Million Dollar Baby
Grade: |
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Plot Summary:
Maggie, as 'white trash' as they come, seeks to develop her latent talent as a boxer and make an improbable run to the championship. Much blood- and tear-shedding ensues...
Opinion:
To the untrained eye, boxing looks like two people hitting each other until one person doesn't get up again.(Actually, that's pretty much what it is to the trained eye, too...)
While that one sentence elementary school summary may be true to some extent, successful boxers, in reality, require strength, agility, endurance, mental focus, and some intelligence as well. (Not that boxers and 'intelligent' are normally used in the same sentence together, but there is some strategy involved: creating a plan of attack, as well as analyzing your opponent's fighting style for weaknesses...)
Aside from football or rugby, boxing seems to be the most inherently 'testosterone-driven' sport, and thus the one least likely to appeal to women. And yet, female boxing has really taken off in recent years, which upon reflection makes some sense. After all, women--just like men--can surely feel a deep, internal need to punch someone in the face repeatedly, so in a way female boxing was probably inevitable...
"Million Dollar Baby"--Best Picture winner for 2004--is on its surface just a female version of "Rocky"--about a down-and-out boxer who overcomes the odds and gets a shot at becoming an improbable champion--and yet, upon reflection, it's not really about boxing. While it centers around the triumphs and tragedies in the life of a would-be woman boxer, the entire movie could have been rewritten featuring a would-be female race car driver, or a hockey player and come out approximately the same. At its heart, "Baby" centers around relationships--specifically the boxer Maggie, and Frankie, the man who trains her and stands by her through thick and thin.
I must admit that the movie is high quality in every aspect (acting, dialogue, production, direction)...but I must also admit that it didn't move me much when all was said and done. I appreciate that it did not meander, and that it was brave enough to show a man and a women who 'love' each other...but in a non-romantic way. (A lesser movie wouldn't have resisted making them lovers...) And yet...the movie hasn't stayed with me the way truly great movies should. I can appreciate the skill by which "Million Dollar Baby" was made, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it ahead of a couple dozen other films from the last two years. This makes any 'grade' I give the movie pretty meaningless, but reflecting over the other movies I've graded--which ones I'd want to see again and/or recommend to others--the grade for "Million Dollar Baby" settles in right about the B level. So be it. (If the filmmakers are disappointed, they'll always have their Best Picture Oscar to comfort them... :)
Content Analysis: (PG-13, 4-2-3-1 on the Baron's scale)
"Million Dollar Baby" has a fair amount of rough language, and in one instance the person saying it is probably more shocking than the actual word. There's a lot of boxing-related blood and violence (which you might have supposed from the subject matter). The movie could have been a hard R, though, so you might respect the filmmakers for showing enough restraint that they were able to fall solidly within a PG-13 (albeit at the high end...)If you've heard about this movie being 'immoral', though...it's probably not because of any of the above, but rather the controversial subject matter that I won't mention to avoid spoilers, but will discuss at length below in the next section. The 'morality'--or lack of--in the movie is subject to personal interpretation, and regardless of your opinion about choices made by characters in the movie, is not (in my opinion) enough to be offensive, only a matter for discussion afterwards...
In-depth Analysis:
Nothing causes more heated debate within society than issues involving life and death. "Million Dollar Baby" which was filmed and released in almost total obscurity, soon found itself at the center due to its 'view' on suicide (and suicidal assistance). From a critical standpoint, I don't think the movie has a pronounced 'agenda', although judging by the decision Frankie ends up making, you could certainly argue it does. I thought the treatment was fair--no easy answers, both sides (pros and cons) were presented, and Frankie certainly didn't make the decision easily. Sure, he had to choose one road or the other, but I thought the movie did a good job is showing that, while Frankie did choose to assist Maggie's death, it stopped short of clearly saying he should have chosen to assist her death--a crucial distinction.
There are many reasons why legalized assisted suicide is a path fraught with great danger. How do you decide if the person who says he/she wants to die is in the proper state of mind to make that decision. How old do you have to be? What about the effects of depression and other mental illnesses? If a person is just in a down mood that day and says "I wish I were dead", is it okay for someone to go ahead and kill them, then? What if, after a period of adjustment, they accept their new condition and find new ways to add meaning to their life? Unfortunately, assisted suicide doesn't allow for second thoughts after the fact...
Even more dangerous is the implications for murder trials. If assisted suicide is legal, this allows "He/She wanted me to kill them" as a legitimate defense. How long would it be before someone murders someone, and simply fakes some evidence saying the victim wanted to die and had asked the killer for 'help'? Or perhaps the victim said previously that they wanted to die, but later changed their mind, and had their previous statement used against them in court. What's the statute of limitations on statements about 'wanting to die'? Is the statement still effective days, weeks, years after you say it as an excuse for someone killing you? (Do they have to ask you every hour just to check to see if you really meant it?) Yes, this is a dangerous road...
The arguments for assisted suicide can be compelling as well. In Maggie's case, she had a clear motive for wanting to die, she was mature and capable enough to make that decision (and could sign any necessary form saying as much) and could argue that she was incapable of doing anything of value the rest of her life.
Or could she?
Is it that clear that her life was without value? True, she came from a poor 'white trash' background and had nothing going for her other than her boxing ability to provide meaning or motivation in her life, but without boxing, is it true that her life would no longer have no value to herself or anyone? Frankie, for one, would disagree--and, in fact, offered the not unreasonable suggestion that she could work at going to school and developing her mind. Maggie rejected this idea--perhaps the idea of starting over from nothing was too humbling and humiliating now that she had obtained a small amount of glory in her life, and she wanted to go out of the world with her championship bout still fresh in her memory as the apex of her life's accomplishments. Still, life is inherently a humbling experience--it's not something easily avoided. She had already started with nothing once and turned herself into something. Instead of crushing her spirit, her poor uneducated upbringing served to develop her will, and focus her on her ultimate goals. After a period of adjustment, is she sure (and are we?) that she couldn't have eventually turned that will into a new, different goal, and set her mind upon achieving it? We'll never know...
Let's suppose you are in Frankie's position. You have someone you care about who is paralyzed or otherwise crippled in a major way (Alzheimer's, perhaps, a la The Notebook). They say (or you think) they do not want to live anymore, but can't do anything about it themselves. You believe the power of life and death is in God's hands, and aren't willing to help out directly...not in that way, anyway...
What do you do, then?
Suppose you feel in your heart that he/she does not have any reason to live, and it would be nice if they passed on without suffering or struggling any further. Is that something you can pray about? ("God, will you please end their life and their suffering as soon as possible?") I don't see why not... You're acknowledging that their life is in His hands and that you aren't going to supersede His authority and end their life for them, but you also share the true and charitable desires of your heart, that you don't feel them living longer serves any purpose. Now, the answer might very well be "No", and you might want to reconsider whether them continuing to live serves no purpose, but I think it is okay to ask. In the meantime, like Frankie did at the beginning, you can always care for them, and find opportunities to make their lives worthwhile for themselves and others.
Random Notes & Comments:
(1) As always, Decent Films has a good analysis here.(2) One opportunity the filmmakers may have missed: Billie's hit on Maggie was clearly illegal, and the referee had already warned her about being disqualified. Why not have Maggie end up 'winning' the championship because of Billie's being disqualified? Wouldn't have changed her condition, but might have been subtly ironic in that she obtained her ultimate goal, but at a high price. Might also have reinforced her desire to die, since she had already reached the apex of her profession, and wanted to go out on top... (Of course, expected anything like 'justice' in a sport as notoriously corrupt as boxing, is probably unrealistic...)
