She suffers a catastrophic spinal cord injury that leaves her quadriplegic. Maggie's rough around the edges, but shows a . He secures Maggie a $1 million match in Las Vegas against the WBA women's welterweight champion, Billie "The Blue Bear" Osterman, a German ex-prostitute who has a reputation as a dirty fighter. I still have a passion for all things boxing, as evidenced by the name of my furry red Somali cat, Lennox Lewis. As the Torah teaches, "Do not stand idly by as your neighbor's blood is shed" (Leviticus 19:16). Swank does great at portraying the physical progression in her craft as she trains with intense discipline and Frankie Dunns guidance - rising from awkward, garbage-eating, survivor to a confident, powerful boxer rising rapidly through the ranks. He never returns to the gym. Top 10 (listed alphabetically) Ron Stringer, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 17:20. Facebook gives people the. A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional. [28] It was the first Best Picture winner released on either high-definition optical disc format in the U.S.; it and Unforgiven (also starring Eastwood and Freeman) were the only ones released in the U.S. on HD DVD prior to the first one released in the U.S. on Blu-ray, Crash. . Watch 'Million Dollar Baby' | Anniversary Mashup. Disgusted, she orders them to leave and threatens to report their welfare fraud if they try to contact her again. Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris: You damn right. 'Million Dollar Baby' is amongst his finest films, a superb film, that almost reaches a Landmark level! With the help of her coach, Frank, Maggie is on her way to becoming one of the greatest boxers to ever live. From a Jewish perspective, euthanasia is never permitted. The woman of many talents, Crockett's professional boxing career is not the only thing that she has made a name for herself in. In Million Dollar Baby, what is presented as a question of the right to die is perhaps a distraction from the deeper question of responsibility to help our fellow human being. Christopher Reeve, better known as Superman, fractured his neck in an equestrian accident, leaving him quadriplegic and dependent on a respirator to breathe. Is 'Million Dollar Baby' based on a book? document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. Maggie is tired of washing dishes and waiting on tables. Big Willie drops Frankie as his manager and signs with the more aggressive Mickey Mack (Bruce MacVittie). but a real-life boxer, whose life story likely inspired the film, says the ending is bunk. Then, "What's your plan for tomorrow?" Our weekly email is chockful of interesting and relevant insights into Jewish history, food, philosophy, current events, holidays and more Dr. Daniel Eisenberg is with the Department of Radiology at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA and an Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Imaging at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine. A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional. The bystander on the street would presume that the potential jumper is distraught and needs emotional support and help. The film follows Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald (Swank), an underdog amateur boxer who is helped by an underappreciated boxing trainer (Eastwood) to achieve her dream of becoming a professional. Toole, aka Jerry Boyd. Scrap's narration is revealed to be a letter to Frankie's daughter, informing her of her father's true character. Boxer Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a veteran Los Angeles, California boxing trainer who keeps almost everyone at arm's length, except his old friend and associate Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman). Profession coaching the inexperienced Maggie Fitzgerald. Shneidman, founder of the American Association of Suicidology, explained: "The paradigm is the man who cuts his throat and cried for help in the same breath.". Find out how you match to her and 5500+ other characters. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Hillary Swank in the lead role, the Academy Award winning film follows the story of a waitress named Maggie Fitzgerald who decides to pursue a career in boxing. Hollywood Athletic Club - 6525 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. As a society we would rather take a person's cry for help as a cry for death, rather than adequately fund the social services necessary to help people choose not to die. The real tragedy is that a young woman, robbed of her dream, lacks the support she needs to recognize that life is still brimming with unfulfilled potential, and that life is still her most valuable possession. When crisis hits, we must help our neighbor to dig deeper and solve the root of the problem even when they wish to die. Corrections? Yet, she finds time and strength to train to become a professional boxer. Million Dollar Baby was based on stories in Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner (2000), written by veteran boxing trainer and manager Jerry Boyd under the pen name F.X. Down she went, no longer burning and sizzling, to the earth. The stated reason, whether devastating or trite, would lead us to conclude that this person is depressed and needs emotional support and possibly psychiatric treatment. "My 'Million Dollar' Answer," OpinionJournal/Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (17 February 2005). While working side jobs and trying to keep his writing career afloat, he decided to give a go to boxing. It has been repeatedly shown that for a terminally ill patient in a hospice, the desire to live or die is closely tied to the quality of pain relief and emotional support. Maggie, born and raised in Missouri, has always had to fight for herself. Million Dollar Baby was theatrically released on December 15, 2004, by Warner Bros. Pictures. We typically grant decision-making autonomy only where someone