Midterm Rocky and sugar

Victor Nieves

1/19/17

A3 Midterm

              Both the film Rocky directed by John G. Avildsen and Sugar [Santos] directed by Anna Bowen and Ryan Fleck both present what it is to achieve the American Dream. For those who don't know what the American Dream is, it's the idea where all U.S. citizens have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, initiative, and determination. Both films are actually very similar and both do a great job showcasing the American Dream by showing where both main characters [protagonists] of the story

(Miguel Santos and Rocky Balboa AKA the Italian Stallion) came from, and for those who are very familiar with the films, both characters didn't really have much initially and both had financial problems.

Even if both films are very similar, they still have their differences in presenting the American Dream. While Rocky who had an unexpected and random opportunity to fight Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), who at the time was the Heavyweight Champion of the world, Miguel always had the chance but never pursued his passion which was baseball [???]. Another thing to mention about their differences, Miguel had to sacrifice a lot of things getting into the Minor Leagues while Rocky had nothing to lose. Miguel had to move to the United States in order to pursue his dream to play baseball, while for Rocky it came to him.

Both characters had different struggles while trying to achieve their dreams, Miguel's struggle was to be able to handle not being home, yet supporting his family and adapt to living in a new country and learning a new language [and eating too much French toast]. Although Rocky had to train his body to be at a pro boxing level and move from amateur to pro and move away from his old life which was braking body parts as a loan shark. Although both characters had different careers and different struggles, they were both still very similar in terms of showing the American Dream, and even if both characters had different endings, they both still went through a lot of struggle to get where they are now. 

In the end of the movie Sugar, the idea was a man who had an opportunity to become something great but what he really wanted was what he had at home; The movie Rocky was about a man who had a random opportunity sent to him which he had nothing to lose and a chance to move out from his old life which was being in poverty and having to break legs in order to make his money. Both movies showcase characters having a chance to be at the top which makes them very similar yet both their backgrounds and situations make them totally different.