1. To start
with: Over the last couple of
days, and today, we noticed a buzz, an eagerness, to get to Creed. What was your eagerness all about? If you were not one of those eager, what is your reaction
right now? Are you captured? If so, by what?
2. What draws
Adonis to boxing? First off we get that it’s his father, but go further based
on some of the themes we’ve talked about so far and on what we see in them
movie?
3. Given what Marianne
Creed, Apollo’s wife, says to
Adonis, “Do you know how many times I had to wipe his ass? “You want brain
damage?” and the hype and excitement around the sport, what do you really think
about boxing?
Here's the trailer for the movie.
Here's the trailer for the movie.
(I watched until around 1:29 on the plane)
ReplyDelete1) Personally I wasn't crazy excited to get to creed, but I should have been. Creed is a really great movie tying together past stories without ruining them as sequels often do. Im not too into the world of Boxing, but the raw physicality of it has captured my attention. The characters are also quite dynamic, and aren't pinned down by the usual stereotypes that can bore us.
2) The glimpse we are allowed of Adonis before he knows his heritage is of a natural born fighter. He seems to have an innate talent in boxing, and an attitude to match. This fits in with the previously discussed theme of violence, and how men are supposed to be violent. If you were to ask Bull Meechum, he would say a peaceful man is no better than a woman. Shane is admired for his seemingly natural skill with gunfighting, and Bull is admired for his talent as a pilot. Back on the topic of Adonis, I think he sees boxing as his only option, its what he was born to do. The combinations of natural skill, society's view of a man, the enjoyment it brings him, and his heritage all draw him to boxing.
3) I think boxing is a sport that is extremely fun to watch, but I would never participate in and my mom hates. I cant imagine sacrificing my life for sports, and honestly wouldn't want any of my loved ones to box. The popular male view seems to be violence is awesome, so boxing is awesome too, and I subscribe to that in most ways. That being said, the risks it requires are ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI have been very excited to watch Creed. I think I was excited to see another movie with Sylvester Stalone as well. I was also excited to see the competitive fight scenes that I have heard great reviews on. I have also been interested in seeing what male roles are covered in this film and how toughness and masculinity are shown within the characters. So far it has lived up to the hype and I am excited to watch the rest.
Adonis needs to fight for survival. He fights to make a living and to support himself in this difficult world he lives in. Adonis also wants to prove himself and show that he is better than anyone. Adonis also wants to defend his family and make his father proud. Adonis is asked by the woman that takes him in why he must fight. He says he has been fighting all of his life and he just "has to do it". It makes sense because he loves to fight, he has so much anger from his mother and father being absent and fuels it toward fighting. Boxing is his outlet for this anger and allows him to show he can do anything. He seems to be not raised by anyone and if he becomes successful through boxing, he succeeds in proving him self. There is some question about why he must succeed with boxing and that comes from his father and wanting to do the same thing and follow in the path of his father.
I do believe boxing is very dangerous and life threatening. I have done projects on concussions and boxing is one of the main sports that causes concussions. Boxing is usually done for money's but I believe there are other ways to make money. Boxing can also change people's lives mentally and physically as it did to Creed. People find it entertaining and I do to, but when you think about all of the damage that is done to the person you feel their pain.
Creed in my opinion is still a new movie, something I wanted to watch but never got the chance to watch in theaters. I had watched the trailer months before it came out and looked like the type of movie I really like and see a message in. We haven't watched to the end yet so the message is unclear as of right now, but I assume it will have to do something with hard work and how it can get you out of the deepest places. As of right now the movie is great. It really captures the struggle of this main character from a young age, and gives us some background to see where he started from and where he is now. The supporting characters are also really good.
ReplyDeleteOther than Adonis's father there are many things that draw him to boxing. First off Adonis grew up without a father. I'm making a speculation here but I believe when Adonis was growing up he found it hard to let go of anger (which there was a lot of), so the only way for him to get it out was to fight. Also growing up he maybe needed to fight to stay alive, which might have landed him in DJJ. Once he was there we was probably forced to fight and obviously became good at it. Fighting is in his blood.
