Rocky Balboa - The Making Of An Icon

By -
If you’ve ever heard the term underdog at some point in your life, you probably heard the name “Rocky” attached with it at some point. Rocky is...pretty famous. He’s become the sports icon for underdog stories in nearly any sport.

He’s a man who represents an entire city. Philadelphia - The City Of Brotherly Love.
The movie “Rocky” in 1976 went on to become a renowned sports movie franchise with 8 high grossing films and a statue dedicated to the film in the city of Philadelphia itself. It ushered in the hype and fame for sports movies, fiction or non-fiction, and there went on to be a lot of those afterwards (Space Jam, Uncle Drew, Rudy, The Sandlot, Fever Pitch).

What exactly did the producers of this film do to create something so iconic? Something that could be synonymous with an entire city?

Firstly, the film is memorable. Especially for how central it is to the city of Philadelphia and the way it perfectly captures the culture of the area. As someone who comes from the suburbs of Philly and who’s been there countless times, I know this area, and now I know it for what it was 40+ years ago when the “Rocky” films were released. Everything from the date at the ice rink

Following that, the training montage has been copied over and over again by several other shows, movies, and gags that have a similar plot. An underdog getting ready to fight a hyped up opponent in a match where the stakes are high.

The underdog/hero aspect. Rocky Balboa’s just a regular guy, if anything he’s close to below average, but Apollo Creed presents him with a once in a lifetime opportunity off of sheer chance. Lucky to have a nickname as intriguing as the “Italian Stallion”.
The romance as Rocky falls in love with Adrian as all this is going on and becomes the side story that captivates the audience if anyone wasn’t quite sold on Rocky’s personal journey just yet.

But it really is just that. A personal journey, and from start to finish you’re with Rocky all the way.

The ending will never be more memorable. Subverting the viewer’s expectations with a 15 round draw where Apollo’s voted the winner by a split decision, but Rocky’s not even worried about the outcome of the fight. He just proved to the world he can go one on one with the heavyweight champion as a nobody, and the only thing that was on his mind was Adrian, as the camera cuts between them shouting each other’s name through the mob crowd until they’re ringside with one another in each other’s arms as the camera freeze-frames then and fades to black.

Rocky’s story was that of personal human will. His was a spirit of grit and pure raw perseverance which was on full display during the 15 round fight with Apollo Creed when every time he got knocked down, he took the punches and got right back up, which enraged the heavyweight champion to no end.


From start to finish, “Rocky” had the making of a true icon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Will America's deep divide ever heal?

By -
Image
On Saturday, August 29th, 2020, a man was fatally shot in Portland, Oregon at a cruise rally. His name was Aaron “Jay” Danielson. This marks yet another person who lost their lives as a result of ongoing protests recycling the messages of social justice, social reform, and black lives matter. The victim was identified to be a far-right-wing ‘Patriot Prayer’. The rally was organized by an Idaho native inviting supporters decked out in Trump paraphernalia promoting his campaign for a 2nd Presidential term, as stated by The Rolling Stone . Fires lit during protests Friday, August 28th, 2020, via CNN. Portland had been a hotspot for civil unrest, hosting nightly protests sparked by the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement asking to defund police and amnesty for marginalized racial groups unfairly incarcerated.  The movement hopes to undo the dreadful effects of the Jim Crow laws in the 20th Century and ongoing police brutality that’s gone on ever since, which have escalated with L.A. riot...
Read more

State Of The Sade (10/9/2020)

By -
Image
Hello Palisaders!  As many of you may be aware, I've stepped away from the Palisade Initiative for a while, focusing on myself as I've been dealing with a difficult year. The group will not disband, but a lot of things have been set back, including our first Film Festival and the opening of our production studio. Our fundraisers are also stagnant, including the HopeToMillions fundraiser and the Palisade Fundly. For now, there are no active fundraisers, but if you'd still like to donate, feel free. This is a very rough season for the project, after starting 5 years strong, opening up multiple initiatives, working with 10 different organizations, and donating $2,000, this is a major reflection point for the group. There is no clear plan forward. I do not mean to sound pessimistic, but it may be likely that Project Palisade won't last many more years or could possibly merge with another group to stay afloat. Again, the future is unclear, but we currently lack the funds and...
Read more

The Last ISIS Stronghold: Baghouz

By -
Image
A flag of Islamic State militants is pictured above a destroyed house near the Clock Square in Raqqa.  (photo credit: ERIC DE CASTRO/ REUTERS) I believe ever since Raqqa, Iraq was liberated from ISIS in 2017 by the U.S. led coalition, ISIS has been in a massively weakened state leaving it more feeble at every stronghold across borders. Unfortunately, their presence is still maintained across a crescent-shaped enclave stretching from Mauritania to Algeria just beneath the Sahara Desert. Boko Haram is still terrorizing areas and has been most recently attributed to the deaths of 32 Christians in Yola, Nigeria. Then when Ghouta was attacked again in 2018 with yet another instance of Assad being an immoral warmonger and gassing his own people, it was very possible a resurgence would arise from ISIS enclaves near Damascus, the hardest of their territories to reach. But slowly, even with sparse retaliations like the Manbij attack which killed 5 Americans and I myself wro...
Read more