Ron Howard’s film Cinderella Man tells the real-life story of James Braddock and his family before and during the Great Depression. The film begins with his first light heavyweight championship during the Roaring 20s, and then fast-forwards to his Great Depression, when he struggles with a broken right hand and eventually loses his right to box after too many losses against minor opponents. Braddock then tries to find work on the docks but only succeeds some of the time, and even has to resort to begging and filing for government relief to pay his bills. However, just as he thinks he is done boxing, the commission asks Jimmy to take up one fight to fill in for another fighter in the heavyweight boxing championships. To everyone’s surprise, Braddock, once known as the “Bulldog of Bergen,” knocks out his …show more content…
opponent, John Griffin, in three rounds. The boxing commission starts to warm to Jimmy again, and gives him another fight against John Henry Lewis, which Jimmy wins again. Now, the working people are starting to back Braddock as one of their own, and he wins one more big fight before competing in the championship against Max Baer, who has killed two of his opponents. After a long and grueling fifteen round fight, James J Braddock wins the fight and the title, earning him the nickname “Cinderella Man.” This film excellently portrays the great impacts of the Great Depression on people of all backgrounds and tells a wonderful comeback story about the “underdog” who is the Bulldog of Bergen.
Cinderella Man also does a good job of showing the real-life conditions and struggles of the 1930s. Some of the challenges of the Depression that are in the film include the fear of not being able to care for children, the difficulty of finding a small job, and the rough life for people in Hoovervilles. Ron Howard also produced the movie in such a way that the viewers could also get a sense of common household struggles during the 1930s, especially the lack of income and the inability to pay for even the essentials like heat, electricity, food, and medicine. However, these common household struggles subside for the Braddock family as Jimmy rises again in the ring. Overall, this film is a classic comeback story, not only in James’s boxing career but also in his life in general as he is able to support his family and regain their trust once again. The comeback story is a classic American film and literary theme, seeming to suggest the resilience of the American
people. The Cinderella Man who is James Braddock resembles the main character Ántonia in the novel My Ántonia by Willa Cather. Braddock deals with setbacks throughout the novel, from breaking his right hand in a fight to losing his right to fight to his struggle to pay for basic needs. Despite all of these things going against him, Braddock continues to fight back and protect those closest to him. In a similar way, Ántonia continuously deals with setback upon setback, from her initial immigration to the United States to the death of her father to her husband abandoning her with an unborn baby. She also has an additional challenge with the fact that she is a recent immigrant to the United States and does not necessarily understand the culture and way of life in the new country. Despite these setbacks, Ántonia tries her hardest to make life easier for herself and others around her. Alongside the similarities between these characters, both The Cinderella Man and My Ántonia reflect the common American identity of strength and hardiness. Both the movie and the novel show that Americans, despite all the difficulties and challenges that lie ahead of them, are always ready and willing to beat back the hurdles and accomplish what they set their minds to.
and a glass of milk which was later watered down to conserve it. Later Rosie
Cinderella Man is the story of James J. Braddock, a struggling boxer who was faced with many hardships during the great depression, and learned to overcome these obstacles to provide for his family. Cinderella Man illustrates the journey of how James Braddock became a hero for his family. His quest is driven solely by his will to provide for his family. The Hero’s Quest can be categorized into 3 steps: Departure, Initiation, and Return.
Because he was a family man, he cared for others’ wellbeing, not just his own, and he showed little to no fear. Many men left their families during the Great Depression, but James J Braddock never did. Mae, his wife, did not enjoy boxing. She tried to stop him from his passion on multiple occasions. Braddock could have left his wife for his job, or left his job for his wife, but he didn’t.
It’s a typical October afternoon in picturesque New York City. You are on wall street waiting to see how your investments turned out. The closing bell rings and immediately, panic ensues. The day that everyone thought was impossible happened: the stock market crash. For millions of Americans this seemed like the end of the road. Unfortunately, the market nor economic conditions wouldn’t get any better as now, the Great Depression was in full spring. As roughly a quarter of Americans were now out of work, people lost their identities. One of these people was a boxer named James J. Braddock. Before the depression, Braddock was widely regarded as the next big thing for the sport. However, Braddock’s career fell off a cliff after the crash as he
The film Cinderella Man focuses on the main character, James Braddock, an ex-boxer, who loses his job due to the Great Depression.
According to Refinery 22, “Cinderella” began being a story all about “persecution and the dangers of systematic oppression”.
