His circumstances and relationships drove a narrative that he didn’t matter-that he was inconsequential. I resonated deeply with the main character, Rocky Balboa. But it wasn’t just the fight action that stirred me.
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The movie resonated so deeply with my young soul that when the movie was released on VHS three years later, I would spend summer days tirelessly watching and re-watching, or acting out fight scenes with my friends. It was 1976 when I first saw this movie in the theater. We, each in our own way, are fighting to matter in what can feel like a chaotic and impersonal world.
The reason we love these stories is because we have a deep personal connection to them. We are a people who love humble-beginnings stories-stories that move people from being nothing to something-despised and lowly to cheered and celebrated.
This 1977 Oscar-winning film, ROCKY, sweeps us into the inspirational story of this likable ‘nobody’ getting an unexpected chance to fight for the Boxing Championship of the World.
To make ends meet, Rocky sporadically worked for the neighborhood crime boss as a debt collector, a thumb breaker- though in truth, he was more instinctively inclined to offer kindness and counsel to those he was to pressure. He dreamed of becoming a professional boxer and immersed himself in the now decaying local gym where the fading images of past greats loomed in the shadows inspiring those who now sought their chance to “make it out.” Rocky Balboa was a likable young man who grew up on the streets of Philadelphia in poverty and brokenness.