Rocky story
Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky film series and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a poor small-time club fighter and loanshark debt collector from Philadelphia, gets an unlikely once in a lifetime shot at the world heavyweight championship held by Apollo Creed (Weathers).
28 total · 2 choice · 18 major · 8 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| rise to prominence from humble beginnings | choice | The journeyman boxer Rocky Balboa making the most out of his getting a shot the world heavyweight title exemplified the American Dream. The champion Apollo Creed went on about how the fight would give an ordinary Joe a shot at achieving the American Dream. |
| the sport of boxing | choice | The story concerns a local journeyman boxer, Rocky Balboa, getting the unexpected opportunity to fight the reigning heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed, for that title in an event dubbed the "Bicentennial Super Battle". |
| boyfriend and girlfriend | major | Rocky and Adrian fell in love and became an item of sorts. |
| brother and sister | major | Adrian lived with, and was bullied by, her older brother Paulie. |
| compassion | major | Despite his muscular physique, Rocky was a notably compassionate man. Rocky took pity on the man whose thumb he had been ordered to break and relented. Rocky forgave Paulie and allowed Paulie to make money off of Rocky's name. |
| extrovert vs. introvert | major | Rocky (affable, confident, and social) was juxtaposed with Adrian (awkward and sky). |
| fortitude | major | Rocky worked hard to get in shape before the fight while Apollo joked around and tried to create publicity. It is a notable conclusion that, against all odds, this lead to Rocky going the distance with Apollo and very nearly winning the fight. |
| friendship | major | Rocky and Paulie were fast friends and remained so despite friction. |
| hubris | major | Apollo was notably cavalier about the fight thinking he would win easily, and focused instead on making it a publicity stunt by spectacle and implicit boasting. His tune changed abruptly after, for the first time in his career, he was knocked down by Rocky in round one. He only won by a split decision after round 15, though at that point Rocky would have clearly beaten him if the fight had gone on. |
| human self-esteem need | major | Paulie yearned for something better for himself and begged Rocky to get him a job as a goon for the local kingpin. |