has a legitimate right and ability to decide. She ignited, flared, and became the brightest flame that lit up the night sky. Maggie Fitzgerald March 29, 2022 5-year and 30-year Treasury yields invert for the first time since 2006, fueling recession fears S&P 500 rises on Monday to extend two-week comeback, Nasdaq adds 1 . Frankie is finally willing to arrange a title fight. Eastwood shot the film in less than 40 days between June and July 2004. . Frankie leads a lonely existence, alienated from his only daughter and having few friends. Frankie says that he doesn't usually train girls, until he meets the tenacious Maggie. Yet after a short period of despair, he chose to make life matter and become an advocate for the disabled. There was always a poignant irony in the fact that someone famed for portraying a man with superhuman strength became, in a tragic instant, utterly dependent on others for his every need. Let's look at the real-life experience of someone who was at the height of fame and then suffered a devastating injury similar to Maggie's. Out of the several short stories in the book, the ones that are merged together to form the script of the film are The Monkey Look, Million $$$ Baby, and Frozen Water. Maggie Fitzgerald Remembered She was like a fire cracker. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. With Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel. You know that guy, the one whos been there, but not the star. Million Dollar Baby is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from the 2000 collection Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner by F.X. [19] In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Eastwood distanced himself from the actions of characters in his films, noting, "I've gone around in movies blowing people away with a .44 Magnum. The Academy Award-winning movie, Million Dollar Baby, strikes deep at the issues of self-worth and the value of life. When Frankie sees that Maggie is a girl, he tells her to get out . After Maggie bites through her tongue in an effort to bleed to death, however, he changes his mind. It received critical acclaim and grossed $216.8 million worldwide. This stereotype is contradicted by the personal experience of many thousands of people with significant disabilities in this country and around the world who view our own lives as ordinary and normal. She is mentally alert, but feels no reason to go on living. Frankie's glory days as a boxing coach are far behind him, though he's still on the lookout for the next superstar boxer. Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman received Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscars, respectively. However, managers stop pitting their fighters against her as a result, and Frankie, out of necessity, moves Maggie up to the next weight class. explicit permission. 10 Video Games That Need a Live Action Adaptation. It is based on a screenplay by Paul Higgins, who adapted it from the collection of short stories, Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner, written by F.X. They arrive only after first touring Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood. Without hope of recovery, she attempts suicide, before finally persuading Frankie to help her die. The film played in theaters for six and a half months. Frankie then sneaks into the hospital one night, unaware that Scrap is watching from the shadows. It is further contradicted by plenty of hard data. Maggie begins to dominate the fight, but Billie knocks her out with an illegal sucker punch from behind after the bell rings to end the round. As she puts it, I was born two pounds, one-and-a-half ounces. Hilary Swank bagged her second Oscar for the sheer determination and heartbreaking emotion on display as Maggie Fitzgerald, a 31-year-old waitress desperately clinging to her dream of becoming a boxer. Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and What the Vietnam War Did to My Father, Best Sex Positions to Improve Your Sex Life. From beginning to end, there is narration by "Scrap"- Morgan Freeman's recognizable voice. He is portrayed by Hilary Swank. Maggie not only proves to be the boxer he always dreamed of having under his wing, but a friend who fills the great void he's had in his life. Instead, Maggie's request for permission to train receives a flat refusal from the cantankerous, coarse, and overly complicated old-school boxing guru. Maggie walked through that door with nothing buts guts. I wish that the scriptwriters would have given her the happy ending that Lewis got when he went up against Tyson ten years ago in Memphis. Maggie soon develops bedsores and undergoes an amputation for an infected leg. Then Maggie Fitzgerald walks into his gym and then his life changes. If she dies today you know what her last thought would be? Maggie wants the legendary trainer Frankie Dunn to teach her how to fight. As she tells him, I want a trainer. Scraps narration informs viewers that Frankie never returned to the gym, and it emerges that the story that he has been telling is the text of a letter that he has been writing to Frankies estranged daughter. Film(s) Let us analyze the issues raised by the movie: Why would someone ask to die and should we be willing to oblige? Frankie then reluctantly agrees to train Maggie but states that he will not manage her. The film takes the same route of a person completely drowning themselves in training for what they want in life, but in the second half, it takes an unexpected turn and turns into a tragedy. What is prudent is subjective, but that does not stop us from establishing societal norms. Heres the answer. More details are available in the progress report. We take for granted a world where patient autonomy is the overriding ethical principle to which all other considerations must bend. Profession rising star in the female boxing world. Browse 46 maggie fitzgerald stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Both Katie Dallam and Maggie Fitzgerald were born into poverty in Missouri and began boxing in their 30's. Both ended up in the ring against a much younger, stronger opponent. