{"id":422,"date":"2016-04-07T20:49:45","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T00:49:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/?p=422"},"modified":"2016-04-07T20:49:45","modified_gmt":"2016-04-08T00:49:45","slug":"rocky-and-the-global-common-mans-resonance-by-samantha-smyth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/2016\/04\/07\/rocky-and-the-global-common-mans-resonance-by-samantha-smyth\/","title":{"rendered":"Rocky and the Global Common Man\u2019s Resonance by Samantha Smyth"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stampl\"<\/a>Rocky\u2019s resonance through the ages is paralleled by few other films. The rough and tumble Philadelphia boy seems to be the pinnacle of icons for the down-and-out, the under-achieved, under-represented, the gritty real people, whose lives aren\u2019t glossy like Good Housekeeping covers depict. Rocky plucked himself out of obscurity and, quite literally, fought his way to the top (only after a humbling loss in Rocky I). He is the every-man\u2019s underdog. He\u2019s a dim-witted, fourth-rate, club fighter with no particular distinction, but he manages to embody optimism and courage (Leab, 265).<\/p>\n

The reason for Rocky\u2019s resonance beyond a bicentennial United States icon is to do with his relatability. As such, his image has been lifted and utilized many times, in many countries, making the Italian Stallion more than just an American idol but also an international icon.<\/p>\n

Stamp collectors had the opportunity to enjoy the mangled-up Stallone face on 5 sets of limited edition stamps released in 1996 bringing fact to Rocky\u2019s own line: \u201cYo, is this a face you can trust? Someday, they\u2019ll put this face on a stamp.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that Rocky\u2019s face was lifted for the 5 countries (Ghana, The Gambia, Uganda, St. Vincent and Grenadines, and Grenada) was explained as: \u201cRocky Balboa stands for the average guy who wants to lead a decent life and be the best he or she can be. The Philadelphia club boxer symbolizes everyone who has at anytime in their life been faced with seemingly impossible obstacles and yet refused to just give up\u201d (Daniel Keren, Total Rocky). Each country felt an affinity for the man who nearly won, and each country boasts \u201cmore Rocky fans than America,\u201d according to the article published on Total Rocky.<\/p>\n

\"HPIM1124.JPG\"<\/a>
HPIM1124.JPG<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2007, Serbian city \u017diti\u0161te erected a statue dedicated to the fighter. The subject of a documentary, Amerika Idol<\/em> by Barry Avrich, the statue was revealed to be the hope of the city to counteract the misfortunes of the past 4000 years. The statue is thought to bring \u201cinspiration,\u201d and \u201ctourism dollars,\u201d as reviewer Robert Bell points out. Bell also states that the residents believe Rocky will be a good role model for the youth and also stands as the \u201cuniversal representation of the underdog.\u201d Rocky as the symbol of luck, a waypoint for wayward youth, and the ultimate underdog has been utilized by town.<\/p>\n

\u201cWON\u2019T BE DEFEATED\u201d\"Ne<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they\u2019re cheering for Rocky, they\u2019re cheering for themselves,\u201d seems to be the most apt description of Rocky uttered by the man himself Sylvester Stallone (Leab, 271). It\u2019s Rocky\u2019s ability to appeal to the every-man that makes him so relatable. He stands for the underdog and embodies the emotions of courage, bravery, and pluck (which we could all use a bit of sometimes). As such, Rocky\u2019s image has become the symbol of fight, of determination, and of strength in the face of adversity.<\/p>\n

So, why Rocky? Because he\u2019s every man, every person, the common man\u2026 he\u2019s one of us. His appeal crosses borders, but his message remains the same. Go get it, and don\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

Daniel Leab, \u201cReaffirming Traditional Values,\u201d Hollywood\u2019s America<\/em>.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt1347302\/<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/totalrocky.com\/articles\/five-nations-honor-stallone.html<\/a><\/p>\n

http:\/\/exclaim.ca\/film\/article\/amerika_idol_true_story-directed_by_barry_avrich<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rocky\u2019s resonance through the ages is paralleled by few other films. The rough and tumble Philadelphia boy seems to be the pinnacle of icons for the down-and-out, the under-achieved, under-represented, the gritty real people, whose lives aren\u2019t glossy like Good Housekeeping covers depict. Rocky plucked himself out of obscurity and, quite literally, fought his way …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1329,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[262,261,108],"class_list":["post-422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-everyman","tag-gobal-rocky","tag-rocky"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.temple.edu\/americanicons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}