So back to the film. I loved it!!!! Well, more appropriately... I lurrrrrrrrved it. hehe. If you haven't seen it, and if you don't plan on seeing it, I'll give you a quick summary (but I promise you it won't be quick). But if you do plan on seeing it, then skip down to the next paragraph. Merci beaucoup! Well... it's about this boxer, James "The Bulldog" Braddock, but everyone called him Jimmy. It starts right before the Great Depression hits America. Everyone's rich, everyone's living lavishly, and everyone's happy. Jimmy came home after every winning match to a happy wife and three little kids, whom he supported so successfully with his boxing career. Things were going so smoothly until the Great Depression reached the Braddocks. They were forced to move into a dark basement studio of an apartment building, all five of them, and Jimmy was trying to keep his boxing career up for as long as he could. Unfortunately, he was losing match after match, so he was let go and forced to take up random shifts every morning at the dock, but with so many men and so little jobs, the odds were not on his side. His family tried to keep it together but they struggled payment after payment after payment. While this was going on, the boxing world was still in full swing. Through a good buddy of his, Jimmy got an opportunity to make one last final goodbye, and it was a win, which meant: paycheck. This brought in enough money for his family to be out of debt and finally break even. But after that, he was given another opportunity to fight against the champion... only to become the new champion. He represented the rest of America who were victims of this Great Depression. It wasn't because he was a boxer who lived in a high-ceiling apartment in the upper eastside, but it was because he was a man, a fellow victim of the economic downfall and people related with him and cheered him on; They saw hope through him and his fight to survive. So when he won and became the new champion, he became a symbol of the triumph that one day they too can achieve. And his family finally moved out of the tiny basement into a home more suitable for a family of five, and they all lived happily ever after.
That was longer than I thought... haha.
This film really moved me in many ways. Officially, I'm late by four days to say what I'm thankful for. But then it's never too late or too early for that. When we go through economic hardships, it takes more than one mind to keep everything together. Not only did Jimmy go out there and work his heart out, even if it meant broken bones and loss of teeth, but his faithful wife, May, stood behind him and was always proud of him no matter what happened. The love she had for her husband was without a doubt unconditional. He may not have changed the world by putting an end to the Great Depression, but he was still a hero and a great man to his wife and kids. And to me. You know... they say that behind every great man, is a great woman. It's true. But I'll save that for another time...
Anyway, this made me think of the times today. It's not so much different from what went on back in 1935. Maybe we don't have a 'Hooverville' but the truth is there are people struggling to survive and keep their families together. Not everyone is fortunate enough to keep their houses, and to continue paying tuition so they may continue attending school. Not everyone can afford to buy Christmas presents for their loved ones, and not everyone can make ends meet to survive.
I'm going to be honest with you. It was hard for me to be thankful this year. Over Thanksgiving a few days ago, I had a lot on my mind. I was glad that I was on holiday with my family but the truth of the matter is, I came to a realization that I am nowhere near where I wanted to be. After college, I expected to jumpstart my career and finally have a life of my own out in the city. But here I am, still living under my parent's roof, and living contract after contract. Sure the last contract was amazing and definitely worth every minute. I know the economy is at its worst but I felt like a failure. And my love life? Pfft. What love life? Yikes. Let's not even go there. That, too, will be saved for another time. So I struggled to be in good spirits of thankfulness. That is, until I saw this film. It made me realize that I have a lot to be thankful for. Both of my parents haven't been laid off; We have been fortunate enough to continue living the same lifestyle. And because they are still financially very stable, it allows me to live comfortably with them without feeling like a burden, not that any child should ever feel that way. I'm still alive and well. Even if my love life stinks, I have some amazing friends who are always there for me, even when I'm in "one of those moods". I have the best brother in the world who is as healthy as a bull. And I have my parents. You have no idea how thankful I am for them. Not just because they're covering my butt for the time being, but because they're still alive and well and after all of my idiotic mistakes and horrible choices in the past, they continue to love me day after day after day after day.
So overall the film was good and I apologize to Ron Howard for ignorantly giving this film two thumbs down before seeing it. Yea yea yea I know "Shame on you". Whatever. I give it two thumbs up. Yay! And Russell Crowe is one hell of a good actor.
