The True Triumph of Rocky Balboa: the Italian Stallion's Enduring Influence on Humanity

Something shocking happened to me in the last week: I learned that quite a few of my female peers have never seen a Rocky movie. You know, Sylvester Stallone’s classic series. Yeah, that Rocky. It wasn’t just that they hadn’t seen a Rocky movie (I can understand not wanting to see Rocky V), but to have never seen a single Rocky movie?! I was flabbergasted, dumbfounded, confounded, and basically KO’ed by the news. I couldn’t understand how you could grow up in America and never see a Rocky movie. The movies always seemed to be playing on television when I was a kid. My family had even taped Rocky IV; I don’t even know how many times I watched Rocky train in the Russian countryside for his monumental fight with Ivan Drago, the tall, blonde Russian steroid-machine. How could someone grow up without “Yo, Adrianne” as an essential phrase in their vernacular? Would running up the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art hold no significance for them?

The story of Rocky Balboa has become a part of the American myth, and I could hardly believe that there were so many of my female peers who had never seen one of those films. After conducting some research on the world wide web, I found that this tragedy is not limited to our specific geographical or cultural situation. IMDB (the Internet Movie Database – a movie nerd’s best friend) shows that the first film of the series, Rocky, has received an average rating of 8.0 out of 10. Of all the different demographics that assigned ratings to the film, only 3,000 of the 40,000 votes were placed by females. Those voting females under the age of 18 (all 142 of them) gave it an average rating of 5.2. I’m not sure what alarms me more: the fact that only 142 girls under the age of 18 have voted for it on IMDB, or the fact that they gave it such a low rating. What is America coming to?

Maybe girls under the age of 18 aren’t familiar with IMDB, and the few that are do not accurately reflect the rest of their age group. Maybe there are large groups of teenage girls that love and respect the Rocky saga.

Probably not. I fear that girls are ignoring this classic piece of American cinema for skewed and twisted reasons. Yes, Rocky is a boxing movie. It is about a man, Rocky Balboa, an underachiever who gets a shot to fight the world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed. But more than being a boxing movie, it is about the underdog chasing his dreams, it is about knowing what you are capable of and doing your best to achieve it, it is about recognizing the true potential of others, it is about learning the true meaning of victory, it is about the American dream. It is a story of the indomitable human spirit, and it is a story of love.

It is so much more than a mere boxing movie. Yet I fear that it is being written off as a guy movie with no possible appeal to or application for the female gender. Such thinking is unfortunate because Rocky is rife with universal themes. I dare say that Rocky can teach us more about real life than a handful of Disney movies (which all of my female peers seem to revere as sacred).

Though this incident proves that I truly will never understand the female gender, I am campaigning (and blogging) to restore Rocky to its rightful place in American society. Already, Prometheus Rex and I have forced a group of girls to watch the original and open their eyes to the glory and splendor of Stallone’s masterpiece.

Rocky Balboa, in the thirty-one plus years since the theatrical release of Rocky in December of 1976, has become a symbol of determination and perseverance that has inspired millions. His underdog tale has become a part of our cultural heritage, a new archetypal American myth. Rags-to-riches stories have long been a part of our American identity, but perhaps none has ever risen to such prominence and distinction as the story of Rocky. Not only are references to Rocky everpresent in contemporary athletics, but they permeate our entire society. A quick glance at IMDB’s page for Rocky’s movie connections shows that it has been referred to or alluded to in some way in over 170 different movies, videos, or television shows. That does not include any of the numerous times that it has been spoofed either. Rocky is everywhere.

