure fiction save as a metaexample.

I've never heard that actual term used outside of wrestling...I'm wondering if it needs to have a more general name and "kayfabe" be mentioned in the description as the name for the concept in wrestling.

I don't know, some punch clock superheroes play off a version of it. Like Tiger And Bunny which was a corporate superhero TV show and had Kayfabe elements.

edited 21st Mar '15 8:42:18 PM by Memers

Seeing as wrestling is one of the few Real Life works to have used this, and fictional examples are few and far between, I'd stick with Kayfabe for the name as long as it's made clear what this trope actually is.

Generally speaking, kayfabe is fiction being presented as fact via "real people" being in-character actors—see the Disney Theme Parks example where the cast members are always in character.

That's an in-universe example, could be added in its own section.

Just looked at the description and... Yikes. It looks more like an essay! Due to my unfamiliarity with this trope, I cannot find what needs to be nixed, though I'm sure there's some unneeded fluff that needs to go.

Looks to me like there's a trope (staying in character even "off the job") mixed in with a Useful Notes about the history of kayfabe in professional wrestling.

Have you checked the inbounds to see where it's being used, because where fiction is presented as fact is quite common in literature and theatre, too.

Maybe we could split it into 2 pages? One for the trope that's related to all types of media; and a Useful Notes page about the history of Kayfabe in wrestling?

Kayfabe is wrestling, and only wrestling, and examples from other media shouldn't be there.

If there's a trope out there that is present in other media, then a YKTTW should be made for it.

Then maybe the page itself should be turned into Useful Notes?

I agree with a split if the trope was made for wrestling. And seconding making the wrestling part Useful Notes, while the rest of the examples would get their own page.

To my mind, the non-wrestling-specific trope that people are looking for exists as the second part of Alter-Ego Acting. But that's rather a mess, like seemingly most soft-split trope pages.

I actually created a Useful Notes page about Professional Wrestling that needs work. Maybe the Kayfabe can be added to it in order to help further explain things?

edited 4th Dec '15 4:23:02 PM by thecarolinabull01

That idea could work...

Locking as part of the New Year's Purge.