Boxing is an easy sport to enjoy watching but cringe to at the same time. Every year or so there will be a huge, overly hyped boxing match that everyone will freak out about and watch almost as if it was the Super Bowl. Although very exciting and entertaining it is very dangerous and viewed by some as pointless. My brothers and I used to own two pair of gloves and throw them on when we were feeling ballsy, but now a days we could actually hurt each other. I don't know where I'm going with this but boxing is a good sport that I would never do.
I’ve been a huge fan of the Rocky series since I was a young child. Rocky one was good the first time I saw it but I was drawn to the more action packed 3 and 4 (4 being the best of them all). As I grew older I recognized that 1 was objectively the best but I, and my brother and father, still love the sequels (except 5). I was excited to see Creed to continue my love of the franchise. So far, I’m not sure what to think. I don't know if I like the killing off of Adrian despite me not liking her as a character much.
ReplyDeleteHe’s drawn to it from growing up in broken, ‘shared’ homes. He had to fight for everything in these homes where he was competing for stuff with other parentless children. When you’re a small boy in a competitive environment you fight. You fight because you’re masculine and told to fight and you fight because you need to, to survive. Now that he’s grown and has money I’m not too sure why he’s choosing a fighter’s life when he just got a promotion at a stable job where he’d have an assistant under him. It doesn’t make sense in my mind.
I like boxing and I think it has a place because fighting will always be a thing and people will always be entertained by it. I think that being a fighter is a extremely tough and courageous job not only because it takes tons of strength and skill but because of how competitive it is to become even a low level fighter. However, if I were a father there is no way in hell I’d ever let my child box because I’d be afraid of what Ms. Creed said. This view is very biased as I’m a big fan of MMA, UFC, and other combat sports.
I was not tooooo eager to watch Creed, although seeing it now it's very, very good. I am captured by the story and the little references the movie makes to other rocky movies. Apollo was an incredible fighter and so was rocky, so rocky having a chance to train his best friend's son is a special thing.
ReplyDeleteAdonis has a natural fighter's mentality, just like his father. His need to fight comes from within, it's the only life he knows. Even though he has this lifestyle where he's been raised in a beautiful household with as much money as he wants, he still yearns to fight, day in and day out, just like his father. He fights for pride and he fights for himself, he's fighting to prove himself. We see it in his interactions with rocky and others, when rocky says "did you tell them you're a creed?" And Adonis says "I'm not a creed, I'm a Johnson". It's obvious he doesn't want to follow in his father's footsteps, he wants to work his way to the top. He constantly fights with a chip on his shoulder, especially after knocking down one of the trainees in Apollo's gym, then proceeding to talk shit to the trainer himself. Even though he gets knocked down, you can see his personality and desire to never give up within his words.
Boxing is a sport, just like any other. Brain damage can happen, but it can in football too, as well as many other sports. Athletes who choose to follow a career path in these sports are aware of all of the health risks. I think it should be solely that person's choice, they know what they're getting into, and they know what could become of them if they continue to box for a long period of time. Boxing is exciting to me, it's a sport of extreme masculinity and pride. Boxers who win will rub it directly in your face, and that part of it makes it kind of shitty for me, but regardless it's a rigorous, challenging, physical adverse sport.
I was eager to get to Creed for several reasons. First, I had heard from reviews and friends that this movie was a fantastic movie. The story was good and so was the acting and directing. Also, it's the first action film we have seen really. This has action and violence that is more relevant than the other movies. In addition it's more modern and relatable. So far, I am loving the movie. I really like the character of Adonis Creed. He obviously had some issues as a younger child and then transformed into the intelligent young adult he is now; only to throw away his brains in order to fight. This is an interesting character and really it makes the movie better.
ReplyDeleteI think that boxing makes Adonis feel alive. It's been a survival instinct for him throughout his youth as illustrated by the opening scene. Why not turn it into a way of living? He truly uses fighting as a way of life. Also, fighting allows him to feel alive, much like the musician. Something. About the violence in the ring makes Adonis keep coming back for more and more.
I hate the idea of boxing, but enjoy watching it. I think people should not be paid to beat people up for others' entertainment, and that is exactly what boxing is. It is a pure display of manliness, and basically an entertaining way of fighting for dominance like animals do. In a way it is dehumanizing. Yet, it is very enjoyable to watch. It's like an action game. It excites and thrills people who enjoy violence. Something is off, but many men enjoy watching other men get beat up. I don't know why; All I know is that it seems wrong yet people, myself included love it.
