The highly successful Rocky Balboa film franchise starred Sylvester Stallone as a boxer with talent and stamina, but little self-direction. With help from family, friends and a fortuitous opportunity, Rocky is able to rise above his circumstance but faces a difficult and tumultuous path to achieve sustained success. Beginning with his conversion from loan shark debt collector to championship boxer in the 1976 film, Rocky is introduced as a man with little self-respect or appreciation for his potential. His lackadaisical attitude dooms him to menial labor until a dramatic turn of events unleashes a latent will to excel.
In the third of the series of Rocky films (eight sequels), released in 1982, Balboa has reached the pinnacle of his profession but squandered it, becoming physically and emotionally lost in a blizzard of adulation and material rewards. Theme music is transformed from inspirational to challenging and combative. Rocky must claw his way back from self-destruction to regain the energy, determination and will to succeed. His former opponent – Apollo Creed – helps Rocky regain the self-assurance and confidence to conquer a hungry, angry and destructive boxer, Clubber Lang, who denigrates and dominates all who oppose him. To the backdrop of a stirring soundtrack and lyrics by Frankie Sullivan and Jim Peterik, sung by the band Survivor, Creed conjures the “Eye of the Tiger” as a symbol of “just a man and his will to survive” who is “rising up to the challenge of our rival.”
Even though faced with significant tribulations, Rocky holds no grudges but is forced to accept and face the consequences of his own failures. This is not an easy task; each challenge faced leads to additional obstacles for himself and his support network. Rocky’s character is constantly tested as the audience is asked to root for him as a man fighting his own flaws as much as external forces. The juxtaposition of boxing brutality with a kind, gentle soul sends a message of strength without reliance on cruelty and vilification.
Too often, self-respect, strength and value are confused and equated with a “zero sum” situation. This theory proposes that resources are finite; scales of win and loss must always balance. All is quantified exactly without modification or elasticity. Therefore, if one person gains something, others must lose an equal amount. When applied to natural resources, the supposition is that current estimates are accurate and inflexible. The concept strains credulity, especially in the emotional realm of attitudes and feelings.
Examples of excellence often reveal core characteristics of strength, determination and focus, harnessed by positive core principles. A problem arises when negative emotions and impulses override a basic standard of decency including the timeless biblical “Golden Rule” adage, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (Luke 6:31; Matthew 7:12). In opposition to this basic standard of decent behavior, the seven deadly sins – pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth – are considered aberrant and destructive. Modern times and context have not fundamentally changed societal concerns although targets of bad behavior may shift. Whether race, religion, ethnicity, xenophobia or a combination of factors, there is a tendency to avoid self-examination, transferring the focus of blame to a ubiquitous “others.” The eye of the tiger is clouded by anger and hatred rather than determination to overcome life’s challenges. It took Rocky many bouts with success and failure to become a true champion. Where are we in that cycle?