SPOILERS AHEAD, but you could also go watch the movie on NETFLIX and read this after…just saying.
Million Dollar Baby, a film written and directed by men ,did not provide the main character Maggie, a supportive female character in her life. No friends, no family, it’s obvious why she is a natural born fighter with a big heart. Making a film that concentrates on a women working hard and having a dream destroyed with one punch only exemplifies how life can change in the blink of an eye.
Based on the book Million Dollar Baby: Stories from the Corner by proclaimed ex fight trainer Jerry Boyd who used the pen name F.X Toole. Boyd told a series of short stories in perspectives of all the people involved in a boxing ring from the trainer, manager,the cutman or boxer male and females boxers. Each coming from different backgrounds pertaining to race, identity, social status, criminal history, it didn't matter all have lost and won in their life. It makes me think of how a story written about on woman in a male dominated profession centers on a trainer, who happens to be a man…
I just want to make it clear I do not think the film Million Dollar Baby is a bad movie… it's just not a movie made for women. The star studded cast has Hilary Swank as Maggie a determined waitress working towards to becoming a professional boxer, Clint Eastwood as Frankie Dunn a successful boxing trainer who happens to own a boxing gym and Morgan Freeman as Eddie/Scrap, his trusted friend/employee. The film was beloved by critics and sweeped the 2005 Oscar season winning, best actress, best director, best actor in a supporting role and best picture, a favorite to most but not to me. We are in a different time now and as sad as it is to say most of the films we love are in some way or form, problematic.
A sports film with a female lead is directed and written by men, makes Hilary Swank more deserving of her oscar. Because based on my understanding of the film, Maggie’s character could have been easily a man. I don’t know much about Maggie except her love for boxing, she is loyal to a family that she holds no healthy relationship with ,has no friends or even a pet. Not saying someone can’t be fully functional without all these things but… Why can Frankie have a priest to question and vent his personal feelings with and Eddie to express his concerns and love for training boxers. Frankie refuses to to train Maggie for the sole reason that she is a woman, which makes sexism the first hurdle Maggie must face. Frankie even tries to kick Maggie out the gym but she actually paid (with all the tip money she makes) months in advance compared to some of her male counterparts. Besides being rejected to be trained, Maggie is also desxualized by her peers as one gym member comments on how small her breast are, though they acknowledge she is a women no one is interested in her sexually, because she is not traditionally ‘attractive’ due to her athletic features. Scrap witnesses her mistreatment in the gym, gives her a quick lesson on how to throw a punch.
Once the boxer Eddie was training leaves him for another agent to go pro, Frankie finally decides to help Maggie after talking to Scrap. Seeing her practice with his old speed bag, he begins to teach her some basic boxing moves. But it isn't until Maggie is in her first ring fight which she is not fully prepared to do, Frankie lends her a few pointers to help her win. And it doesn't take long for Maggie to go on a winning streak making her one punch queen or as Frankie says “Mo Cuishle.” But in the high of it all the story takes a dark turn the moment when her competitor takes a dirty punch that causes Maggie to break her neck which paralyzes her from the neck down. Accepting the reality that she can no longer fight, she asks Frankie to ‘put her down’ as foreshadowed when she tells him a story about her childhood dog and father.
This when it becomes clear to me that a man wrote her character beyond everything. I just find it strange that Maggie has no friends or even a coworker to talk to besides Frankie. The audience gets an understanding that she has difficult relationship with her family in the case of how ‘ashamed’ they are by her career goals, lack of care of her well being except the benefits of her wealth, which becomes clear when she is permanently injured. Maggie has no one but Frankie to befriend and what was mentee and mentor vibe became a father and daughter like relationship. How can this story be about a women going after her dreams when we don’t know anything about her past her family and passion. Maggie’s new physical and emotional state cause her to believe that she is better off dead if she can not box. Frankie is the only person that can advice her otherwise and he tries to by encouraging apply to college, but Maggie can't fathom the idea of doing anything that isn't boxing. After a short visit from her family that tried to have her sign a legal documents to provide them with the rights to her money, she takes notice that her mother has never even seen her in the ring, discourages her from doing so. Again with no friends or family to reply on all Maggie has is Frankie. The audience gets an understanding that Frankie has issues forgiving himself as he often visits his Priest for advice, even to discuss whether or not he should abide by Maggie’s desire to die.
My biggest issue from this film maybe the idea that a woman's worth is nothing without her body, as if having a mind to think upon is not worthy living. Another reason why this film did not age well was because of the controversial issue embedded in the story’s tragic end is how disabled people's lives are devalued. Receiving backlash at the time for it Clint Eastwood defended his choice by saying “How the character handles it is certainly different than how I might handle it if I were in that position in real life,” he has said. “Every story is a ‘what if.’ Basically stating that Frankies choice to assist in Maggie’s suicide after talking to his priest who strongly advised not to, was a matter of choice of the character and nothing else. The issue with that is how can someone strong willed and determined as Maggie with a difficult life be so willing to die now that she is disabled. Eastwood doesn't have a good track record about creating space for disabled people. In the article’ Why ‘Million Dollar Baby’ infuriates the disabled’ from Chicago Tribune, “In fact, he has actively testified before the House Judiciary Committee against the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Eastwood is the owner of the Mission Ranch Inn in Carmel, Calif. A patron with disabilities had sued under the ADA claiming that the hotel restrooms were inaccessible and the only accessible guest room was more than double the price of other rooms in the hotel. Eastwood was cited for some of these violations, although the major claims in the case were dismissed.”
Though Clint argues it was in a matter of the character choice, having directed, acted and co-produced it’s hard to believe that he can reduce the notion to it being a choice. I’m not hating on Million Dollar Baby, the film is great and sad to watch but Maggie’s character wasn't as well written as we think and it gives a negative look at being physically disabled. Maggie was deprived of someone other than Frankie to give her the help as she traveled down the rabbit hole of depression. The film fails to create a realistic women character and flips the script to center it on Frankies character development as he navigates on how to be the father to a daughter that isn't his own.