Rocky’s tale is more than the typical rags-to-riches fulfillment of the American dream. Rocky starts, like most tales of this sort, as a poor, humble character. He toils in obscurity, trying to make it as a fighter, but finding it hard to continue believing that, after ten long years of obscurity and mediocrity, he will ever achieve his dreams. Eventually, and quite miraculously, Rocky is chosen to fight Apollo Creed for a shot at the heavyweight title. This swing of events helps Rocky achieve his dream and learn exactly what victory is. A normal mythical tale would have the character vanquish his foe and rise to the top, becoming the next champion. Rocky’s story is different because he doesn’t win the fight. He is successful because he achieves his goal of going the distance, the entire fifteen rounds, without getting knocked out. No one before Rocky had ever achieved such a feat against Apollo Creed. Rocky succeeds according to his own terms, not society’s. He did everything he wanted, everything he could, and that was enough for him. That was the true measure of success for Rocky Balboa.

This contrasts greatly with our typical American success stories. We expect these underdogs to win. We want the improbably paired man and woman to live happily ever after; we don’t want them to be just friends, if they were, we would probably feel unsatisfied (enter the misguided criticism of the Irish musical Once). We don’t want to see the local high school football team lose at the last second in the state championship game (if you do want to see an example of that, check out Friday Night Lights). No, we want to Remember the Titans and their glory. We love these stories when the underdogs go from absolute defeat to absolute victory. Yet, somehow Rocky eschews these conventions and achieves a new kind of victory, one that feels entirely acceptable and true to the core of the story and the characters. Rocky’s triumph is, perhaps, more realistic and a better example of how we ought to approach life, in the end more inspirational, than all of the other underdog stories.

Besides helping us to learn about the true nature of success, Rocky gives us one of the most memorable romances in film history. You read that correctly, ladies! A romance for the ages in a boxing movie? In the left corner, we have Rocky Balboa, a somewhat awkward yet persistent 30 year-old amateur boxer. In the right corner, we have Adrian Pennino, an extremely timid 29 year-old woman who works at a pet shop and cooks and cleans for her older brother Paulie. Both Rocky and Adrian have never really achieved much of anything in life. Rocky is struggling to move up the boxing ranks, and Adrian struggles with a debilitating lack of self-confidence not helped by her brother’s constant verbal abuse. Neither is content or happy. At some point, Rocky sees something in Adrian that he likes, and he begins dropping by the pet shop frequently to clumsily talk to her and tell her jokes, often resulting in awkward situations. He demonstrates the necessity and importance of persistence and never loses hope of one day wooing Adrian. Eventually, Rocky and Adrian do come together. Two unlikely solitary figures come together into an equal relationship, and they find love and happiness in the other.

After watching Rocky this past weekend, I knew immediately that I would blog about it, not just about how everyone should watch and love this cinematic masterpiece, but I also knew that there were some great life lessons that could be pulled from the film, lessons in line with this blog’s purpose and intent. Thus, I have compiled five important life lessons that Rocky has passed down to me. I pass them down to you.

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1. Love develops naturally in a relationship in which gaps are filled.

In one scene, Rocky and Adrian’s brother, Paulie, are talking. Paulie, confused by Rocky’s interest in Adrian, in whom he sees very little of worth, asks what he sees in his sister.

“You like her,” Paulie asks.

“Sure, I like her,” Rocky replies in his typical, matter-of-fact way..

Paulie continues, “What’s the attraction?”

“I dunno…she fills gaps.”

“What’s gaps?”

“I dunno…she’s got gaps. I got gaps. Together we fill gaps.”

Rocky sees Adrian as the possessor of qualities that fill in his gaps. He understands that she makes him a better person, just as he makes her a better person. Too often I find myself thinking that I need to find someone who is very similar to who I am, someone with interests very much like my own (especially when it comes to music, books, and films). I realize this might not be the best path to pursue. Besides the difficulty of finding someone else with eclectic interests like my own, I could be looking for all the wrong things. I realize common interests are important, but maybe finding someone to fill our gaps is more important. Also, I personally believe that we shouldn’t necessarily be looking for someone to fill specific gaps in our personalities. One plus one should equal two, correct? When we need someone to fill in large gaps in ourselves, we might end up with one plus one equaling one. We should be continually seeking to improve ourselves so that our relationships can result in two complete individuals, not just one. This is more along the lines of what I see take place in Rocky. Rocky and Adrian fill in their gaps as they help one another become more complete individuals. Adrian inspires Rocky to believe in himself and his potential as a fighter, and he helps Adrian find courage and self-confidence. They achieve victory and love together because of the complimentary nature of their relationship.