1) I wasn't crazy excited for this movie, but I also wasn't dreading it or anything. So far, it's pretty good. There are a couple of things in it that are just a bit over the top, like the singer who has progressive hearing loss, but I like it. I'm curious to see how it plays out, but I don't know that I'd call myself "captured." Not knowing all of the background, it feels a little confusing, but not too bad.
ReplyDelete2) We see him fighting at the very beginning, before he even knows who his dad was, so we know Adonis is drawn to boxing because of more than just that. He seems to be very competitive, which can turn into a stereotypical hyper-masculine thing like boxing. I think he also wants to be better than his dad. We see him pretending to fight him with the projector, and he seems to think he can be a boxer and live, something his dad couldn't do. He also is determined to do this solely based on his own merit, since he doesn't tell anyone other than Rocky that Apollo Creed was his dad. This is essentially the story of a young man who wants to prove himself.
3) It's something that even the best, though celebrated, can't really deal with. Being this larger than life, aggressive type isn't good or healthy. Big boxers are ways for everyone else to get some of the feeling of victory without having to deal with the pain or injuries. It ultimately kills Apollo Creed, one of the best, and any long-term boxer will eventually slow down and suffer the same kind of injuries. We romanticize it, but it's no good for the people involved, and it seems like everyone on the inside knows that, at least everyone on the inside with the benefit of hindsight.
ReplyDeleteI just did not like the movie as a whole, I like movies that have a meaning, have a full circle, something at the end that makes the movie complete, this movie did not and I was ready to move on to creed because I have seen it and really liked it, and I feel like when we would talk about boyhood it was all speculation and nothing that we could, I could connect with as we talked about I'm not like mason at all, would not hangout with him, so I found it hard to talk about, was really just ready to move on.
Obviously his father, but as we have seen in the movie he came from a rough beginning, the street began that everyone is saying he doesn't have, he's not "street" enough to be a fighter, which I believe he dose not have, look at his car his mothers house, but he was born a fighter and it's how he grew up, fighting. And like he said it makes him feel alive, everyone strives to do what they want.
I've talked to many of my friends about how crazy boxers, MMA fighters are, they are legitimately beating the shit out of each other, the hole is literally to knock the other guy out, that's crazy, I believe that they are some of the best athletes but they are insane, I would curl up in a ball, when this guys would knock the other ones out, it's crazy.
I think the eagerness was mainly because I had heard that "Creed" was really good from a lot of different people. I've also heard that the Rocky movies are good and they are pretty legendary. I knew that this movie resembled it, so it added to my excitement for the movie.
ReplyDeleteI'm unsure what draws Adonis to boxing so strongly besides his father. Although he doesn't act like it, I think that he thinks his father's legacy was not quite complete when he was killed in the ring, and he had great years still ahead of him. Adonis wants to carry on this legacy, but at the same time, does not want people to know of his name. I think it is more for himself on the inside, that he is so fixated on boxing and begins to ignore everything else.
Boxing is a difficult sport to talk about. I really really enjoy watching it and think it's really exciting. However, I would never go in the ring myself and it's impossible to ignore the risks of boxing that have given brain damage to arguably the greatest boxer of all time, Muhammad Ali, among others. There are health risks in any sport, but it is more of a moral dilemma when the point of a sport is to beat the other man as hard as you can. It is a very exciting sport, but with the growing attention to health concerns in sports such as football, I wouldn't be surprised if some changes were made to the sport of boxing and maybe eventually it becomes obsolete.
