I didn’t move to the states until the early 80s, so all I know about race and race relations in 70s here is through textbooks (not much) and what I’ve been picking up in books like Theresa Runstedtler’s Black Ball (Amazing book), or Radley Balko’s Rise of the Warrior Cop. So I have never looked at Rocky through the lens of race relations. Thank you for writing this.
One of the most fascinating things about this movie is that it’s rarely ever talked about as a movie with a racial narrative, even though one of the main characters frames the film’s plot in racial terms, explicitly.
I grew up in NJ in the 1970s, so I really appreciate the historical context. My parents threatened to send me to private school — a fate I feared — if McGovern won in 1972.
This essay is a banger Garrett
Thank you, I really enjoyed researching and writing it. I realized I could spend a whole year just thinking about the Ali/Wepner fight alone.
I didn’t move to the states until the early 80s, so all I know about race and race relations in 70s here is through textbooks (not much) and what I’ve been picking up in books like Theresa Runstedtler’s Black Ball (Amazing book), or Radley Balko’s Rise of the Warrior Cop. So I have never looked at Rocky through the lens of race relations. Thank you for writing this.
One of the most fascinating things about this movie is that it’s rarely ever talked about as a movie with a racial narrative, even though one of the main characters frames the film’s plot in racial terms, explicitly.
This is so good!!
Thanks so much!
I grew up in NJ in the 1970s, so I really appreciate the historical context. My parents threatened to send me to private school — a fate I feared — if McGovern won in 1972.
That's one of the most fascinating "I'll turn this car around" parental threats that I've ever heard!
Hahaha. My conservative parents gave me a lot to rebel against!