WWE stars team up with NYC nonprofit to provide ‘special’ art class for children affected by cancer

Two guys who make a living body-slamming each other for a living spent Friday sitting on tiny chairs helping sick kids finger-paint. That's the story, and honestly, it deserves more attention than it's going to get, because it's the kind of thing that happens constantly in this country without a press release attached to it.

WWE gets mocked plenty for being fake theater, and sure, the storylines are scripted. But Jacob Fatu and Joe Hendry showing up for a nonprofit's art class for kids fighting cancer isn't scripted. Nobody wrote that into a script because there's no audience for it beyond the kids in that room. That's the difference between performance and character. These guys built a platform out of spectacle and then used it for something that has zero entertainment value and all the human value.

We spend so much time arguing about who's virtuous in this country, who's performing goodness for clout, that we've lost the ability to just notice when someone does something decent and quiet. A pro wrestler kneeling next to a kid with a paintbrush isn't a policy position. It's not going to trend for the right reasons if it trends at all. It's just two guys who didn't have to show up, showing up anyway.

That's worth saying out loud, because the culture keeps telling us cynicism is the smart read on everything. Sometimes the simple read is the correct one: this was good, full stop, and more of it wouldn't hurt anybody.