1. I was very excited to watch Creed. I never got to see the Rocky movies, and I have always enjoyed watching boxing movies, so it is weird that I never got to watching them. I actually watched Creed sometime in December. I was movie-hopping at North Dekalb, and after watching Star Wars VII for a second time, I wanted to watch a solid movie that might keep the excitement up. Creed was the only movie that hadn't started yet (It was late in the night) so I thought i would watch it. I was blown away by the acting and how it helped me understand many aspects of Rocky, a franchise I never got to experience. I was psyched to watch Creed again.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Adonis, throughout his life, has been a fighter of sorts. He grew up in detention centers, simply waiting to be moved to a group home, and he had to fight to get where he was, even after Marianne takes him to his new home. He fights to get where he is, making a name without using the name given to him. He earns the Creed name from what I have seen so far. He is a natural born fighter. From a family standpoint, its the classic "like father, like son". From a man's standpoint, it is competition. It is physical, no holds barred, just fighting. And as Adonis' passion, he enjoys the rush of it, and it makes him feel alive, just like how music makes Bianca feel alive.
3. As a person who absolutely NEVER intends to engage in a boxing career, I think it is one of the greatest sports there is. Its a timeless sport, and is enjoyed by many around the world. Unlike basketball or football (of the American variety), boxers come fromall nations and compete head to head, being the pride of the boxing world and real world. Manny Pacquiao, Amir Khan, and FLoyd Mayweather come to mind, all representing their respective countries in and out of the ring. I think for those who have a choice in life and choose to box as a way of life, I respect their decision, but it is their body to risk, and I will not feel bad for the punishment they take. I also have a high amount of respect for those who do not have a choice but to box, like the kids of the streets, no matter what part of the world they are from. I love the action and intensity and passion and hype of the sport. It is my dream to go to live bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
1. I think I was looking forward to this movie for similar reasons to everyone else: it is full of action and excitement (perhaps in contrast to Boyhood), and it is part of a canonical movie franchise. It is a movie about heroes; it depicts the kind of accomplishments that we deem worthy of celebration. Rocky is full of famous scenes – scenes that are predictable but full of energy. Fundamentally, boxing is a topic that merits buzz. Watching someone fight gives us adrenaline, and watching a protagonist win plays on our most basic sense of pride. Now that we’ve started the movie, I’m a little disappointed in how predictable some of its tropes are, but, as with the original Rocky, I like watching the hero train, and I like the confidence that he exudes. Also, the violence is more realistic, visceral, and engaging than it was in the older movies.
ReplyDelete2. Adonis wants to box so that he can prove himself. He isn’t interested in his career, and the boxers at Delphi gym have no respect for him. As he says, he doesn’t want to be his father, but he does want to step out of Apollo’s shadow. His attraction to boxing isn’t especially complicated; he sees the sport as the only way to prove himself to the world. Through boxing, he can show the kind of man he is: tough, strong, and disciplined.
3. Boxing is exciting and even entertaining when no one is badly hurt. Unlike, say, TV wrestling, boxing relies on timing, footwork, and short bursts of power. Like many sports, high-level boxing is an incredible display of human athleticism. But when blood is drawn or bones are cracked, I have mixed emotions. I understand that fighters are well-compensated for their pain, but it seems barbaric that people injure themselves for public entertainment. There are similarities with dogfighting. I would love to be a great boxer or football player, but I am thankful that my future career won’t involve CTE and broken ribs. My personal choice is to watch sports other than boxing, but I wouldn’t ask others to follow suit.
As someone who boxed but no longer boxes anymore the sport just captivates people's attention. You look at the speed and power behind every hit, watching it makes you want to get out of your seat and start boxing. I see boxing matches ever so often but it doesn't compare to a movie about boxing you get to go along with the fighter and his story. Just like it was said in the movie the story behind every boxer is what really captures people's thrill. You want them to win and you in some sense want to be the boxer. As a kid it's obvious that he's troubled and in that lifestyle fighting is something you learn to do for protection. When you get older some of the people need to do it to put food on their plates so then it really becomes about survival. Adonis was pulled out of that life style early, he got an education and gained knowledge. It completely removed him from his environment and from where he thought he belonged. His thirst to be a great boxer not only involves his father but also to figure out who he is. He is the son of a legend and not only does he have to honor that but he has to show that he is his own man. That involves proving he's a fighter and not that he's living life as a spoiled brat who's father handed him an easy life. I love it, there's sometimes no better thrill than going against someone whether it be for sport or not. It's a culture and those who are a part of it no matter the risks embrace it for what it is. Personally I may not be the biggest fan that I know but it's definitely has been a part of my life.
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