The story of Cinderella is much much older than most people probably realize. Not exactly “a tale as old as time,” but it’s actually predates the New Testament old. At least some version of the Cinderella tale is rooted in most of recorded history, and has thousands of variants which occur in disparate cultures, each putting a unique spin on it while embracing the message of an abused girl who beats all the odds and triumphing over injustice that's held her down. Depending on when and where it occurs, it can give insight on what the culture valued in defining beauty and goodness.
But, moreover, Cinderella speaks to how humanity has for thousands of years defined a woman’s success by how well she’s able to land a man and move up in society. Cinderella is only able to be rescued from improper enslavement and her wicked stepmother when she finds her prince. At its core, Cinderella is a story about class warfare, giving hope to the reader there can be a justice in the universe and an escape to something better.
The fantasies which surround sports operate on the same dynamic. The sort of "us against the world" rhetoric is common and has a whiff of populist rhetoric. It frames sports as a David versus Goliath struggle, where the small underdog has a chance, and on any given Sunday anything can happen. But just like Cinderella, the sports movie genre is interesting to analyze for what it says about social movement, especially in the way Americans define it, since both in movies and the here and now of reality an underdog dream of succeeding in sports is seen as the way the poor and minorities have held out hope of something better.
It’s also a venue for defining one’s self-worth.
Both the Rocky and now Creed franchises are known for the boxing, fighting Russians, winning the Cold War, and robot butlers. But critically, they have been acclaimed for their character moments. For both characters, the intersection of family, sport, and one’s place in the world is defined not even by “winning,” but by hard work and the will to endure. If one pulls back even further, these aspects and qualities are central to ideas which are part of the American Dream.
Tonight, I thought I would tackle sports and sports films. Which movies stand out as your favorites? Which ones do you hate?