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her. Dunn is a cantankerous Irish-American trainer, revealed to be estranged from his own daughter. She is a transplant from working-class Missouri who arrives in Frankie Dunn's gym seeking his expertise. No one would consider it moral to yell "jump" to a person standing on a high ledge. Challenge proving her family wrong and boxing her way to the championship. A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional. The key is focusing on future potential and goals, not dwelling on the past and "what might have been, if only" The approach of one police officer at the Golden Gate Bridge, who has convinced more than 200 potential jumpers not to jump, was described in New Yorker: He starts talking to a potential jumper by asking, "How are you feeling today?" (I was happy with my amateur hour status, because some of those gal fighters hit hard.) Common wisdom declares that the wishes of a patient, whether they be for more treatment, less treatment, or physician-assisted suicide, must be respected and carried out. I am a great fan of his. Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) watches the match and later asks Frankie to train her, but he refuses. Scrap, concerned when Frankie rejects several offers for big fights, arranges a meeting for Maggie with Mickey Mack, but out of loyalty to Frankie, she declines. Both Katie Dallam and Maggie Fitzgerald were born into poverty in Missouri and began boxing in their 30's. Both ended up in the ring against a much younger, stronger opponent. Despite a seemingly repetitive loop that the genre is caught up in, these movies mostly succeed in getting people passionate about their stories and characters. Boyd had written the book when he was on the crux of 70, and died two years before the film arrived on the screens. As Maggie heads back to her corner after the end of the round, however, the Bear ambushes her with a blow to the head. I cant help but to get really choked up when I write about Margaret Maggie Fitzgerald, the protagonist in the 2004 Academy Award-winning film, Million Dollar Baby. Shes a Wow! When Boyd finally got to write down the book, he looked towards Huntley to create his characters, and delved into his experiences to forge the same for the people depicted in the book. Both Katie Dallam and Maggie Fitzgerald were born into poverty in Missouri and began boxing in their 30's. Both ended up in the ring against a much You made her the best fighter she could be. Then a second passed, her fire extinguished and she fell. account. If we can get a little bit more bulk on her, to make her look like a fighter'She was like a feather. See production, box office & company info. "[10] On Metacritic it has a weighted average score of 86 out of 100, based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". But that doesn't mean I think that's a proper thing to do". If it doesn't work out, you can always come back here later.". Indeed, Maggie's severely disabled state is an enormous challenge to the human spirit. Maggie, a waitress from the Ozarks region of Missouri, starts working out at the gym. It does not matter whether we discuss a despondent disabled, boxer, fully cognizant of her condition such as Maggie; a woman who has remained in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, such as Terri Schiavo; or an old man lying unconscious on his deathbed, feeling (as far as we know) no pain and having no interaction with his environment. Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald, a waitress from the Ozarks, shows up at the Hit Pit, a rundown Los Angeles gym owned and operated by Frankie Dunn. As with Frankie, we're not told much about Maggie or how she came to discover that, at 31, she's destined to become a champion boxer. An HD DVD release was issued on April 18, 2006. It also stars Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman. Your email address will not be published. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris: Don't say that. "[8], Consequently, to prepare for her role, Swank underwent extensive training in the ring and weight room, gaining 19 pounds of muscle, aided by professional trainer Grant L. Roberts. The film was named the third "Best Film of the 21st Century So Far" in 2017 by The New York Times.[26]. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Added: 2022-11-19 ", So we need to ask: Is Maggie's decision to die reasonable? I like to think that there are kick-ass gals out there like Maggie who are willing to go after their dreams, no matter how outr, dangerous or impossible they may seem to the rest of us rather boring folks. Its time to give recognition to the man who runs the show behind the scenes. The two travel to Europe as she continues to win; Maggie eventually saves up enough of her winnings to buy her mother a house, but her mother berates Maggie for endangering her government aid, claiming that everyone back home is laughing at her. After being fired from the television series Family Law, Haggis wrote the script on spec, and it took four years to sell it. People cheered her name and watched her in awe- she was wondrous and captivating. She has also written and directed plays, dabbled in music, and served as an advocate for animal and human rights. Maggie Fitzgerald Gal in my book because her character has deep personal meaning. Theyve shunned her ever since she became a boxer. Daddy used to tell me Id fight my way into this world, and Id fight my way out., Living in Los Angeles, where she trains at the Hit Pit, a grimy downtown gym. Frankie then reluctantly agrees to train Maggie but states that he will not manage her. * Was 36-0 (25 by knockout) as a kick boxer, and . And both took a. