Rocky Balboa Deserves Placement in Hall of Fame: A Myth To Be Reckoned With

We live in a world of harsh truth. We live a world of cynicism; a world where we see bleak reality and often respond with pessimistic fervor, trudging on without the confidence to succeed. A life where we are so accustomed to broken homes, economic distress, and environmental oppression (not the "green" kind, but the kind that children in inner-city ghettos wish to escape). We live a life where complacency is disastrously rising at peaking levels; where the passivity of man is increasingly abundant. Courage is confused for empty pride and humility is often mistaken for weakness.

This is a world where we learned that our lives are not all "sunshine and rainbows"; that life would throw us blows and "beat us to our knees." And in the midst of it all we searched for hope in many avenues, through our loved ones, our faith, and our passions, but we as people have often found it a lot of times in stories, in our story, and in the legends that we pass down from person to person. 

To make it plain and simple, Rocky Balboa is one of those legends. Created and written by Sylvester Stallone, Rocky was the everyman who boxing fans have loved and adored ever since they first laid eyes on him. The average Joe with a crappy apartment and two pet turtles to his name and a charmingly ignorant naivety that intrigued the everyman in all of us. He was the man who saw the beauty in a young socially awkward woman that no one else saw. That same woman helped him turn from his criminal lifestyle as loan-shark's henchman. Who can't relate to a woman causing us to want to become better men? Who can't relate to pasts that we are not proud of, and the fortitude to change our ways. Who can't relate to that "fighter;s instinct" to take whatever life gave us and say "you're not so bad!?" At every turn we saw ourselves in good ol' "Rocko."

We all know how the story goes with the tables turning in his favor, making Rocky a million to one shot to fight against the heavyweight champion of the world in a climactic battle of heart, passion and the human spirit. This story, this urban legend of sorts is etched into the minds of the American people. Those monumental steps in Philadelphia that Rocky ran across as he prepared for his fight against Apollo Creed are not merely a tourist landmark, they are a path that we seek to tread on.

His ability to take the hits that were given to him as Apollo Creed swung away... we felt those blows. When Rocky fell to the canvas, we felt that fear; the fear of loss; the fear of disrespect; the fear of throwing away a million to one shot chance that will never come again. We lived in the land of a America, the land of oppurtunity, and for too long many of us felt like we didn't have opportunity to make something better for ourselves. This is not written on the behalf of those film critics who break down this film and character in cinematic fashion, but for that young boy who saw Rocky walk into that stadium against the harsh lights and knew one thing and one thing for sure, that he was going to be a fighter. 

And we saw that young boy many times in our lifetimes, put those gloves on and tell his father he wanted to be a fighter. Maybe he became a "somebody" or maybe he was never noticed, but the positive imprint could never be denied. Notice that Rocky isn't merely a fictional character, Rocky is real, as real as Jack Dempsey, Marciano, and Ali; But he is not flesh and blood, he is an ideal, an icon, and a frame of mind. The man was universal, an Italian American that was embraced by audiences of black, white, Hispanic and the colors and nationalities go on and on. The man was "color-less" in the eyes of many. Even Muhammad Ali was present at the Oscars to support the film. This story carries more than just two hours of your time at a movie theatre, this story touches and inspires people and has continued to inspire them for 40 years. Yet we are still going to debate about this character's relevancy to the sport?

May I break form and speak in the first person? I must say that as I have walked on down this dirty street that we call life, I've seen things that have discouraged me. I have felt Ideals and thoughts stick a finger in my face and tell me to change who I am. I have seen friends and family members go through pain and suffering that is insurmountable, and as a young child I sat down in front of my television set and saw this man deal with the same things, and he got knocked down just like me and the people around me. But he did something that I as a young mind needed to witness, he got back up. And when he got back up, and stood on two feet, looked his opponent in the eye and motioned for him to move forward, at that moment, the line between reality and fiction was blurred and I rooted for a an archetype that I could embody; and if only you could feel how empowering that was.

This sport is not only for the athletes, but for the people. Boxing is not about violence, but about respect. And Rocky brought a level of reverence to this sport that we call the sweet science because it shed light on something that all those commentators and analysts often overlook but the young high schooler looking to make something of himself sees as clear as night and day... the human factor. We saw Rocky as a man, a lover, a father in later adaptions and as a widowed man trying to make it through his grief in the final chapter of his life. The ring was his canvas and this is where we saw his passions and determination physically displayed. This intrigued our young minds to respect the sport because we knew now that behind every athlete was a story much like Rocky's. Throughout all of this we were fed a legendary parable, of what it is to live in a society of opportunity and loss. 

The most important thing that Rocky taught us was to set aside fear, and to bury passivity. If only today's generation of young boys who want to be men could truly get a grasp on this. We live in a world where young men who need guidance are plagued by timidity and fear and a lack of initiative to take the hits, to roll with the punches and for goodness sake fight back with every fiber of determination in their bones. Rocky was made to inspire those very people, by a talented man who is as miraculous as the character himself, who lived out his story both vicariously and practically. In the words of Sydney Smith, "A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort." Neither Stallone or Rocky can fall into this category, and neither will all those people who take is story to heart.

Sylvester Stallone lives two lives, as the man who told a story that captured a nation, and as the main character of his story. Sly Stallone will be in a grave one day, but as long as this earth exists, Rocky will always be alive. So everyone can debate about whether or not Rocky Balboa deserves to be in the hall of fame or not, but let me say this, the vast majority of boys who have grown up to be men would beg to differ and say that this legend has made an impact on their lives for the better. And if you are still in doubt, and are probably asking the question, "what has Rocky Balboa" done to the actual sport of boxing? I'd like to turn around and ask you this question, what modern day fighter was/is not still inspired by Rocky Balboa and cannot credit him as an inspiration? I rest my case.