...and that's when I finally understood Rocky III

I took a sick day from work on Monday. I took a sick day from church the day before. It was on this day that I viewed Rocky III for the 9,297,013th time. While I'm embarrassed to admit it, this was the first time I really got the part when Rocky and Adrian are arguing on the beach in LA, while Rocky is training for his rematch with Clubber Lang (played by Mr. T).

About...48 minutes before this scene, Rocky's long-time trainer (Mick) breaks the news to him that for his last 10 fights, his opponents have been "hand picked" because Mick believed Rocky shoudn't even be alive from his fights with Apollo Creed. All the while, Rocky had believed for the last 3 years that he was fighting the best competition out there. It is because of this that Mick does not want Rocky fighting the number 1 contender, who at this point is Lang.

To fast forward a bit, Rocky fights Lang and loses. Mick dies, leaving Rocky with no trainer...enter Creed. Apollo teaches Rocky about quickness, agility, moving on the balls of his feet, etc. One day, Apollo takes Rocky to the beach to do sprint training, during which Rocky gives up, leading Apollo to remark that his chances of regaining his title are "over."

It is at this moment that Adrian approaches Rocky and tells him that he shouldn't quit because she believes he is the fighter he has been led to believe he was all this time. Rocky, however, makes the exclamation "Nothing is real if you don't believe in who you are!", suggesting that he now views his title-defenses as bogus because he was beating fighters who were easy competition and no longer has faith in his boxing skills.

For years, this statement "nothing is real if you don't believe in who you are" made no sense to me in the context of the movie, mainly because the tape at my parents house is an illegal copy (hope no one at the FBI reads this) and the sound was pretty ghetto-fied. So, now that I was able to view this film in decent audio quality, I finally understand what Rocky was yelling about. Most of you who read this probably understood the movie perfectly. I mean, come on, its Sylvester Stallone. But I get it now, so don't fret. And I totally blame poor sound for my original blur.

Many of you may be waiting for some biblical parallel to be drawn here...

Nope, I just really wanted to share my new Rocky knowledge (but I'm currently reading 1 Samuel 1-10 and am very impressed with Hannah's committment to her original promise)

Until next time,

dm