Hardship In Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man and Economic Hardship Boxing is a dangerous, life-threatening sport, but perhaps dying quickly in a fight is preferable to slowly starving and freezing to death. Ron Howard’s film Cinderella Man depicts the struggle between survival and happiness in the era when it was almost impossible to achieve both. Following the life of boxer James J. Braddock, the film takes place in the Great Depression, as Braddock struggles to feed his children, keep his home warm, and stay alive while the world starves around him. After Braddock’s career as a boxer takes a turn for the worse, he is forced to work at the docks to pay for basic necessities. Suddenly, he is given the rare opportunity to box one last time, and to the shock of everyone …show more content…
In its brutal portrayal of the difficult circumstances during the Great Depression, Cinderella Man tugs the heartstrings and encourages the viewer to side with and support James Braddock’s struggle. The threat of Braddock losing his family and career is never downplayed, packing the film with high intensity emotions. However, the film as a representation of history falls short; while it pits Braddock against other boxers, it plays the encounters as obstacles for Braddock to attain success and glosses over the reality that many of his opponents were in similar circumstances to him. What could have been a heartbreaking revelation that Braddock’s successes came at the cost of the livelihoods and families of his opponents was dismissed in favor of the ever-popular comeback story. This is merely a mild disappointment; only a few of the cruelties of the Depression can be included in a film, whereas a novel can carry the depth and complexity of the struggles of the time. The actors’ portrayals of life in the slums during the Depression were stark and contrasting with their acting during times of financial success, and the writing of the film was …show more content…
Both protagonists are physically fit and use their fitness to their advantage; Jurgis Rudkus works in the meatpacking factories of Chicago, while James Braddock uses his fitness to further his career in boxing and to work in the docks to support his family. However, Cinderella Man and The Jungle also show that physical prowess alone is not sufficient to achieve success. Neither James Braddock nor Jurgis Rudkus attain success by working laboriously for large companies, but live in slums and struggle even to pay for necessities such as food and heat. As fictional representations of the difficulties faced by millions of people in the early 1900s, Cinderella Man and The Jungle depict extremely different perspectives but strikingly similar events, showing how universal the problems of the era