10.12.04 Broken Harts by Samir

As rule, I never, ever read love stories. I've read my fair share, especially when my sister used to prompt me as a child, and I've always hated them. By the time I was 12, I had my fill of Sweet Valley High and Danielle Steele novels for a lifetime, vowing never to read a love story again. As I thumbed through Broken Harts last week, though, I realized that this particular book was one love story that was worth breaking my vow for. Indeed, and that's exactly what Broken Harts is. Although it is ostensibly a biography of the late Owen Hart, the book doubles as a love letter from Martha Hart, the co-author (along with Eric Francis) to her departed husband. Martha begins the book by detailing the glory days of Stampede and the day she first caught sight of Owen when he was acting as the DJ for his father's promotion. She talks about fawning over his good looks, but taking her time to approach him. Martha begins to discuss how the relationship between her and Owen formed, and it's a great starting place for the book. First, in Martha's interactions with a wily, prank-happy Owen, it's imminently obvious that Martha is a sensible girl who won't rush into things but has a deep sense of justice. This is never more crystallized than when she chastises a young, mischievous Owen for snapping her bra in the backseat of a car, telling him "she's not that kind of girl." Later on, when the legal battle becomes the focus of the book, we seem the same qualities again in Martha. As a result, there is much to be learnt about both Martha and Owen, even in the earlier, more pedestrian parts of the book which set the table beautifully for the crescendos later on. Moving through Owen's career, as Marth and Eric Francis do, we further see the picture of a man who is always torn between two roads. Owen is depicted as a reluctant wrestler, one who was slowly immersed into the business one hesitant step at a time, until its vice-like grip had him for good, until he'd been a wrestling so long, he couldn't get another job. In many cases, one can't help but feel sorry for Owen, who disdained wrestling for its seedier side, despite the fact that he was living a life that was a dream to many fans. On this seedy side, Martha spends a lot of time. She takes time to expose backstage dealings - including the circumstances through which Owen was forced to re-assume the Blue Blazer gimmick - she gives candid stories of wrestlers whose private lives are usually shielded to us and, most of all, recounts in chilling detail all of her dealings with and impressions of Vince McMahon. At the same time, Martha never forgets about the real story here, the love story featuring her and Owen. She does not forget to relate the difficult life of a wrestler's wife, and punctuates this with keen examples like having to drive herself home from the hospital after giving birth because Owen was on the road. One is only left to feel a sad empathy for her, because even though the business has a vice-like grip on those who join it, Owen was one of those wrestlers who never forgot about his family. Yet, even as the best family man in wrestling, the business made his wife drive home. Quite sad, actually. Once she brings us to the present (the present being shortly after Owen's death, when the book was published), the love story between Owen and herself gives way to the more nefarious events surrounding Owen's death. Always the romantic storyteller, Martha does not begin at the "fall", but rather sets the table by mentioning Owen's qualms about the "stupid stunt", and recounting Owen's instructions to "find someone for Athena" (their daughter) should something happen to him. As an external reader, knowing of Owen's fate while recounting his last words, this is probably the hardest part of the book to get through. Not because it lacks form or substance as a biography, but merely because it is so emotionally-charged and deeply personal. Martha goes on to describe Owen's death, yes, and then covers quite well most of the effects it had in Owen's environment. It is here that we see a strikingly frank description of The Hart family and its internal politcs. Stu is depicted as a once-proud warrior whose faculties have given way to age. Helen, for her part is described by Martha as a strong matriarch, but with a deep-seated resentment for Stu's profession and the lack of normalcy in her life that caused her to drink herself (to death, perhaps). In fact, one of the more harrowing aspects of the books is how tough wrestling is on relationships, as both Helen and Martha despise the business and what it did to their husbands. The Hart children, for their part, were a mixed bag. Like any truely masterful piece of fiction, they too figured to be colorful characters. As with Owen, they were prisoners of the vice-like grip of wrestling, and would stoop to all manner of treachery and betrayal, from trying to get Helen (a co-claimant in Martha's suit) to settle so they could inherit to faxing legal documents to Vince McMahon so their spouses could be offered wrestling jobs in exchange. When I say reality is better than fiction, one need only look and see how the Harts, like a bunch of lobsters in a tank, clawed at each other and kept each other down in the hope of individual glory, screwed themselves. In fact, aside from Bruce who was sort of a nonfactor, the only Hart which Martha casts in an entirely positive light is Bret, who stood by her through thick and thin. She even went so far as to address his motives, his vendetta with Vince, and Vince's desparaging comments about Bret regarding their meeting at Owen's funeral. To a life-long Bret Hart fan and admirer of his character and his ability to retain his integrity despite being in such a dsyfunctional business, it came as a comforting affirmation of the Hitman's mettle. However, the biggest insights of all come with regards to Vince McMahon. Here, little Martha, a small woman with the soul of pitbull, pulls absolutely no punches. She talks about how her investigation, her lawsuit against Vince, and exactly how hard the loss of Owen hit her, going over her pains in almost minute detail, including how hard it was to learn how to sleep alone. To anyone wondering "who's fault it is", the objective evidence alone, provided in this book, is enough to answer that question. To anyone wondering what Vince McMahon is really like, the fact that he did not call Martha to inform her of Owen's death but rather her let her find out through the broadcast & the news, is damning enough. Then, his legal & political maneuvering to absolve himself of the fact that he himself decided to reduce the security of the harness (and his "hack" rigger chose a $68 nautical clip designed for easy release) to save a few seconds and a few bucks, is perhaps one of the bigger indictments of his character that I have ever read. Martha then moves onto the settlement of the case, which hardly comes as a surprise considering the wear and tear that fighting both Vince's team of bloodhound lawyers and the various factions of the fragmented Hart family brought to her. Although she never really sought money, according to the book, but rather justice, it was uplifting to see that she, at least, struck enough sense into Vince McMahon so that he ponied up enough money to take care of Martha for life (though it will never buy back Owen's life) but also so that future "stunts" such as these would not be attempted. Indeed, since 1999, no one under the employ of Vince McMahon has done such a stunt. In a lot of ways, the book also touches on the wrestling business' less glamorous side, the pressures and the bad side of a profession with lack of health care, lack of competition among employers, lack of security and, most importantly, a lack of people with integrity. The book is remarkably compact, but rich in content as I have tried to illustrate,.It is at once a love story, a crusade by Martha to give the facts to the public, an indictment of wrestling and of Vince McMahon in particular, and a chronicle of the life of Owen Hart. In 240-some-odd pages, I'd say Martha and her co-writer pull it off admirably. It is written in very informal and casual prose, but loaded with emotion so as to convey the seriousness required here. If this was Martha's attempt to fulfill her last duty as Owen's wife, which was to prevent his death from changing nothing about the business and to let Owen rest in his grave avenged and spoken for in the court of justice, I'd say she succeeded admirably, and gained my own admiration in the process. Sometime, somewhere, I'd love to shake Martha Hart's hand and tell her how inspiring her strength was. Probably the best tragic love story I've read in a long, long time. Probably the most revealing book about Wrestling, The Harts and The McMahons as well. You know, no other book seems important after having read this one. An emotionally difficult but necessary book for any wrestling fan, I'd say.

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