2. Humor can work miracles, even when it’s not all that funny.

Rocky visits the pet shop where Adrian works two times every day, once on his way to work, the other on his way home. Each time he visits, he tells Adrian a joke he thought of just for her. His jokes aren’t always funny; they’re often pretty lame and corny. But Rocky’s attempts to make Adrian smile and be happy are successful in the long run. Humor, it seems, plays an important role in relationships. In my sad little attempts at relationships in the past, humor has been very important. I find my attraction to a girl strengthened if she is able to laugh – at me or with we; it doesn’t really matter. If I can make her laugh and she can make me laugh, we instantly have a powerful tool to strengthen our relationship. I am often too sarcastic (a shortcoming, I admit), but a girl who can handle that sarcasm and turn it back on me (playfully, of course) is a girl that I want to keep near me. Who doesn’t want a significant other they can laugh with until you’re out of breath and your eyes glisten with tears threatening to spill over? They (whoever they are) say that laughter is the best medicine, and I think that in relationships it can be one of the essential things that keeps everything glued together. Rocky understands that.

3. We need to be capable of seeing the good already present in someone while seeing their future potential at the same time.

Perhaps Rocky’s greatest achievement in the film is not going the distance with Apollo Creed or successfully running up the stairs of the Philadephia Museum of Art. Maybe the best thing he does is recognize Adrian’s true worth when no one else can see it, not even herself. To the world, Adrian is just a shy spinster working at a pet shop, someone who, as Paulie says, is going to die all alone. Rocky doesn’t see that. He sees a beautiful and kind woman who just needs to be treated correctly. He sees what no one else can or wants to see. Not only does Rocky recognize Adrian’s worth at the present time, he sees who she can become under the influence of civility and love. Adrian sees Rocky in a similar way. Together they see one another’s current worth as well as the future potential that can only be achieved together. I think that their success as a couple depends greatly on this principle. In a way, it’s like enjoying and being content with the present while still hoping for things to get even better in the future. That really seems to me to be a correct attitude to have concerning all things in life, not just relationships. It seems like a formula for happiness.

Likewise, doing the opposite seems like a success for failure. Sometimes in relationships one person sees the other in an unrealistic light. Infatuation makes us vulnerable to this. We only want to see the best in someone, and often we fabricate or exaggerate good qualities. We don’t want to admit that we could be attracted to an imperfect person that isn’t our perfect match, do we? Of course not. That’s why we often fail to recognize differences that will eventually create disunity in our relationships. That’s why someone can turn to their spouse after a few years of marriage and say with disdain, “You’re not the person I married.” Or people will get into a relationship thinking, “He/she will change and then they’ll be the person I want.” We need to see people for who they truly are; we need to be, even while in the throes of infatuation, realistic. Seeing someone for who you want them to be and not who they are is opposed to what Rocky teaches us. I know from personal experience that a relationship in which the other person expects you to be someone else and do the things that that someone else would do cannot (and did not) endure. By ignoring reality, we set ourselves up to fall.

4. Our relationships are what truly make us successful in life.

I’ve already written how Rocky’s victory came in going the distance in his fight with Apollo Creed, and not in actually winning the fight. The film ends, however, highlighting the true source of Rocky’s success: his relationship with Adrian. Once the final bell rings, Rocky begins shouting “Adrian” over and over. Reporters are trying to interview him and ask him about his feelings concerning the fight, a possible rematch with Apollo, etc. Rocky keeps moving around the ring, shouting Adrian’s name, looking for her in the crowd. Everyone around him seems to be celebrating his feat more than he is. While pandemonium swallows everyone in the ring, Adrian tries to force her way to the ring. All the while she is calling out, in her quiet way, “Rocky,” as she gets nearer and nearer the Italian Stallion. Finally, she reaches the ring and is reunited with the sweaty and bloody Rocky Balboa. As they come together, they both say the immortal words “I love you,” perhaps the three most important words in the English language behind “Yabba dabba do.”