A young girl is forced to live with her step-mother and step-sisters after her father and mother die. She becomes the maid of the family, tending to their every need. Eventually there is a ball; she acquires a fairy Godmother, goes to the ball, falls in love with the prince, blah blah blah. All you really need to know is that she has a happy ending. A happy ending. No matter how much suffering she went through in her early years, at the end, it all came together and she had no more worries. And this is the problem. Cinderella is not realistic. It never was and never will be. Watching this movie when I was young made me believe there was a prince waiting for me somewhere. I grew up thinking that life was simple and uncomplicated, that I did not need to worry about the future because there was a man that would provide everything I wanted and needed. But as I got older, I realized this was not the case. I saw many of my friend’s parents divorce, people die, and the world fight with each other. My fantasy died off, and I realized I had to work hard for myself, and not others. The poem Cinderella by Anne Sexton made fun of the ending of Cinderella. She states, “Cinderella and the prince / lived … happily ever after … / their darling smiles pasted on for eternity. / Regular Bobbsey Twins. / That story.” (Sexton 11). Notice who she referenced and how she has a sarcastic tone. Cinderella and the prince smiled for others, trying to convince
..., and many times in literature such as in Golden Boy, both the play and movie, athletes perform for the hope to be recognized by their coach. The drive for an athlete to succeed is affected by the player’s relationship with their coach. For Rosie, Peter was a handsome coach she was attracted to, but wasn’t always there when she needed him. Because Rosie was looking for more attention, she invested herself into Luther who became a second “coach” and took his advice to improve her skills. In Golden Boy, Joe Bonaparte proved he could fight having no prior experience as a professional boxer. Joe had the motivation and the will-power to gain attention from the doubtful Tom Moody and proved himself a true fighter knocking a man dead. Rosie and Joe both wanted a chance to succeed in their athletic careers and their relationships with their coaches enhanced the opportunity.
...hough she was brutally mistreated, Cinderella was able to find a solution for her problems and children can to. All they have to do is make the effort, try hard enough and success is possible. Adults should pay attention to this and see if Cinderella can help their children keep a positive attitude toward whatever situation they may be in - exaggerated as it may be. Cinderella doesn't only help show one how to overcome adversity it points out good morals, and sends the message that good always prevails. Both of these messages are crucial in a society that is slowly crumbling. All we can do is watch and hope the messages learned from Cinderella make a difference in the lives of Children all around the world.
The Hollywood movie Pretty Woman (1990) is about a prostitute in Hollywood, marrying an extremely rich businessman, in spite of her mutual distrust and prejudice. The movie contains the basic narrative of the Cinderella tale: through the love and help of a man of a higher social position, a girl of a lower social status moves up to join the man at his level.
Each person in the world has heard of Cinderella, no matter what kind of version it may be. Cinderella is the one fairy tale story that has been popular and will always be the one tale that has to be told to children. Words and story lines might be twist and turn, but in the end the knowledge of the story will be learned in similar ways. As we all know when one story is told another is created, when one is at its best then another is at its worse. One version will always be better than another, but no matter what version it might be the story will be told.
...gently every day and now has found the love of her life. Also, this version of Cinderella is more magical than the original which is more along the lines of today’s fairy tales. The movie Cinderella emphasizes that working hard and being well-behaved will result in an abundance of rewards.
Throughout history, fairy tales have grown to captivate the hearts and minds of many. A Cinderella Story is set firmly in reality and in the present day; in fact, it's every bit a fantasy as the original story. This film refrains from any allusions to magic, but instead lets serendipitous occurrences provide the engine on which this fairy tale creates its plot. The impression A Cinderella Story is in place of a well-thought out story and characters that anyone could relate to or believe. Although the target audience of the film are teens, females, and romantics, A Cinderella Story can be praised and savored by all audiences because of its ingenious screenplay, acting, and melodic soundtrack.
The origins of the Cinderella story date back around the beginning of the first century, or as far back as oral stories have been told. Many variations
The story teaches us that society expects women to be passive. Cinderella’s abuse by her stepsisters and stepmother cause her to live in grief silently without expressing her emotions. She does nothing to fight for her freedom except sing about all the dreams of happiness that she hopes will come true someday. She only wishes for things to change rather than attempt to do anything to change it for herself. Cinderella waits to be rescued by Prince Charming instead of fighting for her own freedom. This teaches women that they should suffer in silence without doing anything for themselves.