Tres Dean - For Your Consideration: Dwayne The Rock Johnson

This one is for Kerin. Thanks for letting me be your Swayze. Its also for Mom and Dad because legally if your parents help you with student loans you have to dedicate your first book to them.

Copyright 2019 by Quirk Productions, Inc.

All rights reserved. Except as authorized under U.S. copyright law, no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Number: 2019936800

ISBN: 978-1-68369-149-5

Ebook ISBN9781683691501

Text by Tres Dean

Cover and interior designed by Aurora Parlegreco

Cover illustration by Mercedes deBellard

Interior illustrations by Ben Mounsey-Wood

Production management by John J. McGurk

Quirk Books

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Philadelphia, PA 19106

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I love The Rock.

Hardly a hot take, right? Everybody loves The Rock. I dont think my mom has ever seen one of his movies but my mom loves The Rockwhich, to be fair, might be because hes objectively a hunk for the ages. There are plenty of reasons to love him. Hes a compelling movie star, a once-in-a-lifetime fitness icon, and an endlessly likable guy offscreen.

The Rocks career in Hollywood spans two decades, and he enjoyed a monumentally important stint as a pro wrestler that included reigns as the WWF/WWE, Intercontinental, and Tag Team Champion as well as multiple WrestleMania main events. He helped reinvigorate the fading Fast & Furious movie franchise, cofounded the juggernaut film studio Seven Bucks Productions, and took over the world of television with his smash HBO show Ballers. Alongside his wrestling archrival Stone Cold Steve Austin, he defined one of the most beloved eras of the sports history. The Rock has been a rare cultural constant for the past several years. We dont have many real movie stars anymore, performers whose presence can guarantee a films success even if a franchise isnt attached. And many film icons of the past have gone on to disappoint us either professionally (Ben Affleck) or in their personal lives (also Ben Affleck). Where others have faltered or stumbled, The Rock has always managed to succeed. His personal life is free of controversy and his filmography, though not free of bombs, has managed to thrive.

Between the extent of his fame and the length of his career, theres a whole lot of ground to cover in this book. Ultimately, I want to answer a simple question: Why do we love Dwayne The Rock Johnson so much?

Because it matters, doesnt it? Not everybody has what it takes to become a cultural icon, and when someone does, it says just as much about the fans as it does about the individual. The Rocks life story is fascinating and hes fun to watch in movies, but you could say the same of a litany of other actors. A great smile and easygoing charm arent enough to guarantee success. We, the fans, the general public, are the ones who elevate our icons. They cannot be bought or built. They have to prove themselves worthy of our adoration. Our motivations for giving our support to public figures and the reasons we feel compelled to do so are worth scrutinizing. What do these people mean to us? What does the fact that they mean something to us say about us?

Over the course of five essays (and some fun detours exploring some of the goofier corners of The Rocks history, well look at how The Rock has come to occupy the space he does in pop culture today. Well examine the ways he differentiates himself from other movie stars and how those choices influence our perception of him. Not all of it is going to be breezywell also explore inequality, poverty, and the fallacy of the American dream. Not what you expected from a book about a former pro wrestler and current action movie star, huh? Thats because The Rock isnt just an ex-wrestler or a cut-and-dried action hero. He embodies the spirit of resilience, of refusing to let failure keep you from achieving your dreams. Hes living proof that hard work pays off and that, even if the deck is systemically stacked against you, theres a way to rise above your circumstances.

Dont get me wrong, though. This book is not going to be a Sociology 101 lecture. The Rock is, above all else, a fun performer. Hopefully some of that energy is captured here as we talk about legendary fistfights, his obsession with Elvis Presley, and the time he guest-starred as himself on Wizards of Waverly Place.

Its important to understand beforehand that his body of work will be judged on a more complex metric than traditional good vs. bad. An equally important guiding principle is the Rock Movie Metric, or the difference between a Rock movie and a movie that The Rock is in.

Is Moana a better movie than, say, Skyscraper? Of course. Moana is a better movie in almost every conceivable way than the entirety of The Rocks filmography. Its beautifully animated, its got that signature Disney heart, and Dwayne The Rock Johnson sings a song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Moana is perfect.

But Moana is not a Dwayne The Rock Johnson movie. Its not just because The Rock isnt the star or because its an animated film. No, Moana lacks the signature elements of a classic Rock movie.

This nebulous concept is difficult to define and we cant pretend there arent exceptions. That said, a proper Rock movie must contain some, if not all, of the following elements:

• One (1) fistfight

• One (1) explosion

• Three (3) gratuitous shots of The Rocks absolutely jacked-as-hell upper body

• One (1) scene in which The Rock fights something that until that moment we have never seen him fight (i.e., earthquake, giant wolf, Vin Diesel)

• One (1) feat of strength (i.e., leaping from a construction rig onto a skyscraper, flexing so hard the cast on his arm shatters)

• One (1) smolder

By this metric, Moana is not a Rock movie but Rampage is. Pain & Gain? Oddly enough, not a Rock movie. The Scorpion King? The original Rock movie. The Rock Movie Metric is less an indicator of quality and more an indicator of content and tone. This book will largely discuss and judge Rock movies, though movies that The Rock is in will not be ignored. Rest assured that yes, Moana is great, and no, its greatness is not being overlooked as we move toward our grand unified theory of Dwayne The Rock Johnson.

A word on spoilers: there will be some. If youre particularly precious about not finding out who has a surprise cameo at the end of Central Intelligence or how the fight between Dom and Hobbs in Fast Five ends, proceed with caution.

Dwayne The Rock Johnson is the biggest movie star in the world today, and given that he primarily stars in action films, by the transitive property he is also the defining action film icon of a generation. From his kick-ass turns in the