Action Movie Lecture Series: Hulk Hogan's Triumph Over the 1990s.

In case you didn't hear that, class, that's what we call a bell. That means this lecture has started. That also means--hey Lonnie, take the earphones out, put Lil Wayne on pause, okay--that also means that the talking stops and the listening starts. And you're listening to me and not to Young Jeezy, as I said before. I'm saying stop listening to rap...is what I'm saying.

All right, today's lecture in Flimsy Arts 203: Modern Movements in the Action Film Genre, we'll be looking at the success of Hulk Hogan and particularly his key role in the family-action genre. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just put your groans in your pockets and save 'em for another day, guys. This is nearly important to learn. I'm saying you need to accept what I've laid out on the syllabus for our course trajectory...is what I'm saying.

Our topic today transitions us from last week's conversation on the importance of future political figureheads blowing up supernatural creatures. Remember, we looked at Jesse Ventura's role in Predator? Can anyone tell me what Jesse Ventura and Hulk Hogan have in common? Well...technically yes, Allen, but how about we move away from well-defined facial hair for just one class, huh? Come on, people. Professional wrestling! Right? Both wore tights for a living. Take that down in your notes because that will be on the midterm.

Bonus points to the person who can name the first movie Hulk Hogan appeared in as well as his name in that movie. I'm sorry Jerry, did you say Lightning Hips or Mighty Hips? For clarification, both are incorrect. It was Rocky III and "Thunderlips" was his characters name. Here he played a professional wrestler. Yep, yep. He, uh, he really "flexed" his acting muscles here. Ha. These are called jokes, class, and it's perfectly acceptable to laugh at them.

You'll notice that Hulk's next big movie was No Holds Barred where he again starred as a professional wrestler. A little piece of trivia about this film, as well: a lot of people think that Hulk's counterpart in No Holds Barred, Zeus, was a wrestler in the WWF before the film came out, but actually, Zeus didn't appear in a WWF ring until after the film was in theaters. But in any case, these two films came out in the 80s, so we're not so concerned with them. I'm saying they're not important to our topic and we aren't going to discuss them further no matter how badly you want to reference Zeus' role in the Chris Tucker/Ice Cube film Friday, Tyrell...is what I'm saying.

We want to look at the 90s. This is where the real gold is. I want to highlight his star-making turn in Suburban Commando, opposite the Christopher Lloyd. Hulk plays a time-traveling alien dropped into a "suburban" household, righting wrongs and beating bullies and resolving plotlines with witty one-liners. I think it's safe to label this film under the popular sci-fi/comedy/action genre that got its start in the late 80s. To any film critic who thinks brevity cannot replace depth, I say to them: you clearly have not seen Suburban Commando in the right setting.

On a much broader note, I want to mention one way that Hulk Hogan really carved a niche for himself in the film industry. All you have to do is look at the names of the characters he's played: Shep Ramsey, Hurricane Spencer, Cutter, Dave Dragon, etc. That's an action star! I'm saying you won't pull these types of names up under Kevin Spacey's IMDB page...is what I'm saying.

Kenny, it looks like you had a question, yeah? Okay, I seriously doubt that you saw Hulk Hogan in Adrian Noble's adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Kenny. First, I can't even believe that you saw a movie based on a Shakespeare play when just last week you couldn't stop ranting about the redeeming social values of Meet the Spartans. Second, Hulk could pull off Petruchio from Taming of the Shrew, if anything. So henceforth we will not be discussing the possibility of Hulk Hogan in a Shakespeare adaptation. This is, after all, a serious course.

Moving on, I direct your attention to the slide on page 3 of your handouts:

I ask the rhetorical question, "where would we be as a society without Mr. Nanny" knowing full well that the question can never fully be answered or even understood. It will take perhaps another decade before we can account for the influence its had on directors and action-comedians alike. After all, Mrs. Doubtfire came out a full month after Mr. Nanny had already laid the groundwork for hairy men costumed in aprons. For the time being we're going to ignore Michael Keaton and his role in Mr. Mom--released in 1983--because the ratio of Michael Keaton's apron-wearing to Michael Keaton's overall screen time is overwhelmingly low and thus, not directly influential of Mr. Nanny. I'm saying Hulk Hogan revolutionized the way comedy and aprons and former professional wrestlers could work in relation to each other...is what I'm saying.

Three words: Secret Agent Club. Ring any bells? Okay, five more words: Hulk Hogan is...Ray Chase! My god have you people lived under a rock for most of your lives? Secret Agent Club, tagline: "It's 10 PM. Do you know where your Dad is?" All right, well this is sad. And quite frankly it's far too deep to go into in the short amount of time we have left. I do want you to make note of a few things, though. One: Hulk Hogan is a toy salesman. Two: Hulk Hogan has a child. Three: Hulk Hogan is a secret agent and not actually a toy salesman. And four: Hulk Hogan has a laser gun. Chronology is not important on this, either. Just make sure those facts are ingrained in your minds.

Okay, well, we're just about out of time so I want you to come to class next week with three of the most historically signifcant one-liners Hulk Hogan has said in response to pulverizing a bad guy on screen. They will be graded. I suggest watching Thunder in Paradise II for some possibilties.