How much you can take and keep moving forward. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. In Rocky Balboa, the last film to portray the “Italian Stallion” as the pugilist, Rocky encapsulates the vision of the whole preceding series in a moving speech to his estranged adult son: Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone, 2006, US), MGM, 35mm, colour, sound, 102 minutes. Each of us comes to learn, as the theologians and philosophers teach, that suffering is a basic reality of human existence. On the contrary, it’s Rocky’s response to adversity which has touched and inspired so many people over the past five decades. So if the Rocky films are renowned as “feel-good” movies, it’s not because they’re free from pain and tragedy. Instead, time and again, we see Rocky respond to suffering and adversity – it is the franchise’s leitmotif. It’s as if the writer (Stallone) understands as well as audiences that these times are of comparatively little importance. The times when things go well-the all-too-brief days when Rocky reigns as heavyweight champion-are skipped over. His journey initially leads from rags to riches, but ultimately back to the same working-class Philadelphia neighbourhood in which he started. Rocky suffers defeat, severe injury and illness, betrayal, the loss of wealth and status, the death of loved ones. To use Rocky’s own words, his reality is one where “the world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows.” Yet the version of our world which Rocky inhabits is hardly one designed to satisfy our craving for casual escapism.
Why does Rocky Balboa ( Sylvester Stallone) occupy such a treasured spot in the public imagination? Originally starring in six films between Rocky (1976) and Rocky Balboa (2006), before featuring in a supporting role in the blockbuster spin-off series Creed (2015 – ), Rocky has proven to be an enduring box-office draw and continues to find admirers among a new generation of film lovers.
Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1961) “ But then what is your myth-the myth in which you do live?” - C.G. Why does Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa occupy such a treasured spot in the public imagination?
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