Jonathan
Gilbert
U. S
History
Cinderella
Man essay
4-21-2014
As I stared at the blank white page
sitting in front of me, and the blinking line indicating that I have not a
single word written my mind began to roam. Thinking about the topic Evaluate
Cinderella Man as a depiction of American life in the Great Depression. I
started thinking about what life was really like in the Great Depression. How
little things we take for granted such as running water, air conditioning, food
and even a comfortable bed to sleep on at night, were all luxuries that most
people, simply couldn’t afford. As we watched the movie Cinderella Man, I tried
(and honestly failed miserably) to picture what it was really like living in
the Great Depression. Even while reading the book I tried to do the same (and
again, failed). Although both the movie and the book state most of the same
details, one rarely left out something the other gave. However, the movie didn’t
touch up on the realities of the depression as much as the book did. Throughout
the movie the viewers were desensitized to the real grueling truths (although
you did see quite a lot). It left out the fact that people were starving on the
streets, Farms were producing more food than could be bought, financial relief
stations were unable to give any loans to people, and above all most people
weren’t nearly as lucky as Braddock who had a backup job and got paid.
As a boxer (and
also knowing quite a lot of history of the sport) in the boxing match when
Braddock was fighting The African American, the movie completely left out the
small (but important nonetheless) detail, that whites in that time up until
after World War II would never let their fighters fight blacks. I learned (from
the research project earlier in the year) that people thought that blacks had
an advantage. Fighters such as sugar ray Robinson, Joe Louis, George Dixon and
jack Johnson were all thought to have an unfair advantage and would rarely get
fights with others outside their own race.
The movie however
did show the gigantic gap between the rich and the poor. It showed how the rich
were wealthy and lived much better, eating out at fancy restaurants, living in
nice apartments, where as the poor lived (if that’s even called living) in
maybe a 2-bedroom apartment. Entire families would live in small apartment rooms;
up to four or five kids would live in a single room, sharing what little room
was there to begin with. The movie also did a great job of portraying that the
people on the edge would do everything to stay afloat. Braddock’s manager sold
everything he owned to give Braddock the fight against Baer, displaying that
they would put everything on the line.
Lastly the movie
showed how the people in the era blamed either themselves or President Hoover,
or FDR. When Braddock and Mike Wilson talked during the bar scene, Braddock
mentioned FDR. Mike then responded “Screw FDR”, showing the distrust people had
in the president and also the government.
In conclusion,
Cinderella Man (like any movie) has its ups and downs. It gives great detail on
the issues of the time period such as, the people’s skepticism towards the
government, the gap between rich and poor, how good living conditions were for
some, and even worse for others.
