Sorry, what point are you trying to make by pasting both those posts? That I should listen to The Prestige, in that the films are simply meant to be entertainment? Or, that I am supposed to elevate middle-of-the-road shlock to the level of masterpiece?
Your articulate post of a whole 1 word speaks volumes about your position on the subject.
Like the great Leonardo Da Vinci said "
simplicity is the ultimate
sophistication." I've never understood this mindset people have which is often found in criticism of music as well, that implies if something is simple or maybe not as drawn out as other things, that is "sucks" or that it has no depth.
Some, such as yourself, may view Rocky as a simple-minded, pugilist, but many are able to see that the physicality of his bouts in the ring is completely irrelevant, as the character transcends the dynamics of the boxing ring, and represents the values upon which America itself once thrived and what people hold dear. His ideology is what has garnered such universal appeal over the past three decades. As everyone knows, his admission to Adrian that he knew he didn't stand a chance as far as physically beating Apollo Creed, in turn revealed his true objective which was to go the distance, because nobody had ever done that before and if he could do that he would know he wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood. Now the beauty of that mindset is that it represents so many things in life. In each of the Rocky films the boxing is a metaphor of some kind, to different aspects of life. In the first, however it can be equated with one’s fight with life. As human beings, we live and we die. Death can only be avoided for so long and in the end it will beat you. That’s the way it is, but what’s absolutely crucial is how we’ve lived. Did we just throw our hands up and say “to hell with it,” or did we take the hits life has thrown at us and continued to move forward? In the end, when all is said and done, if we can be standing, knowing we gave it everything we had, our worth will be proven and we will have the most important kind of respect: self-respect.
That's merely one aspect of the first film. You don't have to like it, but to say Rocky is fluff is beyond stupid. Sometimes it takes sophistication to appreciate simplicity and to be able to see past the surface.
Raging Bull is a great film, absolutely, but I don't see how it and Rocky can be compared. Aside from boxing being part of the plots, their meanings and stories are entirely different. That's like comparing Scarface to Goodfellas (yeah they involve "mobsters"--albeit different kinds, but they are completely different stories).
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