Icon Saturday

Due to some strange alignment of the planets and/or something to do with the Aztec calendar, this past Saturday I found myself in a strange parallel universe where I had nothing to do, and a zapper in my hand. (I prefer calling a remote a “clicker”, but my EC calls it a “zapper”. I let her win this one, because that’s the kind of husband I am.)

Little did I know when I turned the TV on that it there would be a Rocky Marathon on one channel, and an Indiana Jones Marathon on another AT THE SAME TIME. And so I did what any normal male would do when confronted by this situation: I watched both.  I think the ability to watch multiple shows simultaneously is a genetic, gender-based pre-disposition. I am particularly skilled at harnessing the awesome power of the “Last Channel” button. Strangely, as I look to my wife for her to acknowledge this skill, I find she has usually stopped watching and is reading. (Wow!  I really got sidetracked there!)

(Painful aside: Rocky came out 36 years ago. Raiders 31.  One of the high-school girls in the carpool this morning told me that she has not seen either. Ouch.)

When Raiders of the Lost Ark came out in 1981, I was on my mission, so I missed out on all the hoopla. I did have a junior companion that saw it before he entered the field.  How do I remember this? Because he wouldn’t shut up about it for 3 months. He talked about it so much that when I got home and finally saw it, I felt like I had seen it before.

But I do remember when Rocky came out. It was 1976. The Nation was feeling patriotic because of the Bi-Centennial. Rocky tapped into that patriotism. I was 15. Everyone was talking about it. I went to see it with my family, and remember that during the movie I was actually a little bored during the first half. At that time I didn’t understand what a character study was. Don’t let anybody kid you – the original Rocky was a character study – that included some boxing. But at 15 I was just waiting for him to get past romancing and start pounding on a side of beef. To me, it was all about the second half with the training and the big fight. And that part did not disappoint.

36 years, and hundreds of movies later, I have yet to see another movie where the audience spontaneously jumped to their feet and cheered the screen. What? You’re kidding, right? But that’s what happened.  And it wasn’t just the theater I was in – it happened everywhere. People stood and cheered. And Rocky didn’t even win the fight!

Why? Maybe we were less cynical then, maybe it was just the right theme at the right time.  Maybe we just needed a hero. (For some perspective, in 1976 Jimmy Carter was “Man of the Year”)

I think it had more to do with Rocky being a good guy. He was kind. He was humble. He was caring and childlike. And he was the underdog facing impossible odds – and we love underdogs. We wanted him to win – we were emotionally invested in his “hero’s journey”. (I am glad my kids have gotten a taste of this in the Harry Potter series.)

Some of you are thinking this very moment how much you hated Rocky. Fine. You are entitled to your misguided opinion. (I would say that you’re an idiot, but it’s not for me to judge.)

But if you were a teenage boy in back in ’76-’77, you felt differently. You probably listened to the #1 song “Gonna Fly Now” as you drank your raw eggs, before you went running stairs, and worked on your one-handed pushups. I know that’s what I did.

I’m not making this same case for the rest of the Rocky movies. (My second favorite is Rocky III with “Mr. T” and then the last installment “Rocky Balboa”.) I am first to admit that parts of the movie and the series have not held up well over time, and the lesser Rocky films diminish the impact of the 1st. But to me, Rocky is an American Icon, and a character of decency and humility – and that only gets sweeter with age.