It is the love he has found with Adrian that makes Rocky a success. Maybe it was that love that made it possible for him to achieve his dream of going the distance. Maybe if he and Adrian had never gone out that bleak Thanksgiving night Rocky would have gone done in the first three rounds like Apollo had promised. Ultimately, it was the relationship with Adrian that mattered most to Rocky; it was his true victory and success. Even in my short twenty-four years of life, I have already come to understand that our relationships with others are what truly matter most. I have dreams of monetary success, of fame and renown as a writer and director, of seeing my name printed on bestseller after bestseller, but I know that without having meaningful relationships with others and being able to share my life with them, I will have achieved very little, nothing worthy of being considered true success. Until I can yell, “Yo, Adrian” and know that she, figuratively of course, is shouting my name and rejoicing with me, I must continue my quest for true success.

5. Good things can come out of bad situations with the right attitude.

Rocky and Adrian’s first date takes place because Paulie is rude and thoughtless. He brings Rocky home for Thanksgiving without telling Adrian beforehand. She is naturally upset and, with her timid nature, doesn’t know how to handle the situation. Paulie essentially commands her to go out with Rocky. She tells him that it is Thanksgiving and there is a turkey in the oven. Paulie throws open the oven, grabs the turkey (making sure to tear off a leg for him to eat), and throws it into the back alley. This upsets Adrian, and Paulie continues with the abuse. She runs into her room and slams the door. Only through Rocky’s coaxing and awkward and sincere attempts to make her feel better does Adrian leave her room and agree to go out with Rocky. Perhaps she just wanted to get away from Paulie; I can sympathize with her in that regard.

So Rocky and Adrian go out, both nervous and unsure of what to do. They go ice-skating and gradually begin to establish a real connection. In the end, the night ends very well for them, and one thing leads to another and they’re in love. I bring this up because they very easily could have not gone out that evening. Rocky could have left Adrian alone after Paulie’s rude behavior. He could have thought, “Now’s not a good time. She needs her space. I’ll try again some other time.” I don’t think he would have been at fault for thinking any of those things. Adrian likely didn’t feel like going out, not after having the meal she had worked so hard on destroyed by her brother. She could have stayed in her room the rest of the evening, suffering in her quiet lonely way. Nothing could have happened that night between them. The bad situation would have eventually blown over, and life would have continued as normal. But they didn’t accept the bad hand they’d been dealt that night. They chose to make something good happen, and that shows a remarkable strength of will and quiet optimism. Making something good out of the bad wasn’t easy either. Adrian had to endure quite a few bad jokes from Rocky. Rocky had to do all the talking because of her shyness. All awkwardness aside, they successfully managed to create a good situation out of a bad one, and because they were able to get something good out that fateful Thanksgiving night, their lives changed forever.

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Rocky is a great movie, a masterpiece of American cinema, and it has had a tremendous influence on our society, whether we are all aware of it or not. It does not deserve to be filed away as just another boxing or guy movie. It is a serious and beautiful portrayal of the human spirit and its nobility and ability to achieve greatness. It can teach us important life lessons if we are willing to watch and listen. To those who have seen and love this film, we cannot let it fade away into obscurity. We cannot be content to meet people who have never seen a single Rocky film and not do anything to remedy that. We may be fighting an uphill battle as we try to open people’s minds and hearts to this great film, but if Rocky has taught us anything, it’s that even if we lose this fight, if we go the distance and stay on our feet, we’ll know that we “[aren’t] just another bum from the neighborhood.” We will be able to hold our heads high and let loose our triumphant roar:

“Adrian!”