It has been nine years since “Creed” (2015) made its way into theaters, but the movie packs an emotional gut-punch in its messaging against the toxic tenets of Black masculinity such as the validation of violence, the demand of stoicism and the lack of need for role models.
In an era of Hollywood filmmaking, centered on legacy sequels from “Top Gun: Maverick” (2022) and “Blade Runner 2049” (2017) to the soon-to-be-released “Gladiator 2” (2024), it is clear that the industry is running out of original ideas. Hollywood is reverting back to old hits for easy profits.
On its surface, “Creed” could have been seen as a cash grab, but director Ryan Coogler had a vision for the “Rocky” (1976-2006) franchise beyond the bravado persona of boxing: he used the franchise as a contemporary medium to destigmatize stereotypes surrounding Black masculinity.
In the movie, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) fights not only in the boxing ring but also through the toxic traits of Black masculinity. The movie illustrates that even the baddest man can express emotions other than anger.
Adonis is the son of Apollo Creed, a boxer who was foe-turned-friend to Balboa throughout the franchise. Adonis never knew his father, who died in a fight before he was born. With a desire to become a boxer much like his father, he ventures off to create his own boxing legacy, seeking the mentorship of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone).
The film subverts the audience’s expectations, making them believe it is initially encouraging these toxic tenets, but ultimately showcasing throughout the film the harmful effects it has on the main protagonist.
“Creed” (2015) is the seventh installment of the famed “Rocky” franchise. The franchise chronicled Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa’s rise from poverty to World Heavyweight Champion.
Creeds Fights Back Against The Validation of Violence
The validation of violence is a prevalent theme of Black masculinity, seen perpetuated in the visual representation of Black men in movies and shows. In Herman Gray’s “Black Masculinity and Visual Culture,” Gray describes the typical depiction of the heterosexual Black man in film and television as the original gangster, specifically referred to as the “OG.”
The “OG” term is used to describe the “menacing Black male criminal body” often referenced in rap lyrics. Black men who are called “OG” are commonly associated with crime, violence, gangs and drugs. The harmful “OG” stereotypes can often be seen as a caricature of Black culture with Black male actors portraying drug dealers, gangsters, murderers and prisoners like in “The Wire” (2002-2008) and “Training Day” (2001).
It initially seems as if Adonis Creed falls into this trap since the movie depicts him as a hardened criminal. The film begins with a fight breaking out in a juvenile center in 1989 Los Angeles, Calif. Police officers detain a young Adonis for his involvement. When his adopted Black mother, Mary Anne, comes to the center, she is told that “He just fights all the time.” Phylicia Rashad’s disappointment on her face signals to the audience that Adonis may fall prey to the harmful cycle of violence that many Black boys believe they need to follow.
Coogler depicts the validation that Black adolescents often feel when they are violent, such as in the scene where the other Black youth inmates are cheering Adonis on. The praise empowers him to keep acting this way, hence the comment: “He just fights all the time.” Adonis yelling at the police officers to let him go demonstrates to the audience the enjoyment and thrill that he feels.
In a study regarding violence-related discrepancies between races, researchers found that Black adolescents are 2.6 times more likely to be at a higher risk for the most harmful forms of violence compared to their Black adult counterparts. Black adults also experience more adverse childhoods than white adults.
While Coogler draws from real experiences in that Black youth are stuck in a violent livelihood, this scene also validates the trope that Black youth are violent and will stay violent. However, he ultimately avoids enforcing the theme of validation through violence through the depiction of Adonis’ purpose for boxing later in life.
In the “Final Round” scene, Adonis gets nearly knocked out in the climactic championship fight. Balboa tells him that he is going to throw in the towel to stop the fight. Before Balboa does so, Adonis pleads with him to keep the fight going. He wants to prove that he’s not a mistake of his father. Adonis is a product of Apollo Creed’s infidelity, which Adonis struggled with accepting all of his life, so as not to tarnish his father’s public image.
Jordan’s tearful performance through the prosthetic of a swollen eye portrays the burden his character feels throughout the movie. Coogler uses this vulnerable moment in which boxing, the only thing Adonis does well, is about to be taken away from him. In this moment Adonis expresses how he truly feels. Adonis wants to prove to himself and the world that he is worthy to be the son of Apollo and can live up to his father’s legacy.
