Know Your Role! the Normalization of Racism and White Supremacy in Rocky Iii

KNOW YOUR ROLE! THE NORMALIZATION OF RACISM AND WHITE SUPREMACY IN ROCKY III JOAQUÍN SARAVIA POPMEC RESEARCH GROUP When Rocky was released in 1976, it became a worldwide phenomenon celebrated by both audience and critics. The story of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is the typical fairy tale of the white working class man who, against all odds, is capable of fulfilling his dreams. The success of the movie can be partially explained by the fusion of conservative ideological narratives―monogamous, heterosexual, and non-racially mixed families as the base of society―and liberal ones―strong and active women, sensible men or powerful members of minority groups. In consequence, the movie has been mostly considered as an optimistic and patriotic attempt to reunite a nation in crisis. One of the few critics who did not agree with the hegemonic position was Michael Gallantz, who in “Rocky’s Racism” (1978) argued that the movie is filled with a dis- crimination that “is as mysteriously invisible as it is systematic and vicious”. The au- thor states that Rocky is the reflection of a backlash against the achievements of the African American community that took place during the 70s. That derived from the fear of white Americans of losing their rights in favor of a potentially new order led by privileged Blacks. In the first movie, the embodiment of that threat is Apollo, an uppity world heavyweight champion who ostentatiously enjoys privileges such as wealth, power, and fame. Gallantz claims that the powerful hidden narrative of Rocky takes form through the innovative and apparently egalitarian, inclusive, and non-ste- reotypical representation of Blacks. That is possible by presenting that progressive society as a naturalized menace in which Rocky’s oppression represents the situation of all white Americans. Almost a half of a century later, the context of globalization of the 21th century is experiencing, once again, the rise of new reactionary and anti-human rights movements that are partially sustained on narratives of the same kind. In the specific case of the United States, the second decade of the century is characterized by the growth 1 SEPTEMBER 2020 POPMEC RESEARCH BLOG «» POPMEC.HYPOTHESES.ORG ISSN 2660-8839 of the far-right and structural violence against minority groups, especially African Americans. In consequence, antiracist movements such as Black Lives Matter have earned great influence both inside and outside the country. In a context of massive production and easy access to audiovisual cultural products, the popularity and influence of the Rocky series remains as powerful now as it was in the past, which has led a considerable number of academics from varied disciplines to dissect it (Hoff 1999; Salyer Jr. 2009; Fiamengo 2010; Rivas 2015; Walsh 2015; Hilby, Stephens and Stripling 2016; Junior 2016; Tholas-Disset 2017; Yüksel 2018; Saravia 2020). This article follows the path initiated by Gallantz through the analysis of the representation of African Americans in Rocky III (1982) with the aim of uncovering the ways in which racist narratives, both implicit and explicit, are present in the film. In a previous article (Saravia 2020), I analyzed the construction of Soviet otherness in Rocky IV (1985) as a useful political tool that aimed to spread a negative conception of the external enemy during the Cold War period. In a similar way, Rocky III is the reflection of the fears and prejudices promoted against African American activism in a context of social unrest. This article argues that Rocky III presents a political narrative that aims to promote a White-Black alliance, led by White people, that finds its enemies in the Black Amer- icans who actively rejected the Anglo establishment during the 70s and 80s. This is done through the assignment of positive attributes to the Blacks who accept White leadership and adopt a secondary role, while those who pretend to stand at the top of the game are assigned negative attributes. Moreover, ethnic differences within Whites are made invisible as Rocky, the Italian-American hero, is presented as the incarnation of White supremacy and Americanness. This makes his final victory over Clubber Lang (Mr. T) a metaphorical celebration of the desired America against the Black re- bels. The analysis is mainly focused on the discursive and filmic depiction of Lang as the representation of the defeated enemy, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) as the desired role for Blacks, and Rocky as the defender of an interracial America under White rule. Unlike the previous movies, that offer a romantic depiction of a rags to riches love story, politics is a relevant issue from the first time Rocky and Lang interact. The heavyweight champion of the world is interrupted during his retirement speech and defied by the official number one contender who claims that: “Politics, man! This country wants to keep me down. They don’t want a man like me to have the title because I’m not a puppet like you” (Stallone 1982). In order to understand Lang’s arguments, two questions need to be answered: what kind of man is he? Is he a menace to the nation? One of Gallantz’s arguments to sustain the existence of subtle racism in Rocky rests on the non-existent reproduction of the traditional stereotypes about African Ameri- cans. Rocky III is different from the first film as the protagonist’s rival is not just a 2 SEPTEMBER 2020 POPMEC RESEARCH BLOG «» POPMEC.HYPOTHESES.ORG ISSN 2660-8839 sportsman but an obvious villain that breaks the traditional codes of society and mo- rality. In consequence, Lang is modeled on one of the most pervasive stereotypes in- augurated during the enslavement era: the Mandingo. It depicts young Black men as animalistic and brutish through the attribution of two main capacities. First, exagger- ated strength and agility; second, a hypersexualization that represents Blacks as po- tential sexual assaulters. The world of boxing was not free from those prejudices. In 1910, the Black heavyweight champion, Arthur Jack Johnson, defeated the “Great White Hope” James Jeffries. Johnson’s victory, added to the rejection of his relationship with a White woman by supremacists, resulted in weeks of national violence against Black communities (“Popular and Pervasive”). Lang’s actions and attributes are just the fictional reproduction of the prejudices present in popular culture with the aim of showing him as the antagonist. each of the main attributes assigned to the Mandingo stereotype are reproduced by him. After Rocky’s initial unwillingness to give him a title shot, Lang provokes him by directing his attention to his wife, Adrian: Hey, woman! Hey, woman. Listen here. Since your old man ain’t got no heart, maybe you wanna see a real man? I bet you stay up every night dreaming you had a real man, huh? Bring your pretty little self over to my apartment and I’ll show you a real man. (Stallone 1982) Lang’s sexist and violent statements are not only a sign of disrespect and a provocation towards women. In patriarchal cultures such as the America of the 20th century, women have been conceived and treated as men’s property, first of their fathers and then, like in this case, of their husbands. The main aim of the hypersexualization of Black men and their cultural representation as sexual assaulters has historically been to keep them far from White women. In consequence, Lang’s verbal assault activates the mental defense mechanisms of the racist White America, exactly the same as the interracial relationship of Jack Johnson. Moreover, Lang’s attitude is harmful to one of the pillars of the American society and the driving force that allows the hero to achieve the impossible: the traditional family. Lang does not only attack Rocky’s and America’s vital pillar, he also despises and rejects the institution in his personal life: “My whole life’s been directed towards this title. I live alone. I train alone. I’ll win the title alone” (Stallone 1982). His extreme individuality in search of a personal goal presents Lang as a selfish human being that isolates himself from a society he hates. His antisocial and antisystem behavior, especially his willingness to earn “nothin’” (Stallone 1982) in the potentially most profitable match of his career, suggests an implicit rejection of capitalism that is reinforced by the austere spaces in which he lives and trains. 3 SEPTEMBER 2020 POPMEC RESEARCH BLOG «» POPMEC.HYPOTHESES.ORG ISSN 2660-8839 Aesthetics play a fundamental role in meaning construction processes. In this case, Lang’s punk rocker clothing style, traditionally associated by the conservative media with crime, drugs, and violence, is used to relate him with danger. If that was not enough, he is also surrounded by police officers. As the frames below show (fig. 1), the effect of presenting the hero as a calmed, wealthy, and sociable man surrounded by loving people, local authorities and national symbols, produces a binary division with obvious racial and class connotations in favor of rich White people: Figure I Rocky III (Stallone 1982). Moreover, whereas the hero is characterized by optimism and an unbreakable community spirit, the contender is a renegade whose disruption threatens the American way of life. No scene illustrates this better than the first match press conferences (fig. 2). Figure 2 Rocky III (Stallone 1982). 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 POPMEC RESEARCH BLOG «» POPMEC.HYPOTHESES.ORG ISSN 2660-8839 The frames expose both the first example of explicit racism in the movie and the mechanisms used to hide and/or make its detection more difficult. The dehumanization of Blacks in popular culture through their animalization is one of the most repeated actions used to justify their oppression.

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