Spot Monkey: Difference between revisions

* Curiously-related Non-Wrestling Example: [[Opera]]. In what is meant to be a sung story, a lot of the more spectacular singers ignore the acting element, in favor of scene-stealing vocal performances (i.e., not making eye contact with someone you're meant to be 'acting' with in a duet, opting to sing for technique and not for emotion, etc). The phenomenon is strikingly similar enough to call them Spot Monkeys.

** Even MORE curiously related, this behavior contributed to the downfall of the Castrati - men who'd been gelded at a young age so that the high pitches and clarity of tone from their pre-pubescent voices never faded, but were instead added to by the power of adult male lungs and a more flexible ribcage. Many, many Castrati, shamelessly self-satisfied, embellished and improvised the arias they were given to make themselves look as magnificent as possible, with no regards to what the opera was about or what that aria itself was even trying to say. Fed up, one of the most influential opera composers of the time announced he was sick of this bullshit and that he was no longer writing ''any'' parts for Castrati in his operas. This caught on as many composers were equally done with having their carefully crafted art chewed up and spat out with gaudy, vocal acrobatics and as a result, the Castrati vogue - which had gone on for quite some time and produced a number of bonafide superstars - began to subside. The Church finally capped it by forbidding the practice entirely. Ball-less Spot Monkeys.

*** Actually, the church had banned ''creating'' castrati for musical purposes decades before they fell out of use- all later boys had just 'happened' to 'need' their testicles removed or destroyed at about 13 for some 'medical' reason (surgeons in those days not having any sort of regulation, and child abuse only being regarded if it were liable to actually kill the child...) France managed to stop the craze first by banning them ''performing''- everywhere else, the change in fashion came at about the same time as changes in medical practice (with surgery done by doctors) ''and'' a change in social attitudes to children's rights.

** There's another musical version of Spot Monkeys. There are several singers who can achieve very high notes in a range known as the Whistle Register. Minnie Riperton was one of the first, and others such as Mariah Carey and Debelah Morgan have been able to achieve it more recently. Possibly because it's difficult to make your voice jump up and down your range (or because listening to it for long periods can get frustrating), but any time a singer uses the Whistle Register, it's never used for the purpose of the song, or even ''during'' a song. It's usually added on to the end of it, almost just to say "Listen to what I can do."