There were many cheering Rocky fans last night as the creator mind and star of the boxing series won the recognition they felt was long overdue.
Sylvester Stallone was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay at the 1976 Academy Awards for the first Rocky but was defeated for both. But now, after his Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor for the series Spinoff Creed, Stallone is unarguably a shoe-in to finally win that golden statue.
But it wasn't so much his performance in Creed that won him the Golden Globe last night as the character he portrayed. Rocky Balboa has been with us for 40 years-40 years! We've seen him fall in love, get married, have a son, lose his wife to cancer, and now we've seen him battling cancer himself. Seeing the character of Rocky Balboa go through chemotherapy was like seeing a favorite uncle go through chemotherapy, because he's been in our national psyche for so long that it feels like he is a member of our American family. To many Americans and die hard Rocky fans, Rocky Balboa is the embodiment of the American Dream-an underdog boxer who faces off against the heavyweight champion of the world and in the end achieves fame and glory.
His win last night was also the culmination of a great reversal of fortune for the Rocky franchise from the lows of Rocky V, which tanked at the Box Office back in 1990 and was seen as a dismal end for a franchise beloved by so many fans. Stallone said later he did V because of greed and was his prime motivation for writing and directing Rocky Balboa, which not only did better commercially and critically than the previous installment, but also had one of the most inspirational motivational speeches in movie history.
Oscar nominations are this Thursday morning. When Stallone's name is read for Best Supporting Actor, you can bet they will be many fans cheering his name, ready to stand in his corner one more time.
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