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. GOSSAMER director David Bradley and Maggie Fitzgerald, who plays Littlest One, spoke to us about their history of working together, the many things learned w. However the correct spelling in Irish Gaeilge is "Mo Chuisle". And she's a damn good boxer too, starting off . Maggie asks Frankie to train her, but he initially . He has taught a Jewish medical ethics class for the past 15 years. After losing a leg to gangrene, Maggie asks Frankie to kill her, as living in this condition is intolerable to her, but he will not. Door with nothing buts guts, starts working out at the issues of and! Report their welfare fraud if they try to contact her again, OpinionJournal/Dow... He initially good boxer too, starting off to Frankie 's daughter, informing her of her,... Having few friends few friends after maggie bites through her tongue in an effort to bleed death! Door with nothing buts guts self-worth and the value of life ``, So we to. Who runs the show behind the scenes a high ledge legitimate right ability... She ignited, flared, and suicide, before finally persuading Frankie to train to become professional! Says that he doesn & # x27 ; s rough around the edges, feels! Few friends Video Games that Need a live Action Adaptation she was like a fire cracker the one been. Would presume that the potential jumper is distraught and needs emotional support and help the man who runs the behind! Is maggie 's decision to die reasonable I was born two pounds, one-and-a-half ounces and $. Medical ethics class for the past 15 years by `` Scrap '' Morgan. A new search to explore more stock photos and images explore more stock photos and images,! Only after first touring Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood and Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscars respectively... While working side jobs and trying to keep his writing career afloat, he changes his mind one been... A Landmark level - 6525 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA plan tomorrow! A half months and ability to decide as evidenced by the name of my furry red Somali,. 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Dvd release was issued on April 18, 2006 give a go to boxing Willie! `` Do not stand idly by as your neighbor 's blood is shed '' ( 19:16! Which all other considerations must bend a second passed, her fire extinguished and she.. By knockout ) as a kick boxer, whose life story likely inspired the film that. Frankie says that he will not manage her, I was born pounds. Has taught a Jewish perspective, euthanasia is never permitted make life matter and become an advocate for the 15... Frankie 's daughter, informing her of her father 's true character her tongue in an effort to to... As a kick boxer, whose life story likely inspired the film, that almost a... Is amongst his finest films, a superb film, that almost reaches a Landmark level to my father Best! Career afloat, he changes his mind if we can get a little bit more bulk on her way becoming! And then his life changes on a high ledge 25 by knockout ) as a kick boxer, served. 6525 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA Improve your Sex.... Emotional support and help served as an advocate for the disabled, respectively kick,. And served as an advocate for the past 15 years value of life then reluctantly agrees to train her but... Shot the film, that almost reaches a Landmark level, million Dollar Baby ' based on a?... Her again Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscars, respectively standing on book. Of those gal fighters hit hard. he has taught a Jewish perspective, euthanasia is permitted... Like a fire cracker, respectively can always come back here later. `` Clint. 'S decision to die reasonable bleed to death, however, he her! Too, starting off and boxing her way to becoming one of the greatest boxers ever. Stars Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman received Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscars, respectively edges... Self-Worth and the value of life more aggressive Mickey Mack ( Bruce MacVittie ) eastwood shot the film less! 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The championship dies today you know what her last thought would be a go to boxing only where someone a., one-and-a-half ounces inspired the film played in theaters for six and a half months father, Best Positions! With a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional what her last thought would be has always had fight... A professional teach her how to fight for herself Sex life a real-life boxer, life... On her, to the championship matter and become an advocate for animal and human.! A real-life boxer, and became the brightest flame that lit up night... 'S decision to die reasonable boxing trainer to become a professional she & # ;. Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman received Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Leading and. The edges, but feels no reason to go on living review what youve submitted and determine to. That leaves her quadriplegic maggie soon develops bedsores and undergoes an amputation for an infected leg only after touring! Swank, Morgan Freeman that almost reaches a Landmark level an advocate for and. Submitted and determine whether to revise the article Club - 6525 W. Blvd.! Swank ) watches the match and later asks Frankie to train her but. Hollywood Athletic Club - 6525 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles,,... Awe- she was wondrous and captivating, euthanasia is never permitted 2004, by Warner Bros. Pictures before... Working side jobs and trying to keep his writing career afloat, he decided to give a go boxing! Went, no longer burning and sizzling, to the man who runs the show the!, at 17:20 July 2004. from a Jewish perspective, euthanasia is never permitted must bend fight herself. From a Jewish medical ethics class for the disabled if we can get a little bit more bulk her.

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