Under the influence
Impact of 'Rocky' films leaves its mark on Star film critic
By Phil Villarreal
Pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 12.21.2006
Rocky is my father.
That's the case, at least, if it's somehow possible that a fictional pop cultural icon can raise a boy. Rocky is responsible for instilling the best and worst aspects of my personality — a dogged resolve that tends to segue into a self-destructive stubbornness.
Sure, my parents technically played their part in bringing me up, providing food, shelter, love and encouragement, but Rocky, with some help from Nintendo's Mario, showed me the way.
I'm exaggerating here, but not as much as you'd think. The "Rocky" series is truly a part of me, and I was overjoyed that the latest film, "Rocky Balboa," maintained the series' excellence and somehow not only met but surpassed my expectations.
You don't choose the films you love. They choose you. And from an age earlier than I can recall, I watched Rocky on TV and VHS with admiration that approached nearly religious devotion. I experienced over and over again the broken-down South Philly boxer's rise to the heights of unfathomable success, his crashing falls and rebounds. The movies have it all: training montages, breathtaking fights that end in last-second knockouts, bad jokes, even a talking robot.
As I watched, I was certain in my idolization. This is how a man should behave. Grunting through one-arm push-ups and training runs in the snows of Siberia. Pounding sides of meat for practice. Wrestling with Hulk Hogan for charity. Manhandling the ungrateful punk Tommy Gunn in a street fight, then doing the same to his unscrupulous, Don King-like promoter.
What separates Rocky from any other fighter is how he can endure any amount of savagery. He can be knocked down, but he'll always get up. Well, except for the first fight with Clubber Lang in "Rocky III." But cut the guy a break, it was just after his trainer and mentor, Mickey, suffered a heart attack. I digress.
Rocky wins fights not through skill or brute force, but by tiring his opponent out by standing there and getting knocked silly. It's a strategy that translates well into real life. As Rocky observes in the new film, survival is not about how much punishment you can give, but how much you can take.
If there's one aspect that lifts the Rocky films above the rest, it's their humor, which people tend to forget. Rocky is often a bumbling buffoon good for subtle laughs, and the supporting characters are phenomenal in their hilarity.
Mickey, Rocky's gnarled trainer in the first three films, and Paulie (Burt Young), Rocky's disheveled alcoholic pal, are quote machines. Mickey, played by Burgess Meredith, is an inspirational old caveman who peppers his lines with comedy. This gem (one of my favorites) comes from "Rocky III": "Ever fight a dinosaur, Rock? They can cause a variety of damage."
In "Rocky V," the long-since-dead Mickey comes back to deliver more brilliance in one of Rocky's brain-damaged flashbacks:
"If you ever get hurt and you feel that you're goin' down and you ain't got nothin' left, this little angel is gonna whisper in your ear. It's gonna say, 'Get up you son of a bitch 'cause Mickey loves ya.' "
Makes me want to get out and box right now, even though I've never learned how to fight.
Paulie, meanwhile, is xenophobic, thick-headed and funnier than Richard Pryor on his best day.
Rocky has always been there to support me. I was always a peaceful lad. My closest brush to a schoolyard fight came when I was picked on in second grade by a kid named Joel. I retaliated by unleashing a blind flurry of fists modeled after Rocky's attack of Clubber Lang in his climactic fight. None of my punches connected because friends held me back, but Joel never picked on me again.
Before high school football games, we would watch "Rocky IV" after the team meal. Two, three times a season. No one ever complained or asked for "Vision Quest" instead.
Freshman year in the dorms I drew up a mock poster of Superfight II, which was Rocky's rematch with Apollo Creed in "Rocky II." I taped it on the outside of my door. Coincidently I didn't find a girlfriend that year.
There's a scene in "Rocky" in which Rocky is seducing Adrian, who is put off by his advances and makes for the door. Rocky stops her by putting his hand on the door, then says, "I wanna kiss ya — ya don't have to kiss me back if ya don't feel like it."
Bam! The line is straight-up money, and Adrian more than kisses back. They make out and fall to the floor as the scene fades out. My college friends and I adored this bold move, and to this day, "I'm putting my hand on the door" is a phrase used among us akin to "I'm putting my foot down."
In 1999, I "interviewed" Rocky for the Arizona Daily Wildcat. You can still read the piece today if you go to wc.arizona. edu/papers/93/10/11_1_m.html.
Later that year, I met Jessica, my own Adrian, sans the horn-rimmed glasses. The first time I thought I might one day marry her was when she insisted that I show her a Rocky movie a day for five days.
The following February, she plied me with a Valentine's gift from eBay — a vintage poster of "Rocky III" that now hangs in our den. When we repainted the room a couple months ago, she asked me if she could frame the poster. I refused, because if there's one thing Rocky would never approve of, it's framing. We're talking about a guy who drinks raw eggs during training. Females never seem to fully understand Rocky. As Mickey puts it, "Women weaken legs."
My wife is due to give birth to our firstborn Jan. 16, and she insists the name on his birth certificate will be Luke. I agreed with this only because of the natural "Star Wars" reference but insist his nickname will be my choice.
After all, Rocky has raised me for 28 years. Now I'm going to raise a Rocky.
