Rising and Falling

Growing up I always had a set of movies which you could consider my 'comfort movies'. These were the films which I would watch on occasion if ever I was feeling the need to be cheered up or inspired. Obviously "Star Wars" and the subsequent movies were on that list but so was the "Rocky" series. There was just something about that punchy boxer from Philadelphia that I found intriguing. Even at a young age I was able to relate to the story of a down on his luck boxer who is given the chance to prove his worth by taking on the heavyweight champion of the world. Over the course of five (soon to be six) movies, we could watch as this character went from being a contender to champion to former champion to champion again to fighter of communism and finally back to a guy from the streets of Philadelphia.

In watching the third part a few days ago on TV, I came to the realization that Sylvester Stallone's portrayal of the character also had its ups and downs. What do I mean by that? Well let's take a look at the development of the character. In the first one he's shown to be an average Joe from Philly who is not the brightest bulb in the bunch. In the second one he continues the trend of being the average Joe but we see some flaws in his character including the fact that he can't read. This, among his other qualities is what I think made the character appealing to many people. He wasn't an above average guy, just an average guy with real problems. By the time of the third one he suddenly became.... eloquent. I don't know what happened there. I know he's supposed to be refined and all but in this one it appears that all the punches to the head have suddenly shaken some intelligence loose.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy part III as much as the next guy. There's nothing quite like watching Mr. T in his prime going at it with Rocky. And throw in a cameo by a then relatively unknown Hulk Hogan... well... you've got an excellent movie. Then we get to the fourth film and Rocky begins his mental downward spiral. One could chalk it up to brain damage from all the punches but still. His fight with Ivan Drago, an allegorical jab (pardon the pun) at communism leaves him with severe brain damage. So much so that by the time of the fifth one he's even less intelligent than he was in the first one.

I have no idea of what his mental capacity will be in Rocky VI but one can only hope he'll be a bit more than a punching bag with arms. I just find it funny that as his wealth increases in the films, so does his level of sophistication. It's an interesting social commentary but one that does not hold much truth. I mean look at Mike Tyson. Similar story to Rocky, he rose to the heights of boxing though his mental capacity remained about the same throughout. Were we to believe Rocky then Tyson should have been quoting Shakespeare at the height of his career. Still and all, Rocky is first and foremost a movie and we should take it as that. Enjoy it for what it is and leave it at that.