Shany American Dream

Shany American Dream 

Shanylka Pagan 

Mr. Monahan 

Intro to Film Studies 

21 November 2018 

The 'American Dream' is the idea that every US citizen or people in general coming to America should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. Most of the time when I think of the 'American Dream' I connect it to immigrants who come to the US for a better way of living and have the opportunity they've always desired. Many people think the movies Rocky and Sugar are examples of the "American Dream' as both films showcase the main characters fighting to be successful through sports. 

The film Rocky is directed by John G. Avildsen and stars Sylvester Stallone as Rocky. Rocky is Italian and is the child of immigrants. In the beginning of the movie he starts of as a low-ranking boxer earning just $40 for one fight. In the film it shows that he lives in an apartment in a very bad condition and the neighborhood he lives in is evident he is in the lower working class. Boxing is his job and what he does for a living, he also works for a loan shark as a collector, which means he engages in what some people consider "mafia style work". He is seen as a "tough guy," however throughout the movie he is showcased as a compassionate guy. In one scene he walks a bad mouthed girl from his neighborhood home which shows he is caring. To be honest, I did't enjoy this film as much because it wasn't something that interested me and I'm not a big fan of action movies. 

Sugar is a film directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden. The main character Miguel Santos or "Sugar" is played by Algenis Perez-Soto. He is a man from the Dominican Republic that plays baseball and is a pitcher. His dream is to make it to the big leagues as he plays for the San Pedro de Macoris. I really enjoyed this movie because it showed how he was trying to make his dream come true but of course there were obstacles that got in his way. I also liked how they showed scenes in where he spoke Spanish because it hit close to home.

Each film really dives into the idea of the "American Dream" when each man in both movies get their big break. In Rocky, Apollo Creed, current heavyweight Champion of the World invited Rocky to fight him in a very important match. The original competitor who was supposed to fight Apollo Creed got injured in training. Since Rocky was an underdog boxer, Apollo thought it would make for an exciting show. At that time, Apollo was the best boxer of all time. In Sugar, Miguel, who is the main character, moves up to the United States minor leagues and got the chance of coming to America. His first training starts off with the Kansas City Knights and then proceeds to move on to their sub organization, the Swing. If we're comparing both movies to which one fits better with the American Dream in my opinion is Sugar because he was a man coming to America for success, through his hard work and determination, despite not making it to the actual major leagues. Rocky in a way would fit the term "American Dream" but he didn't work hard to be the best boxer, he was just trying to make boxing his career. This is a reason as to why Sugar and Rocky were both different. 

Both films are similar because they both have to adjust to their goals while going through other stuff. In Rocky, he worked really hard to try and beat Apollo but he came to the realization that that probably wasn't going to happen. Rocky then just decides to last all 15 rounds of the fight, still standing strong. In the movie Sugar, Miguel gets injured and comes to the conclusion that there is more to life than just playing baseball. When he goes back to playing, another player named Salvador from the Dominican Republic was better than Miguel. After changing his goal around, Rocky became more focused on dating and relationships while Sugar became more focused on his life in New York. Rocky had his eye on Adrian, a woman who was the sister of his friend Paulie and worked in a pet shop. After Rocky fights Apollo Creed, he confesses his love for Adrian. After feeling threatened by Salvador, Miguel moves to New York and gets a job. He meets new friends and even joined a baseball team composed of people who have played in the major leagues. Living in New York, Miguel was able to be successful and accomplishing his dream.

Rocky and Sugar are two films that showcase the idea of the American Dream. Rocky's goal was being a decent boxer and proving everyone that doubted him wrong. For Miguel, it was coming to America to pursue his baseball passion. Both men were successful without being millionaires and it was all because of their hard work and dedication.

Sugar and Rocky- Blog Post- Sara Garzon

Sara Garzon

Intro to Film B3

Blog Draft

Mr. Monahan

Oct. 3th, 2018

The American Dream varies from people's perspective especially on how they view life and the basic is having the opportunity to come from nothing and being able to get everything you need like for example a job, car, and family to enjoy these things. In a lot of countries you're stuck in the place you're born but in America, you can be a poor person from the bad areas of Chicago and become president. And this is why many people leave their country and move the US to find more opportunities. And the films Rocky (1976) and Sugar (2008) are pretty different when it's showing the struggles between an American working hard to meet his dreams compared to a Dominican coming to the states and how he needs to work to the top while knowing little to no English.

Sugar ❡: In the opening credits until the end of Sugar, the central character/ main character Miguel “Sugar” Santos played by Algenis Perez Soto is a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty. Playing professionally at a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic, Miguel finally gets his break at age 19 when he advances to the United States' minor league system. He got sent to Phoenix, Arizona, and Sugar got invited to have spring training by the fictional team Kansas City Knights. He is assigned to a team in Iowa, the Swing. He is housed by the Higgins family. And in the story, he tries really hard to fit in and work hard to get into the major leagues and later on realize that he shouldn't force himself to do well on everything and at the end, he knew his true passion is being a carpenter and the director and screenwriter show the early stages of the American dream. And it shows how he works hard to learn the language and get used to the customs.  

Rocky ❡: In Rocky (1976) Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a kind-hearted and uneducated club fighter from Philadelphia whose main source of income is collecting debts for the local crime boss, Gazzo (Joe Spinell). Despite being good at boxing, nobody believes that Rocky can make to the pros because he's uneducated and an underdog. He falls in love with his best friend's sister Adrian  (Talia Shire) and everything seems to be going okay. But things just get better because Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is a reigning champion and his opponent gets injured and Rocky is chosen to take his place because of his nickname, "the Italian Stallion." Rocky sees it as a chance to live his dream and go the distance with the heavyweight champion of the world. And he works really hard be the best he would ever be because he always wanted to make it to the top even if he's an underdog. And does everything he can to train for the big fight from punching frozen meat to running a lot.  And on Jan. 1st the night of the big fight, the first round, Rocky knocks Apollo down, the first time Apollo had ever been knocked down in his career, and Apollo breaks Rocky's nose, also for the first time in his career. Apollo soon realizes that, although Rocky does not have the same skill he has. The match becomes a long and grueling battle for both competitors. Up into the 14th round, Rocky is nearly knocked down but manages to get back up and they went up to the 15th round and sadly Apollo won but it didn't stop Rocky from saying that he loves Adrian. And it doesn't matter if you win or lose because love always wins at the end (even though it's a cliche)

In conclusion, there’s many definitions of an American dream and people will have to work hard to meet their meaning of a dream.