Introduction
Sylvester Stallone directed Rocky IV in 1985 in the United States of America. Apart from Stallone, who played Rocky, and Dolph Lundgren, who played Drago, another main character is Talia Shire, Rocky’s wife, Adrian Pennino. The film portrays Italian-American boxer Rocky Balboa’s journey to defeat Ivan Drago, a world-renowned Soviet boxer. Rocky aspires to win Drago in an attempt to avenge the death of Apollo Creed, Rocky’s close friend. After personal struggles and intense preparation, Rocky eventually defeats Drago and defends his country’s honor. The film Rocky IV (1985) projects the cold war ideology and glorifies the American dream and masculinity in the 1980s neoliberalist American society.
Neoliberalism and American Dream
The first and most distinct theme that Rocky IV illustrates is the glorification of neoliberal ideas and the American dream. Precisely, it reflects the two idealized characteristics of a person in the neoliberal and American dream framework: hardworking and individualistic. Firstly, the main character, Rocky, is a working-class Italian-American, who aims to achieve the impossible, that is, to defeat the undefeated Drago. This part illustrates one of the over-dramatized and unrealistic American dream tenets, whereby an individual aspires to and can achieve big goals regardless of ethnicity, race, and social class (Crosson 1935). Moreover, throughout the movie, Rocky is alone in his aspirations and preparations (Rocky IV 58:02:00-1:04:10). This part reflects neoliberalism, which focuses on the individual, and strongly disregards the influence of the community.
Cold War Ideology
Another central theme that Rocky IV reflects is the American vision of the East, the Soviet Union, and the overall west versus east clash during the Cold War era. Rocky IV was filmed in 1985, which was the Cold War era and only a decade after the end of the Vietnam war. Such a period can explain the fact that the movie significantly demonizes the east and glorifies the west. The fact that the main antagonist, Drago, is from the Soviet Union, and the protagonist is from the United States symbolizes the Cold War rivalry between the United States and USSR in the 1980s (Yuksel 400). Hence, the Cold War narrative is reflected in the movie.
Masculinity
The movie also reflects the nostalgia for masculinity and manhood persistent in the 1970s and 1980s American society. American men in this period perceived that the traditional conservative values of manhood, toughness, and authenticity were weakening in the face of modern and economically declining society (Motley 62). In general, sports movies in the 1980s followed this trend, whereby they reflected a “communal desire for past or ‘heroic masculine roles and masculine-centered social organization” (Kibby 17 qtd. in Albarrán-Torres et al. 320). Rocky IV was significant as it presented an American audience with the narrative whereby an American man regained power, masculinity, and success. Moreover, Machlev emphasizes that the scenes of Rocky training and his experience of physical pain in the final fight all illustrate the hard body (469). Such a heightened emphasis on the hard body in the 1980s can be explained by the fact Reagan administration glorified those who fought in the war to justify the Vietnam war (Machlev 471). Thus, masculinity and emphasis on the hard body is another theme in Rocky IV that derives from the socio-cultural context of 1980s America.
Conclusion
Rocky IV (1985) reflects the 1980s American society, which highly emphasized neoliberal ideas, glorified the west against the east in the Cold War, and aspired to reinstate masculinity. The protagonist’s success story of solely achieving a big dream correlates with the glorification of neoliberalism and the American dream in the 1980s. The audience can understand the rivalry between boxers from the US and USSR and the victory of the former in the Cold War framework. Lastly, themes of masculinity give insight into the nostalgia for manhood and toughness experienced by American society in the 1980s. Hence, like any other popular culture, Rocky IV is a product of the socio-economic and political context of the time when it was created.
Works Cited
Albarrán-Torres, César Alberto et al. “Creed: Legacy Franchising, Race and Masculinity in Contemporary Boxing Films.” Continuum, vol. 33, no. 3, 2019, pp. 310–323.
Crosson Sen. Sport and Film. Routledge, 2013.
Machlev, Moshe. “I’ll Be Back? The Deconstruction of the 1980s and the 1990s Hard Body Movies.” CINEJ Cinema Journal, vol. 9, no. 1, 2021, pp. 456–491.
Motley, Clay. “Fighting for Manhood: Rocky and Turn-of-the-Century Antimodernism.” Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies, vol. 35, no. 2, 2005, pp. 60–66.
Stallone, Sylvester. Rocky IV, 1985, Web.
Yuksel, Hasan. “Cold War Ideology: The Rocky IV Movie.” Journal of Labor and Society, vol. 21, no. 3, 2018, pp. 385-414.