Babe Ruth Story Comparison

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Another example of Babe’s portrayal shown almost as entire opposites is the way he handles relationships with women. The Babe Ruth Story doesn’t even touch upon Helen and his child, but possibly because the writers didn’t want to take away from Babe’s good-natured persona. Claire is the only woman by Babe’s side in this movie and there is only a slight allusion to his womanizing ways. The only time that womanizing stood out was when Babe made a lewd comment to a woman writer about her allowing him into her dressing room. Crepeau noted that, “Claire remains loyal to her man, improves his conduct, curbs his drinking, manages his life, suffers his pains, offers advice, supports him in every way, and stays with him to the end” (140). Crepeau is …show more content…

The Hollywood treatment of his life story was trying to capture the story of Babe Ruth in his prime; it was meant to take you through his life, but also have an entertaining story line. The Babe Ruth Story hid a huge aspect of Babe’s life in order to protect his reputation as a baseball hero, which was providing a false representation of the Great Bambino. The Hollywood films also made the movies come full circle; both films touched upon his death but didn’t go in depth about it. The Hollywood film treatment of Babe did not lie about aspects of his life, but rather chose what to include and emphasize. The vast differences and important similarities and their connection to Ruth’s life were easily understood after viewing the documentary version of his story. The documentary treatment discussed all aspects of Babe’s life without over emphasizing the negatives like The Babe did. The documentary mentioned the alcohol and sex without showing Babe in a negative light. When Babe’s sex life was the topic, the people telling the stories were laughing and smiling without being condescending about Babe’s actions. The documentary also mentioned Babe’s ‘belly ache heard around the world’ that was commonly thought to be a case of syphilis, which was left out in the Hollywood films. Even when mentioning that, the documentary did not give the impression that they were bashing Babe. Unsurprisingly, the documentary brought up more information about Babe’s death and what he did after retiring from baseball. The documentary treated Babe in a positive light, but the films sometimes didn’t in order to provide the entertainment that Hollywood films are expected to

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