Posted on 06/06/2005 4:17:40 AM PDT by gobucks
Attentive viewers of the climactic fight of Cinderella Man, Ron Howard's Depression-era crowd-pleaser, will notice a Star of David on the red trunks of Max Baer, the lethal opponent of Jim "Cinderella Man" Braddock. The star is significantly less prominent than the one that the real Baer wore in the 1935 fight.
It's no surprise that Howard would obscure this detail, as it would complicate his film's Rocky-meets-Seabiscuit narrative. What's funny, and ironic, is that by downplaying Baer's Star of David, Howard may be making an accurate historical comment: Baer was the only self-proclaimed Jew to ever claim the heavyweight crown. But was he really even Jewish? snip
Over the years, the significance of Baer's gesture has been dismissed as a publicity stunt in a sport that thrives on racial and ethnic conflict. Jeremy Schaap, the author of Cinderella Man: James J. Braddock, Max Baer, and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History, takes a more nuanced view. Schaap establishes that Baer's father was at least half-Jewish before arguing that Baer's manager, Ancil Hoffman, stoked his boxer's ethnic consciousness as a motivating tool. Baer Jr. confirms this view. "My dad didn't know who Hitler was. He only read the sports pages, but Hoffman kept drilling it into his head, 'You're fighting for the Jews.' "
He died of a massive heart attack at the age of 50 in 1959. (Among other things, he didn't live to see his son achieve television celebrity as Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies.) Cinderella Man may reduce Baer to a crude and simplistic villain, but Baer probably would have enjoyed the movie anyway—he despised boxing. "He thought it was horseshit," says his son. "He really wanted to be an actor.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.msn.com ...
I did not know that "Jethro" was his son.
Why is it so many people have to spend so much time and effort looking for things to get upset over?
Mark
so now i know where granny got her left hook from
Some people don't have enough work to do to keep their minds occupied in more positive and productive areas.
The three old-time heavyweights I'd figure would have much of a chance in the modern fight game would be Jack Johnson, Gene Tunney, and Joe Louis.
The larger question is: why don't people know how to Love God?
"The three old-time heavyweights I'd figure would have much of a chance in the modern fight game would be Jack Johnson, Gene Tunney, and Joe Louis."
Jack Dempsey, too.
It's a MOVIE and the movie Max Baer is simply a foil for the hero. It's a good conservative movie by the way.
Heck, I know it is a movie ...; it is useful to witness how the MSM looks at movies I think, esp. Slate. It is a website that is sort of like a canary...(still not enough bad gas in the mine, clearly).
So, it is conservative? You have seen it and recommend it? What is the central conservative idea that is promoted if telling doesn't give away the story/ending?
That's like asking why didn't Jesus come before Abraham
Hmmmm ... I thought he did...
Yah I know. Libs look at everything through the prism of some grevience group. I find that really irritating. The movie itself is very conservative and maybe that's why Slate is finding fault.
The hero(s) are a husband and wife who stick together through thick and (very) thin during the depression. They are loving, honest, and faithful Christians. The Russel Crowe character is a professional boxer but above that is an admirable man in every way, as husband, father and friend. I didn't expect to like this movie but by the end (the Baer/Braddock fight) I cared so much about the characters, I was on the edge of my seat.
Here's a couple of professionl reviews.
http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0002175.cfm
and
http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/cinderellaman.html
Dang!! I KNEW I'd heard the name Max Baer before! When I was reading about the movie the other day, that name just seemed so familiar, though I'm not a big sports fan. Now I know why!
Thanks!
Hmmmm ... I thought he did...
True, in the sense that Jesus was before Adam.
But Jesus didn't come to save everyone. He only came to provide a means of grace to those whom God had preordained to be among the elect.
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