Rocky - Propaganda

As far as gaps in my film viewing repertoire go, not having seen Rocky was quite a big one. As if the fact that it has been relentlessly spoofed, had a recent remake and is a film that everyone else of my age group saw before the age of 10 wasn't enough - it also won the Oscar for best film. Such is its place in pop-culture that I kind of knew what to expect already - getting a shot at the big time, drinking raw eggs, running up steps and training montages. That's the whole film right? Isn't it? I guess not. Turns out my housemate has all 5 on DVD, so last Friday night it was time to make my own mind up.

Now before this review turns sour (as it's about to) I'm going to point out that I don't think I'm a joyless person. After all, on the surface of it there isn't much to dislike about Rocky - the story of the deceptively simple amateur boxer who gets his shot at the big time. What kind of self-hating moron could possible have a problem with that? Well - me. And here's why...

The American Dream is one of those intangible concepts designed to make the capitalist excesses of the USA palatable to the masses. Don't rock the boat, work hard and know your place and eventually you too might get rich and famous through hard work. Its the same gibberish that gets ordinary working class people out voting Republican (or Conservative or whatever your particular local gang of upper class apologists are called). Its exactly this gibberish that Rocky (the film) spends its runtime espousing. Consider the character Rocky. He works part time as a heavy for a small time gangster, keeps his own company, works hard and is attracted to the girl next door. What a great guy - bumming his way through his life until the world champion Apollo Creed needs some chump to batter for the purposes of television audiences. Rocky dutifully steps up to the plate for his shot at the American Dream - he's bound to lose, but if he wins he'll be champion of the world!

But don't get ideas above your station Rocky! You can't beat Apollo Creed! But if you manage to go the distance we'll pat you on the back and tell you how well you did and you'll get the girl and a small pay cheque - then you'll have made your small slice of the American Dream while Apollo Creed and his cronies run off with the rest of the pie. Is this meant to be a victory for the working man?! Is this Rocky's message to the world: that it is noble to work hard and line up for punishment at your shit job every day of your life because eventually someone will hand you your 15 minutes of fame? And when that time comes you should doff your cap and help them get even richer because one day it could be you? No Thanks.

And don't even get me started on Rocky's love interest (is it Adrian? Since when are woman called Adrian?). You know that thing they do in films where they put a woman in glasses to make her less unattractive, then she mysteriously loses them when they need her to look hotter later on? Classic example here. As soon as 'Adrian' and Rocky get together she loses her glasses and dowdy clothing - suddenly she has some kind of professional stylist buying her outfits and doing her hair. Because a woman only feels self-worth when she's with a man!

Not only did I find Rocky to be cheesy and uninspiring, I was disappointed that this is what people thought they should be showing their kids back in the 1970s. Not really a shock that this won the Oscar though given its over-sentimental view of the world. Far from being a harmless film about a guy getting his shot at the big time, I couldn't shake the feeling that this is the kind of pro-establishment stuff that Soviet propagandists could never even dream of getting away with. Perhaps this is why Communism in the USSR failed, because their propaganda was laughable in its unbelievability - whereas the USA had Holywood to pump out this self serving 'entertainment' at an alarming rate to re-enforce the status quo.

I wont be watching the rest of them.

And the boxing scenes are crap too.