My Girly Girl Take on Rocky

Photo Credit: Morguefile.com

Film 6: Terms of Endearment (1983) is the kind of film that I wish I had watched with my mom. I enjoyed watching the ups and downs of their relationships, marriages, and family. I thought it was a very realistic look at love and life and relationships. It's truly a timeless piece of cinema that will translate well for future generations. The world may change, but the way that people relate to each other pretty much stays the same.

**Spoiler Alert** Don't read ahead if you haven't seen Rocky and would like to see it in the future.

Film 7: Rocky (1976) surprised me. Seriously. I always thought that Rocky won at the end. I don't know why, I just assumed he did. I was actually a little shocked--I mean, all that running in Converse's and punching raw meat and that pretty graphic fight at the end and he loses. Boo!!!

The second thing that surprised me was how much "heart" was in this film. Let me first say that, I'm not a big fan of sports or sports movies or jocks, so when I first starting watching Rocky all I could see was this dumb jock just going through his life. Working out, drinking beer, beating people up, etc.

I started getting into the film as Rocky's feelings for Adrienne were revealed, especially how he was ready to punch the guy that told her he should take her to the zoo because "retards like the zoo." So, girly girl that I am, I really loved watching their relationship evolve and how her brought her out of her shell. Oh, how I wish that I wore glasses and that just taking them off would suddenly make me beautiful. And of course, I love how he explains to Paulie that his relationship with Andrienne works because they fill each others "gaps" or shortcomings to become whole. That's not something I was expecting to hear in a jock movie. His character is actually pretty endearing, like how he comes up with a excuse to buy different turtle food just to talk to Adrienne and how he tells her that what the people on TV were saying about him really bothered him even though he said they didn't. That vulnerabilty is not something I was expecting to see.

Also, beacuse I was a big fan of Arrested Development, I recognized Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, and all I could think about during every scene was how in Arrested Development Carl swindles Tobias into paying for acting lessons, and how Carl wanted to save bones from dinner to get a stew going. 

So, if I were to summarize this film, I would say that it's a love story between Rocky and Adrienne while Rocky trains for some fight at the end. That's my girly girl take on Rocky.