I’m of the opinion that the Rocky movies represent an anthropological treasure that is quite possibly unequaled in peeling back the layers of the American id. From the appealing underdog story of Rocky I, to Rocky appropriating blackness to defeat Mr. T in Rocky III, to Rocky IV, in which Rocky showed the Soviets that the Northeastern Italian-American is what Marx really had in mind when he spoke of the worker, there really is no better set of movies for gauging Americans’ primarily male, desires and insecurities. Yesterday, Weekly Standard writer Mary Katherine Ham wrote, referring to Obama‘s handling of the Blagojevich scandal:

He’s never been accused of underestimating his own charm and abilities, but approaching a fight with the hubris of Apollo Creed can be a risky tactic, no matter how sparkly your top hat is. That seems to be the tack he’s taking on the Blago scandal, and forecasts an approach to difficult future situations for which the press is already panning him.

Ham here, is referencing my favorite Rocky IV scene: Apollo Creed, wearing an Uncle Sam outfit, is introduced on a rising platform with a giant golden calf in the background, as James Brown sings “Living in America.” He is killed in the ring by giant Nazi communist Drago moments later. Go ahead and unravel that yarn ball of symbolism.

Robert Stacy McCain writes:

Mary Katharine Ham suggests Obama is “approaching a fight with the hubris of Apollo Creed,” which is just such a damned fine metaphor I had to quote it, even if it might be condemned as racist. (You can compare Obama to any famous personality in history — Lincoln, JFK or Jesus — but if you compare him to a black man, that’s “racism.”)

Wasn’t Jesus black?

What I love about all this protesting too much is that the first two Rocky movies are essentially a white fantasy in which Rocky Marciano kicks Mohammed Ali‘s ass. It’s a wet dream in which a thinly veiled and considerably less likeable doppleganger of the greatest boxer of all time is beaten by Joe the effing Plumber, a cinematic coping mechanism for dealing with black excellence in athletics. (Notice that McCain refers to Creed as a “historical personality,” like Lincoln or JFK. You wish!) The point of Apollo Creed’s existence is to get his butt kicked on screen by a white guy. So already, in invoking Apollo Creed you’re showing too many of your cards: namely hoping that Obama is something like Creed, all the cockiness and defiance of the champ without the skill. But of course Creed was a fantasy, and Ali was the reality. And to the extent that Obama has been “cocky” it’s in acting as though he’s done nothing wrong in the face of breathless, and evidence-free speculation to the contrary. But if McCain and Ham wanted to avoid questions about racism they might have perhaps picked a black character in film whose sole purpose wasn’t elevating the white protagonist through various means, including a horrible death. Although I admit, when it comes to American film that’s hard to do.  

Maybe we could all just agree to leave the whole uppity thing in the past. How cool would that be?

— A. Serwer