Michael Mann's Film Ali

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"You can order this fully poseable 12'' Muhammad Ali action figure with removable white trunks & cloth robe at Hasbro Collectors.com" (Advertisement Muhammad Ali Action Figure)

[1] Starting Lineup molded a Muhammad Ali action figure from visual images of Ali in his prime. Everything -- from his body shape to boxing trunks -- was analyzed, recreated, and repackaged by the company. Basically, Starting Lineup took the "real" Ali and made a physical three-dimensional image out of him. The final product is the smiling world champion known to millions around the world, but there are many limitations to the recreated toy. Where, in this action figure, is the rejected Ali who was outcast by American society and denied all fight privileges? Where is the militant black Muslim Ali? Where is the Ali who was pummeled by Larry Holmes? As one can see, there is a long list of limitations in recreating Ali as an action figure.

[2] In many ways, Michael Mann's film Ali attempts to do the same thing as the creators of the action figure pictured here. Mann looks at Muhammad Ali's life and tries to make him come alive through film. Ali's language, personality, and temperament were examined by the director and imitated by Will Smith. Historical events were also recreated. Obviously, this is a delicate and difficult task, and many reviewers argued that Michael Mann failed. One reviewer simply claimed: "[Mann] made a cool movie about a hot man" (Ansen 40). Nearly every popular review about Ali carries the same or a similar message.

[3] I agree with the reviewers: the central problem or issue in Ali is the portrayal of Cassius Clay/Cassius X/Muhammad Ali as a very soft, non-threatening, and almost perfect man. It is almost if Will Smith is wearing a halo throughout the movie and can do no wrong. But, by looking at film clips, newspaper articles, and other "real" historical sources, I found a very different man. There was an Ali that was feared by mainstream and white America; there was an Ali that said racially controversial -- and flat-out racist -- things. Mann steers away from these parts of Muhammad Ali and presents the viewer with a diplomatic figure. Mann also neglects Ali's flaws. Basically, Mann puts limits on what he will show of Ali, and by doing so, revises Ali's story into a fairytale-like drama and sells the viewer an action-figure version of a very complicated man.

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