The Torch Has Been Passed: Rocky Series Continues with Creed, and It's More Than a Boxing Legacy
Originally published in December 2015.
THE TORCH HAS BEEN PASSED: ROCK SERIES CONTINUES WITH CREED, AND IT'S MORE THAN A BOXING LEGACY
Last summer, I bit the bullet because I knew at the age of 30 that having not seen all of the Rockies was a travesty. I mean yeah, Rocky V was a bit of a horror movie, but the series as a whole in my humble opinion is sheer genius on the part of Sylvester Stallone.
Down on his luck much like the character Rocky, Stallone had hit rock bottom. He was a bit of a failure as an actor, having only performed in softcore pornos in the late seventies, where he earned the nickname the "Italian Stallion."
But along the journey of the six Rockies, you soon realize you're watching more than a bunch of movies. You're witnessing the creation of American mythology: the quintessential hero who rises from the dustbin of life to the heights of glory.
Nearly forty years after a young punkish Rocky entered the ring, the son of Apollo Creed must now rise from the shadow of his father and create his own mythology.
One would think in 2015 that we as an audience were done with gladiator-type movies. But it's clear with Creed that we still believe. We still believe in a creed of good positive thinking, good mentorship, and a good right hook. Every generation needs a hero, whether real or imaginary, to inspire us to rise above our current condition and reach our utmost, untapped potential.
As a member of Generation Y, I believe Adonis "Donnie Johnson" Creed fits the bill of my generation's wondering hero in need of the right mentorship to guide us through our greatest fight yet: finding our identity and raising the banner for a cause worthy to sacrifice everything for.
The kids of the 80s and 90s are all grown up, and much like Donnie, feel abandoned, lacking purpose and pride. We've done all we were told, rising through the usual struggles of education, career, and life, witnessing yet failing to initially comprehend 9/11, a generation of reality and MTV; smartphones and dumb blonde jokes; rap and alternative grunge; AOL, Apple, Google and Facebook.
And yet somewhere between the cradle and the legacy we hoped to build for ourselves, we still ended up in our parents' shadows--either their basement or our childhood bedrooms--or if we were "lucky" to get out of the house, crushed beneath debt and struggling to navigate our way.
And the punches we threw were our own, with a little help from our parents (like Donnie's mom does), but in the end we were left to figure out this identity part of life on our own--too old to deny we knew better, too young to admit we were lost.
And all we need is some good positive thinking, good mentorship, and a good right hook now more than ever to claw our way out of the shadows of three decades of being tethered to our own ghosts. It's time we enter the ring of life and prove to ourselves that we are more than a bunch of tech-addicted, debt-ridden, overgrown teenagers, and come out on the other side ready to hash out whatever this deep and dark world has in store for us.
But let's not forget Rocky--our forefather and mentor. Does he have a health crisis? Yes. Is it cancer? Yes. Does he die? You'll have to see it for yourself to find out. But Rocky, the babyboomer mentor who now is fighting the greatest fight of his life, provides at least one challenge for Gen Y to take on--assisting our aging boomer parents, guardians and mentors to fight their newest greatest battles thus far as they retire and enter into the next (notice I didn't say final) chapter of their lives.
Can they do it on their own? Yes, of course--the boomers have proven that they can handle themselves just fine. I need not remind anyone of Vietnam. But that's not the point. As Donnie and Rocky's relationship demonstrates, it's about further building or forging family to mutually mentor and intergenerationally inspire each other to fight our necessary battles, come what may.
~Michael DeNobile
THE TORCH HAS BEEN PASSED: ROCK SERIES CONTINUES WITH CREED, AND IT'S MORE THAN A BOXING LEGACY
Down on his luck much like the character Rocky, Stallone had hit rock bottom. He was a bit of a failure as an actor, having only performed in softcore pornos in the late seventies, where he earned the nickname the "Italian Stallion."
But along the journey of the six Rockies, you soon realize you're watching more than a bunch of movies. You're witnessing the creation of American mythology: the quintessential hero who rises from the dustbin of life to the heights of glory.
Nearly forty years after a young punkish Rocky entered the ring, the son of Apollo Creed must now rise from the shadow of his father and create his own mythology.
One would think in 2015 that we as an audience were done with gladiator-type movies. But it's clear with Creed that we still believe. We still believe in a creed of good positive thinking, good mentorship, and a good right hook. Every generation needs a hero, whether real or imaginary, to inspire us to rise above our current condition and reach our utmost, untapped potential.
As a member of Generation Y, I believe Adonis "Donnie Johnson" Creed fits the bill of my generation's wondering hero in need of the right mentorship to guide us through our greatest fight yet: finding our identity and raising the banner for a cause worthy to sacrifice everything for.
The kids of the 80s and 90s are all grown up, and much like Donnie, feel abandoned, lacking purpose and pride. We've done all we were told, rising through the usual struggles of education, career, and life, witnessing yet failing to initially comprehend 9/11, a generation of reality and MTV; smartphones and dumb blonde jokes; rap and alternative grunge; AOL, Apple, Google and Facebook.
And yet somewhere between the cradle and the legacy we hoped to build for ourselves, we still ended up in our parents' shadows--either their basement or our childhood bedrooms--or if we were "lucky" to get out of the house, crushed beneath debt and struggling to navigate our way.
And the punches we threw were our own, with a little help from our parents (like Donnie's mom does), but in the end we were left to figure out this identity part of life on our own--too old to deny we knew better, too young to admit we were lost.
And all we need is some good positive thinking, good mentorship, and a good right hook now more than ever to claw our way out of the shadows of three decades of being tethered to our own ghosts. It's time we enter the ring of life and prove to ourselves that we are more than a bunch of tech-addicted, debt-ridden, overgrown teenagers, and come out on the other side ready to hash out whatever this deep and dark world has in store for us.
Can they do it on their own? Yes, of course--the boomers have proven that they can handle themselves just fine. I need not remind anyone of Vietnam. But that's not the point. As Donnie and Rocky's relationship demonstrates, it's about further building or forging family to mutually mentor and intergenerationally inspire each other to fight our necessary battles, come what may.
~Michael DeNobile
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