Jonah Nazier Galan- Rocky

Rocky Dir. John G. Avildsen
Feat. Sylvester Stallone (Rocky), Burgess Meredith (Micky), Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed), Talia shire (Adrian), and Burt Young (Paulie)
MGM, 1976

On November 21, 1976, the debut of Rocky occurred. directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. The film centers around the "rags to riches" American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated “bum” yet soft-hearted working-class Italian-American boxer who works as a debt collector/intimidator for a loan shark in the slums of Philadelphia. He is also known for being a small time club boxer.

Rocky Balboa is viewed upon as a "bum" throughout the movie, beginning with the opening scenes as he wins his underground boxing fight; he is seen asking for a bogie and only receives $40 for his win, equivalent to $176 today [nice touch]. It is as if he is simply beating his life away, just another working class man with no purpose in life. Living in the slums of Philadelphia, rundown buildings, trash, and debris alongside the sidewalks and buildings; the neighborhood represents Rocky, hopeless and beatdown [good analysis/observation]. Rocky begins to reflect upon his self-worth and through his stagnant facial expression, he expresses shame, lack of self-respect and regrets his decisions that led him up to this point thus far.

Although Rocky is sought upon [word choice] as a "bum" or "loser," he still obtains principles. The biggest principle is respect. Yes, granted he doesn't have self-respect for himself [redundant, for whom else might one have self-respect?] in the beginning of the movie, he still advocates respect for others. As he approaches one of the men who owe the loan shark money, he doesn't break his thumb instead he preaches to break his mindset, giving him the advice to get his life together and not be a loser and waste his life away [good]. As he walks little Marie home he preaches to her to not be someone she isn't because she'll carry a bad "rep" hanging with "the coconuts in the corner." Although he cannot fully comprehend how to take care of himself he still obtains the soft-heartedness to take care of everyone before he takes care of himself.

The film constantly reminded me of  the saying, "Are you an actor or an extra?" The saying is meant to represent two types of people, the ones who star throughout their lives and be somebody or the ones who obtain it for a moment having no recognition [very nice  -  strong finish]. Rocky began as an extra, having no self-worth nor purpose for life, only obtaining gratitude through his close to no name fights. It wasn't until he was willing to make a change, to acknowledge the fact he was a nobody, had no set purpose in life, no meaning. He became an actor once he finished his fight against Apollo Creed; he didn't do the fight for everyone else  -  he did for himself. He embodied the American spirit of not giving up regardless of the forces against you [shift in perspective] because those are the moments that create your true perception.