I agree with this statement, that anyone, who watched Cinderella Man, can learn even the slightest bit of information about the Great Depression. The Great Depression was a time of despair and a time of hardship. It was a bleak time for most Americans, and Cinderella Man follows the story of James J. Braddock, a boxer in the 1930s. It shows his family, three kids and a wife, and shows how successful he is at what he loves most, boxing. Like most people did during the Great Depression, James lost everything. He lost his home, his boxing career, his children (at one point) and for a man who couldn't support his family, he lost self pride.
Almost all of the events in the movie are true in real life. James went to the New Jersey Relief place to borrow money, and this happened in real life. He did not ever want to get to that point and it took a little bit of courage to walk in there and ask for money. When James lost his boxing career, he had to go to the docks to hopefully get picked for that days work, and this deemed true in real life. Other examples of things that actually happened in real life, Joe Gould (Braddock's boxing manager) gave everything he had so that Braddock could fight again, James really did fight with a broken hand, He was actually dubbed 'Cinderella Man' in the newspapers. Because the director decided to stay so close to the truth behind James Braddock's life, it helps the viewer to realize that this is not a fairy-tale. These events did happen in real life and all of these things occurred because of the Great Depression. From watching the Braddock family suffer, you begin to realize how hard times were in the thirties. It is much more powerful to hear someone tell a reporter that the reason he is fighting is "for milk", than to read it off of paper. To see someone tell his wife that he is "all prayed out" and the look on his face when he realized that his wife sent his children away after he had promised the oldest child that he would "never send them away". These words give the viewers perspective and empathy.
The movie becomes a whole different movie when you can relate, when you have empathy towards the characters. It is gives the viewer a much more realistic view of how some people's lives were in the Great Depression much less James Braddock's life. The viewer gets a feel for the Great Depression. It is one thing to read it, another thing to see it, but a totally different thing to see and hear it. The music plays a role in convincing the viewer to be sad or to be happy or to be anxious, but I believe that if you took away that music, Braddock's words and Braddock's adversities would still have the same affect on people. People would still be able to relate. You don't have to be alive in the thirties to relate to this movie, almost everyone has gone through economic struggles. I believe that the producer was not just trying to make a movie to get money. The producer was telling a powerful story and he did not do much to alter the true events. He recreated costumes and sounds and interviews and scenery to make the story compelling, to make the story like it was. The producer went to great lengths to tell the story like he heard it. He re-made Madison Square Garden and created period accurate stop lights and store fronts. The producer also honed in on the appearance of people in the movie.
He nailed the appearance of the wife, Mae Braddock. In the beginning of the movie she was wearing bright colors, her hair was all done up, she had a bob (very popular hair cut in the thirties), she had makeup on. Mae Braddock was a classic icon of what women were dressing like in the thirties and once the Great Depression hit her appearance totally changed. Her hair became disheveled, and she lost the color in her clothes, wearing baggy and dull colored things, she no longer wore makeup and she did not have any nice things any more. Mae Braddock suddenly changed from a nicely dressed upper/middle class woman to a poorly dressed woman, shockingly in the lowest class. She lost everything, and the producer did an amazing job of showing it. He showed the audience what life was like in the Great Depression, not eating meals to feed your kids, putting water in the milk so it will last longer, taking on extra tasks for that extra money. He showed how the Braddock's had to survive, emotionally, mentally and economically in the Great Depression. The unemployment rates rose to an alarming 15 million, and James sees this number on a newspaper in the street. The viewer can't help but feel an immense wave of grief and sorrow for this family, and you start to think about other families, and what their situation must be like in the Great Depression.
I think the producer and director of this movie, Cinderella Man, did a fantastic job of illustrating life in the Great Depression. They showed how the poor got poorer and people barely hanging on for survival. People, like the Braddock's, that sent their children away because they couldn't even take care of themselves. People no longer fighting for the last piece of cake, people fighting for their life. The title of the movie, Cinderella Man, is a perfect name for the movie and the perfect name that James received. It is about someone taking the most adverse situations, and coming out of it. James would not have gotten that winning fight without his persistent attitude and diligentness to win. And to win so he could give his kids milk. Cinderella Man is a wonderful representation of the Great Depression, I have not only learned about what life was like, but I have empathy for the people that went through that and survived it. It is a true feat to have overcome the Great Depression. Becoming someone great, not being great, is what I strive for in my life thanks to James J. Braddock.
Sites:
The Cinderella Man
Historical Inaccuracies in a film
U.S. History in a Film
