That’s what makes it such an important piece of masculine cinema – it’s transgressive. Interestingly enough, when the series rebooted with Creed earlier this year, it explored black masculinity as Apollo Creed’s son Adonis fights to find his place in the world and make peace with a father he never knew. Masculinity’s trying to reconfigure and reassert itself against those.” “In the 1970s it’s centred around the economic crisis and the duel threat to white masculinity from the 1960s’ civil rights movement and feminism. It seems that masculinity is always in crisis, in some way. You’ll find this back in the 1950s, through the 1970s, and also in contemporary terms. “One of the themes that comes up in how men are depicted in cinema is the idea of a crisis of masculinity. Yes, he’s triumphant in the end but it’s a hell of a fight to get there. “The idea of the poor embattled white man. “This is a recurring theme in movies that deal with men,” says Dr Chopra-Gant. One of the criticisms levelled at the original Rocky is its channelling of “white masculinity” – particularly in his fight against the black champion, Apollo Creed, quite obviously based on the charismatic Muhammad Ali. The series would also go on to mirror the ups and downs of Stallone’s Hollywood career. It became a true underdog story both on and off screen, winning the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing Academy Awards in 1977. Stallone’s performance of the character – his fighting spirit, the difficulty to properly articulate himself – with such pathos, it immediately landed an emotional sucker punch with men everywhere. Stallone took a huge pay cut in order to star in the film he wrote. As a struggling actor, Sylvester Stallone famously refused to let anyone else play the lead role – even established stars such as Robert Redford or James Caan. There’s an added layer when you factor in the true story behind the original movie. In fact, the character’s a layered, shining example of what we value in modern men: he’s honest, sincere, respectful, and not afraid to admit that emotions are his weakness (“I’m afraid!” he shouts at Adrian in Rocky III, knowing full well he’s in for another hiding off Clubber Lang). It’s about integrity and making something of himself. It would be interesting to see how a younger audience of today sees Rocky.”Īnd though Rocky outwardly embodies everything valued by traditional notions of masculinity – strength, physicality, double-hard fighting skills – the character’s real battle is a spiritual and emotional one.įor Rocky, true manliness isn’t about getting bashed in the cranium and keeping going for 15 rounds. “You can take that back to John Wayne in the 1950s. “The man who asserts his identity through violence is a very old fashioned idea,” says Dr Mike Chopra-Gant, lecturer in media, culture, and communications at London Metropolitan University. On the surface, it’s a very traditional – outdated, even – image of masculinity. That’s all part of the enduring pleasure of the boxing movie – from Rocky to Bleed For This - and the undeniable pleasure of a film in which the hero solves his problems by literally smashing adversity in the face. Violence is central, of course, as Rocky’s eventual chance-of-a-lifetime fight against world champ Apollo Creed symbolizes his journey to proving himself as a man. His shorts may differ in colour from sequel to sequel but his collar remains staunchly blue, a gentle soul trapped in a world he doesn’t really understand, the product of an environment where sometimes fighting is the only way out. Rocky doesn’t really have the stomach for it, refusing to break someone’s thumbs despite orders from his mobster boss, but there’s no doubt Balboa is a man who’s seen (and dished out) a lot of violence on the hard streets of Philadelphia. When we first meet Rocky he’s been tossed aside by his trainer Mickey for not meeting his potential and working as hired muscle for a loan shark (“It’s a waste of a life,” screams Mickey). Indeed, when it comes to films about manliness, Rocky is still the champ – and the “Italian Stallion” is a more complex fellow than most would give him credit for. The franchise it spawned has mediated the changing face of masculinity across four decades and had a profound effect of the male psyche. And chances are you may never have realised it. Forty years after it first slogged its way into cinemas (3 December, 1976 to be exact), Rocky remains Hollywood’s greatest icon of masculinity, and continues to inform our sense of what it means to be a man.
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