The film, Million Dollar Baby, is a very powerful story of a young woman by the name of Maggie. While she experienced a very difficult upbringing, Maggie had never lost sight of her goals, and is living proof that anyone can overcome any obstacle that they may be faced with. Maggie’s dream was to be a professional fighter; it was a dream most girls do not share, but it was her passion. She began attending a gym owned by fighter trainer, Frankie Dunn.
Dunn was well renowned in the world of fighting for his style and persistence and had brought many men into the ring with promise of a national title, but wanted nothing to do with a woman fighter. Maggie was different though and her passion eventually won him over. With the help of Dunn, Maggie worked her way from novice to title contender within only a year and a half. During their time together, Dunn and Maggie developed a very strong relationship; in a way, she had become a daughter to him, the daughter he had lost contact with over the years.
Maggie finally did reach her dream, but in the end, it cost her life.Is this a blessing or a curse to want something so bad you would die to achieve it? To Maggie, it was worth it. Maggie’s story is told through the eyes of Scrap, the gym keeper at Frankie Dunn’s gym. In the end it is revealed that Scrap is writing a letter to Dunn’s daughter with whom Dunn had tried without success to regain contact with. Although it wasn’t revealed until the end of the film, I thought that this was a powerful way for the story to be told. Scrap was close to Maggie and especially close to Frankie and told their story with such passion and respect that was passed on to the audience.
Through the chronological series of events that unfolded, a relationship between the audience and the character was strongly developed. There are many messages that can be taken from this film. The first that had occurred as I watched was that of feminism. Maggie stepped out from the traditional roles of women stereotypes and achieved her dream through hard physical labor, blood, sweat and tears. Normally, this role would be filled by a man, not a woman.
The title of the movie also struck me as having a feminist message to it, for if this movie had portrayed a man, the director surely would not have used the term “baby”.I was really confused by the title the more I considered it; Maggie was so young, but so experienced at the same time. I admired her for the person she had become despite being raised by a woman who was so ignorant and heartless, which also conveyed quite an unusual role for a woman. Maggie had such an inner strength and a physical strength about her, and the way she had made the decision to die in the end should have been enough to win her the title she was fighting for that night, and I’m sure that she could have been better described in other terms.While I am not one to enjoy movies with any kind of blood and violence in them, I cannot say I did not enjoy this movie. Watching it from analytical point of view, I was able to gain a message from Maggie.
Man or woman, it doesn’t matter where you come from or how anybody else feels, if you want something bad enough, you should never let anyone take that dream away from you. Like Scrap explained to Frankie Dunn, in the end you don’t want to be thinking I should have, you want to be thinking I did a damn good job.
