The World Of Wrestling: Phineas And Ferb

In “The World of Wrestling”, Roland Barthes decodes and illuminates the hidden symbolic aspects of wrestling. Barthes, in a way, spouts about the function of the wrestlers, the meaning, and the representation of such spectacle. Barthes throws light on wrestling, and explain what the game actually is and how the crowd takes it. In this essay, I am comparing wrestling to a cartoon series Phineas and Ferb, although they are completely different but they are same in many approaches. Both wrestling and Phineas and Ferb share the same social aspects.

The constant battle between good and bad can be seen in both wrestling and Phineas and Ferb. Both of these display morality and ideal justice as good always prevails in fights. This way the audience

Besides their being fake their outcomes are predictable. Most of the wrestling matches, especially the WWE type, are planned. One can tell in the very beginning of the match who is going to win and lose. The spectators do not wait for the conclusion of the match, they wait for the signature moves. They are interested in the way the match is fought. Therefore, a wrestler’s job is not to win a match, instead it is to withstand the expectations of the crowd for him and play the role of his physically assigned persona. (Barthes). In Phineas and Ferb, every episode has a different story, but the storyline remains the same. The audience can predict the outcomes very easily. In every episode, Dr. Doofenshmirtz has evil plans to prove himself as the king of the world. Perry the Platypus always finds out a way to ruin his plans and save the world from evil. Furthermore, Phineas and Ferb are always building something huge and unusual, and their sister, Candace, does not approve of this. She is always in a hurry to complain to her mother about her brothers. She tries hard to convince her mother of her brothers’ mischief, but she never succeeds. The conclusion is the same in every episode; whenever Candace convinces her mother to chock on her brothers, everything disappears and Phineas and Ferb are doing general kids’ stuff. They are either found sitting under a tree, or with their pet Perry.

In wrestling, most of the signs displayed by the wrestlers give a clear view to the audience about who they actually are (Barthes). It is easy to judge the morality of the wrestlers by the costumes they wear and the background music which plays during their stage entrance. The aggression shown on wrestlers’ explains a lot about them. “As soon as the adversaries are in the ring, the public is overwhelmed with the obviousness of the roles” (Barthes). This statement of Barthes totally fits for the characters of Phineas and Ferb. Every character has a unique costume according to their personalities. Their looks also meet the requirements for their personalities. Phineas and Ferb always exhibit a cheerful look. Dr. Doofenshmirtz has an evil look with vicious eyes, and whenever he appears on the show, a dark background music plays on his entrance. The music consists of his name in a wicked tone. This gives us an idea of his character. Perry the Platypus, a secret agent, has an intense look on his face. The addition of his hat makes him look more like an agent. A different music plays on the entrance of Perry when he is disguised as an agent; which adds to his personality. Furthermore, Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s daughter, Vanessa, always wear an entirely black outfit- black- the color of