To recommend this insightful Marxist analysis of the film by critic David Walsh: Here are some excerpts from Walsh's review: "First and foremost, the element of a protest against existing reality, including the reality of the boxing world, is entirely absent from EastwoodG^+^+s film. To second the recommendation of the wonderful film Girlfight, which several people have already made and 2. So I don't have much to add to this very interesting discussion, other than: 1. Subject: Re: Million Dollar Baby - a feminist message? I haven't seen MDB yet - I'm waiting for the DVD. :) Regards Krista Scott-Dixon York University Toronto, ON = So I guess we know who the audience was supposed to be. By the way, my 61 year old ex-judoka father loved the film. Eventually she has to be taken down like a rampaging elephant. Another less well known film about women's kick boxing (whose name escapes me at the moment) has the female protagonist go crazy from one too many shots to the head, and run amok leaving a swath of destruction in her wake. That being said, I'd like to see more Girlfights and Bend it Like Beckhams and fewer operatic tragedies.
Women crave portrayals of themselves that show them at least doing *something*. Such a response reminds us that we cannot look only at the narrative of a film - we also have to consider how the viewer responds and what she retains about the messages. Many also liked the fearsome power of the "evil" character played by Lucia Rijker (who has, in fact, been called "the most dangerous woman in the world" by boxing pundits). So, despite the obvious problems with the films, what they held on to about it was the portrayal of Maggie. They rarely see "themselves" shown in mainstream media. They like being strong, looking strong, and feeling strong. These young women, like Katie, find boxing inspiring and empowering. They loved the underdog narrative, not just of Maggie but of Freeman's character who sets the narrative karma wheel right by taking on the bullies. They loved the way she looked, and the way the film captured the grubbiness of boxing with snot, spit, and sweat. But what they loved, and what they took home from the film, was the very rare mainstream portrayal of an athletic woman making her way in the world with determination and spirit. For the first > time in her life, she felt like she could protect > herself. She liked the feeling of strength that boxing > gave her. She later > practiced boxing at a local > gym. Irene Weiser wrote: > Looking to strengthen herself and gain the release > that she had achieved by > running, Katie took up kick boxing. Subject: MDB and women's boxing I would like to add another perspective to this by taking up the point that Irene makes below. (For you folks born after 1950, a five-and-ten-cent store was a variety store that carried all kinds of cheap merchandise, kind of like a precursor of Family Dollar.) That title works, too, to capture the idea that Frankie found his treasure in a poor kid in his grimy boxing studio.Million Dollar Baby: A Feminist Message? PAGE 2 OF 3 = There's an old popular song written by Henry Warren in 1931 called "Million Dollar Baby" with the lyric: I found a million dollar baby / In a five and ten-cent store. Even though she's a grown woman, she'll always be his baby. Over the course of the movie, he basically adopts her. It might also refer to Frankie and Maggie's relationship. Just ask the poet laureate of Canada, Justin Bieber. That's a pretty common term of endearment. If somebody's worth a million bucks to you, then they're pretty precious. That's one way to look at it-she's literally worth a million dollars-but we like to think of it less in terms of actual monetary value and more in terms of intrinsic value. The kind of bank you'd make if you were a super-successful fighter like one Miss Maggie Fitzgerald. So what does it mean? Let's break it down: First, the million dollars. A Million Frozen Water Babies just doesn't have the same ring to it.
Toole: "Million $$$ Baby" and "Frozen Water." We're glad Haggis stuck with just one title. Paul Haggis's screenplay for Million Dollar Baby is based on not one but two short stories by F.X.