Rocky Balboa: "The Enigma"

Although our class has only began to watch the movie, "Rocky", I am extremely interested in it and ready to see more. I find the character, "Rocky" extremely fascinating. On the outside, Rocky appears to be this big, tough Italian boxer and loan shark, but he is a much deeper person. As we discussed in class, in the scene where Rocky goes back to his apartment after the boxing match, you get to see a glimpse of his softer, more vulnerable side. A powerful moment in the apartment scene was when Rocky was looking in the mirror at himself, and the picture of himself as a young boy. In this scene, I think that Rocky is really evaluating his life, goals, and dreams. Another aspect of the movie that really highlights the sort of "contradiction" in Rocky's personality is his relationship with Adrian, who works at the local pet store. He puts a lot of effort and time into trying to impress Adrian and defends her when her brother speaks negatively of her. Rocky is an enigma in the sense that he lives this very hard-life, earning little to no money getting beat up and dealing with people calling him names such, as "loser" and "bum", but still has the ability to care for other people and give out powerful advice about life.

A scene that stuck out to me from the movie was when the young girl was hanging out on the street corner, cursing and behaving inappropriately with a group of guys. Rocky pulled her away from the situation and talked to her about "self-respect" and "reputation.  I think it was powerful how he wasn't shaming her for cursing or putting her down, but he was rather advising to be true to herself and not behave in a certain way to impress others. It was interesting how he talked  to her about people's perceptions,and encouraged her to show how good she is, instead of creating a "reputation" for herself. I feel that Rocky was not only giving advice to the young girl, but speaking to himself as well. Sometimes when we are trying to lift other individuals up, we are subconsciously trying to life ourselves up.

I am really looking forward to watching the movie in class next Friday. I would like to know more about Rocky's background and how his life has evolved to this point. I am also curious about how Rocky and Adrian's relationship will grow as the movie progresses.