The creed of 'Creed'

'Rocky' in 2012  (Photo by Georges Biard)

Those who are saying, “Why should I sit through yet another Rocky movie?” might wish to consider the creed of “Creed.”

Leonard Pitts, Jr. eloquently points out that “Creed” is a reminder to “rage against the dying of the light.”  In other words, to “not go gentle into that good night.”

In this latest of the 39-year series, Rocky Balboa (i.e., Sylvester Stallone) begins as a has-been (perhaps worse than a never-was) celebrity.  Pitts describes him as “aged, ailing and alone.”

All of his closest friends and associates (Mickey, Apollo, Paulie, and even Yo Adrian) are now gone.  Rocky finds himself in the all-too-familiar senior scenario of “simply marking time until he joins them.”

And then along comes Adonis Johnson, “the out-of-wedlock son” of Apollo, and every bit the “unheralded… underdog” that Rocky once was.  Johnson “cajoles” Rocky not only into serving as a boxing mentor, but also into reentering life’s ring.

If this movie serves as an inspiration for others to reclaim their own fighting spirit after life has beaten them down, then it is well worth the cost of a theater visit.

Resources

http://poststar.com/news/opinion/columns/leonard_pitts/creed-a-reminder-to-rage-against-the-dying-of-the/article_d0adaabc-bd82-5779-a71b-a3abf19abd36.html

Copyright December 10, 2015 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved