Sports Analysis- Movie Analysis
Cinderella Man
Synopsis
The Cinderella Man movie was developed in New York, and its scenes took place in both New Jersey and New York. The movie was developed during the time of the Great Depression, a time when many people’s economic statuses were in great danger. The movie depicted a time in the U.S history when its economic status was at a derailing point, and the country was suffering so much.
During this time, there emerged a light weight a boxer named James J. Braddock. He participated in many boxing activities for a very long time. During his career years, his wife prayed earnestly that Braddock could stop his boxing activities because she felt that it was coming in the way of their marriage. It is during these times of prayers that Braddock broke his arm and was injured permanently during what was his final fight and thus, was made to retire from the ring fight.
His retirement from the ring made it very difficult for him to fend for his large family. His retirement did not clear his love for boxing, and thus he still maintained his dream that one time he would go back to the ring. He later joined the labor community where he was a laborer at the docks so that he could get some little income to support his family.
Later in the years, Braddock was approached by his old time boxing manager. The manager wanted him to participate in a boxing fight as a last substitute where he was to engage in battle with a second-best rated contender in the region. Braddock was a type of a boxer who in almost every fight he engages he could amaze the people with how he fought. He never lost any of his fights no matter how big it looked like. His manager took the role of bringing Braddock back to the ring as he won all his matches against stronger, younger and much heavier boxers.
The name “Cinderella Man” was a name given to Braddock for his miraculous and successful comeback to the ring. In his new fights, Braddock fought successfully against Max Baer a heavyweight champion and took the title. However, this victory was never expected by many because in his earlier fights; Max Baer had killed two boxers in the ring and so people expected that Braddock could not come out of the ring alive. To the people’s surprise, Braddock managed to defeat Max Baer. This defeat made Braddock branded as the downtrodden masses champion.
In this film, the creator and the producer portrays the sport to the audience as way up for fame. Braddock a boxer who emerged from a humble beginning made a great adventure during his term as a boxer. Braddock became very popular to the extent where he was named as the Cinderella man by his audience and fun. His successful fights brought him fame and after his forceful retirement from the ring, his earlier manager made an effort of finding him so that he could participate in a much greater fight where he was fighting with the champion Max Baer. Apart from this, a sport is portrayed in this movie as income generating activity. We are told how it becomes so hard for Braddock to feed his family after he was forcefully retired from the ring. At least, when he was boxing, he was able to generate income that he used to feed his family.
The impression towards this sport, as portrayed in the movie, is that boxing is a widely accepted sport. From the movie, boxing had a significant number of supporters of which could pay any amount just to watch the game. Big competitions could attract almost double fans and supporters and how they participated in the competition clearly showed that boxing was a boxing activity that attracted many fans.
The movie portrays a number of themes such as the search for identity. This theme is clearly portrayed by Braddock and his search for the love of boxing. We saw how Braddock loved sporting with all his heart. At the time when he broke his arm during a fight, the way he expressed himself clearly showed how he felt like he was lost in darkness. He never believed he could ever stop boxing in his entire career. To put emphasis on this, Braddock after quitting boxing and his successive journey of working as a laborer, he never found comfort. He always wished he could go back to his boxing career.
Another general theme in the movie was that of how sports and love got in the way. Braddock loved both boxing and his family almost equally. He could spend much of his time in a training session. However, this habit seemed to be a problem to his wife. His wife never wanted him to keep on with the boxing and most of the time she could pray for her husband to stop. This clearly shows how love for family and love for sports got in the way.
In the movie, “Cinderella Man” sport is given the role of redemption to Braddock and his earlier manager. First, Braddock is found in the midst of fighting for his inner desire for boxing and his role as a family man. Braddock participated in many fights until he lost his arm. At this time, he retired from the ring though he did not want to. His lost dream of boxing was redeemed when his earlier manager approached him and gave him another chance for boxing. Braddock felt that he was redeemed back to where his heart was once.
Boxing in the movie offered a chance for redemption in the sense that for a long time, Braddock wife was praying for his husband to stop boxing. It was not by a sheer chance that he broke his arm leading to his retirement from the ring. This was a sign of redemption for the wife as her need for an available husband became fruitful. Boxing provided a chance for people to come together. This is evident in the situation that when Braddock was fighting against Max Baer, his fans came in one accord to support him. This was an opportunity for them to come together as a unified body in supporting their contester. Also, boxing is described as coming in the way of love. Braddock wife loved him so much, but boxing seemed to be coming on his way. This made her pray quite often for the husband to stop boxing. In addition to this, competition is seen as the conflicting issue in the movie. The competition for the championship between Braddock and Max brought out the aspect of conflict between two dividing parties.
Braddock, a character in the movie, portrays the role of a determined figure who believes in success and perfection in all his endeavors. Braddock is so determined to cling to his boxing career and at the point when he broke his arm he was not yet ready to quit. All his fights were very successful, and he won almost all of them. His wife portrays the role of a caring and a loving woman. She loved her husband and the idea of him spending too much of his time boxing and the fact that he could be killed in those fights made her so frightened. She also portrays the role of a God fearing woman who spent much of her time praying for her husband.
Boxing in this movie shows distinct relationships among the characters. First, Max Baer and Braddock are shown as two professional competitors who are fighting a battle for the championship. The relationship between Braddock and his former manager is shown to be that of professional status where the manager believes in the abilities of Braddock, and this belief forces him to bring him back to the ring.
Finally, the theme music in the scenes such as when Braddock’s wife prays for him exhibits an atmosphere of love and care. At the time of fighting in the ring, the sound truck that follows and the lighting shows an environment of real gaming where it is a chance of survival. The scream and shouts that the fans make shows the boxer they are supporting, and it gives them the courage and strength to fight on (Raacke and Jennifer 232).
Works Cited
Bonds-Raacke, Jennifer M. "Cinderella And Sleeping Beauty: Developing A Course On Disney And Fairytale Movies." Journal of Instructional Psychology 35.3. 2008. Print
