After Mickey tells Rocky that he can't fight again, Rocky works at Mickey's gym doing odd jobs like emptying the spit bucket. It always bothered me how the other fighters in the gym treated Rocky like dirt, despite the fact that he just went the distance with the greatest fighter in the world. Like when he says "whoops," the other guy says "is that all you know how to say is whoops." Rocky should have jumped in the ring and beat that guy senseless.
shareIt was in line with the character, but I always thought Stallone made Rocky out to be too benign. He was passive to the point of being a pushover outside of the ring.
I guess with Rock, you can say anything to him except that Adrian's a retard.
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he's no pushover. he's just a good person. and smart.
stupid people get pissed when people make fun of them.
the smarter you are the less you get angry.
now you know because i have taught you my child.
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I AM
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It is interesting that you should say that, b/c on the Rocky I commentary Sly says that it is b/c he is too nice and a bit of a coward. As for complexity, Stallone says that he sees him as a docile creature who can be deadly when pushed. Mick doesn't speak up for Rocky in the gym b/c he wants him to do it himself.
We have to reserve the right to bomb the n iggers. David Lloyd George on disarmament.
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I think the fact that Rocky takes it, even smiles uncomfortably in one of the moments, is something that adds complexity to the character. That he is supposed to be a very tough fighter but he isn't a bully or a d-bag. He's a gentle soul.
I think that is what the one guy was mocking when he made the "whoops" comment. It's like, "Wow you're such a tough fighter but that's all you have to say is 'whoops?'" It shows that Rocky is entirely the better person in that exchange, and I like it that way.
Remember also that people haze each other, whether playfully or more seriously. Especially when they're sharing in a competitive sport. You don't think that guy wouldn't rather he was the one who got the shot at the title? The fact that Rocky made such a great show of himself only adds to the envy and the desire to try to rattle the guy's feelings a bit. Sure, he probably had respect for Rocky's abilities, but equally he would have trouble transferring that respect to Rocky as a person because of jealousy.
It's the old fashioned, "Oh yeah? You're so great, show me something tough guy!" kind of mentality. No one ever challenges the slow gunslinger. People ride into town to try out the Waco Kid....taunting him into battle.
He is in a ghetto area, plus these young buck fighters haven't been HUMBLED yet. Remember that y'all
shareAnd we have to put in mind that he loves in an almost shanky town.
-Martin-
"We have enough youth, how about a fountain of SMART?"
Yeah, Rocky, even if wasn't as skilled a fighter as Apollo Creed, was still a top heavyweight contender. He could have used any of those clowns' heads for a speed bag.
Plus, while Mickey undoubtedly wanted Rocky to get back to basics and come back hungry and tough, he wouldn't put up with off-the-street club clowns talking $#$# to Rocky.
He'd say, "this SOB just pushed the greatest champion of all time to a 15-round split decision and put him in the hospital, who the F are you bush-league bums to be giving him $#$#."
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4) You ever seen Superman $#$# his pants? Case closed.
I always took it that the new guys saw Rocky as a guy that choked and was regulated to doing crap work. The "whoops" guy was all revved up from sparring and he tosses out an insult / potential challenge to Rocky, who was acting in a passive tone. In the next movie, you caught the younger, more aggressive Clubber turning down a simple hand shake from a defeated Apollo Creed (who was doing his Joe Forman bit from the first movie).
shareJoe Foreman?
You mean Joe Frazier
Or George Foreman even?
TheCaretaker
Speaking of which, why didn't Mickey make him a trainer at the gym? Clearly he knew what he was doing.
Reportin' live for Black TV: White folks are dead, we gettin' the f*@# outta here!
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But remember even when he was a collector for Gazzo, he was actually quite gentle about it. He was supposed to break a guy's thumb but he didn't want to. Instead he tried talking the guy into paying up. I think it's all supposed to emphasize that even though he's an extremely tough fighter, he's got a kind heart.
shareI didn't think Rocky was "picked on" at the gym. He was disrespected. I thought that guy knew that Rocky had gone the distance with the heavyweight champion and schlepping buckets around the gym was beneath him.
shareEveryone here is a bunch of Imbeciles. It was a tactic used by Apollo to get him back in the ring for a rematch. Philly didnt "turn" on him.
shareExactly... i always thought it was implied that Apollo was behind it.... Pass out a few dollars and get some fighters to act out toward Rock...
Similar to the kind of thing happens in prison.... Where people in power positions are able to make the general populace show aggression towards a particular person.
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Those guys were idiots for sure, maybe they were jealous.
shareI get the feeling deep down they respected Rocky after the first fight and still did, but they were disappointed that he didn't seem to be interested at first in responding to Creed's challenges, so they felt sort of let down and were goading Rocky into the rematch, which of course was Apollo's plan all along.
shareNaw, they were jealous.
share