An ageing but still visibly fit Italian-American gentleman walks reverently into a cemetery. He reaches up into a tree, pulls out a hidden folding chair and sets it down besides the grave of his soulmate Adrian. With his trademark drawl, he starts to tell her about their now grown up son and his new job, their boxing-themed restaurant, he even throws in one of the awful puns that used to make her smile…and then he bites back tears as he tells her how he wishes she were still in his corner.
I doubt a whole lot of Goan boys have had the privilege of seeing Sylvester Stallone in one of his greatest roles till date, as the grizzled boxer Rocky Balboa in the self titled fifth movie in the Rocky saga. The series follows the evolution of a 20-something simpleton with an iron jaw who accepts and capitalises on a once in a lifetime windfall: the chance to fight the heavyweight boxing champion for the world title.
At the risk of sounding misogynistic, I quote the Godfather Vito Corleone,”I spent my life trying not to be careless. Women and children can be careless, but not men”. Our boys (and young women) could learn a great deal from Rocky, not only his dedication to healthy living and working out fiercely, but from his uncanny knack to get out of trouble by saying the kindest things. Although an alpha male, he had none of the tendencies to react with violence to cheap words, he got along with everyone as he once quipped when asked if he liked Picasso,” Yeah well I like pretty much everybody!”
He courted and wooed the love of his life with kindness and respect, spending every day trying to make her smile and keeping her happiness in the forefront instead of sampling the other fish in the sea. Rocky wasn’t a genius and school didn’t suit him but when ridiculed for being slow witted, he educated himself by reading voraciously and went from using little monosyllabic grunts to getting his point across with fiery albeit humble speeches that stunned the learned and vain. As a father and husband, he puts his son’s upbringing first, spending time honing his character and working where he can to keep his household warm and fed. A devout Christian, he never set off for a bout without getting blessings yelled down from his favorite Sicilian priest.
Guys tend to make more mistakes than the fairer, more evolved sex so I hope my fellow neo-Neanderthals, young and old alike, can avoid a few by being more ‘careful’. Sly said the Rocky series is ultimately a love story, and after reading a couple of local articles about the joys of ‘singleness’ and an eminent businessman’s ode to flatulence and bed-hair that marriage inflicts on mankind, I figured someone should focus on the role the catalyst Love plays in a man’s life.
“Nothing hits harder than life, but you gotta take the hits and keep moving forward and not blame her, him, me, nobody. You’re better than that!”