Composer Ludwig Göransson’s score amplifies the authenticity of Jordan’s performance. The transition of a slow melodic beat to the rapidness of drum percussion of the iconic Rocky theme as Adonis gets off the stool for one more round signals his desire to create his own legacy without outdoing his father’s.
Coogler takes the stereotypical trope of Black adolescents falling into violence for praise and a sense of power to efficiently subvert expectations to express the emotional trauma of Adonis’ childhood. The aversive childhood that Adonis had growing up in foster homes, as well as his father’s death, forged his passion for fighting. He uses fighting as an outlet to express himself, honor his father and not become an “original gangster.”
To Be Weak Is To Be Strong
There is a level of barbarity associated with boxing due to the intention of hurting your opponents severely enough to knock them unconscious for adulation. The film does not shy away from this commentary, with several characters mentioning that Apollo was killed in a boxing match to sway Adonis from competing. Apollo was killed in a boxing match in “Rocky IV” (1985) as his opponent was on performance-enhancing drugs.
The barbarity of the sport commands boxers to be aggressive, stoic and fearless.
In her powerful essay, “The Oppositional Gaze,” author bell hooks explains that the “Black man gaze” represents rebelliousness and danger as it gives a threatening presence such as during enslavement. White masters often felt threatened when their Black male slaves looked at them for too long.
The rebellious and threatening gaze carries on in the first two acts of the film, with close-up shots of Adonis’ intense stare as he marches to the ring and wide shots of his muscular body as he hits the pads in his training session. The constant vulgar dialogue of his trash talk illustrates the savagery that the sport and Black masculinity commands.
While Coogler and Jordan initially empower the hateful intensity of Black masculinity, they later supplant expectations to show the prolonged effects of how Adonis’s lack of expression is rooted from an ability to openly do so and ultimately causes him to lash out on others.
The longer Adonis held his macho bravado, the more pain he caused to himself. Adonis understands the importance of expressing vulnerability with the help of a positive role model, Balboa.
Black Men Need Role Models
At the beginning of the third act, Adonis is locked up in a jail cell after fighting at a concert, as he didn’t take kindly to someone calling him “Baby Creed.” Balboa enters the jail cell to tell Adonis that the grief and anger he feels over his father’s death is not healthy to keep within. Balboa tells Adonis that he is “caught in the shadows” and needs to forgive his father for being absent in his life. During this dialogue, the camera captures a close-up shot of Adonis trying to keep his intense gaze as tears stream down his face.
Balboa says all the things that he wanted to say all along, but couldn’t due to the stoicism that is associated with the sport. In “Creed: Learning About The Life of Men in America,” contributor and professor Paul Stoller explains that boxers and Black men are traditionally conditioned to not openly express their emotions or admit their fears.
Coogler integrates the common systems of oppression and repression into Adonis’ identities as a Black man and boxer to showcase the toll it takes on him. The close-up shot reveals how the fearlessness demanded by Adonis’ identities causes him to react emotionally and violently.
This scene demonstrates that it’s socially acceptable for Black men to openly express emotions with the breakdown of a Black man in a hypermasculine sport. The tears streaming down his face do not signal weakness of him as a man, but rather his humility to show his true self with the person that he feels closest to.
Stallone’s somber portrayal of an aging Rocky Balboa who has lost his wife and friends aids Adonis in letting go of the stolidity that the sport and his identity commands. Stallone’s use of facial expression and quiet tone in his delivery of dialogue demonstrates to Adonis the consequences of living with hate in your heart. He doesn’t want Adonis to end up like him—old and alone. It is this portrayal of Balboa that landed him his first Golden Globe win in 2016.
“Creed” knocks out the toxic tenets of Black masculinity by making viewers believe it approves the stereotypical notions of what it means to be a Black man, but ultimately demonstrates how harmful seeking approval through violence, stoicism and lack of need for role models is.
Coogler and Jordan give representation to the other Black men watching the film that expressing vulnerability does not make you weak but strong like a boxer.
