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Rocky’s Road | The Stacks Reader

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For sheer emotional impact, the two movies that struck a deep societal chord over the last decade were Death Wish and Rocky. The first is easy to fathom. Charles Bronson (if he’s frightened, we’re not paranoid) cinematically revenged the indignities of our police locks, barred windows, electronic burglary devices, Doberman pinschers—not to mention our chagrin over the failure of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Indeed, Death Wish might be viewed as the first promo for the Reagan years. On the surface, the immense critical and financial success of Rocky is harder to plumb. At its least offensive, it was a mindless, derivative piece of hokum that back-pedaled from logic with more éclat than Billy Conn’s scampering for twelve rounds against Joe Louis. The film’s creator, Sylvester Stallone, blatantly boosted from Brando in On the Waterfront—not only in accent and mannerisms but also because Rocky, like Brando’s ex-pug longshoreman, wanted to ascend from bumhood. The love interest of Rocky

Rocky’s Road 1980s , Boxing , Criticism , Film Comment , Joe Flaherty , Movies , Sports , The Arts Facebook Twitter By Joe Flaherty Film Comment August 1982 For sheer emotional impact, the two movies that struck a deep societal chord over the last decade were Death Wish and Rocky . The first is easy to fathom. Charles Bronson (if he’s frightened, we’re not paranoid) cinematically revenged the indignities of our police locks, barred windows, electronic burglary devices, Doberman pinschers—not to mention our chagrin over the failure of Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. Indeed, Death Wish might be

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