Cinderella Man

            The movie, Cinderella Man, is a film that depicts the struggle during the Great Depression of boxer James J. Braddock. The film, directed by Ron Howard, takes place during the late 1920’s and early 1930’s and does a great job of accurately illustrating the harsh conditions of a typical family’s lifestyle during the Great Depression in the United States of America as he shows it through a normal family, Braddock’s family. Most films that have a historical background to it do not show the details of how life was during a certain time period. The film does an excellent job of conveying an accurate “feel” of the Great Depression through the costumes, facial expressions, and the obstacles that Braddock has to overcome. Cinderella Man accurately shows the Great Depression through the journey of James J. Braddock and his family during a time when there were harsh living conditions.
             True representation of the Great Depression was shown throughout the entire movie. The scenes where Braddock goes to work are specific examples during the Great Depression. Lots of men would line up at places where work would be offered like how Braddock lined up at the docks begging to be chosen for one day to gain a couple of dollars. Even though the salary was low, men during this time did everything they could to just gain those couple of dollars. The first time we see Braddock get chosen for work was right after he had broken his hand. In the scene where Braddock and Mike work together to lift those bags shows how even with a broken hand, he does not give up. Comparing the people who own the docks and the people asking for work, it is obvious that there is a distinction in their clothing. The people asking for work looked like their clothes were worn out and the business people had suits and had a rich feeling to them. The movie does a good job of emphasizing the struggle men had in finding work for a day.
     

This picture is from the scene where Braddock is begging to be chosen for work on the docks

               Another example of the movie capturing the conditions during the Great Depression is the scene where Braddock goes to get relief money and when he begs his boxing friends to help support him and his family. During this time, relief money was a way of getting money that is set up by the government to provide aid for people in need. In the Depression Era, it was common that relief centers would often run out of money before they could give all of the families standing in lines to get some money. In Cinderella Man, as Braddock goes to get relief money, many people are staring at him and wondering why he was there. Braddock is humiliated and embarrassed as he stands in line to accept government relief funding money. This scene captures a part of the Great Depression and shows how people who were once rich had to go and get help because they had no way of supporting their family. When Mae, Braddock’s wife, sent the kids to their relative’s house, Braddock was very upset at the fact that he could not support his family in anyway. He made a promise to his son about how he would never send him away, and as soon as he finds out that they were gone, he goes back to the boxing place and stands there in front of his friends and begs them for a donation to pay for his electric bills so he can bring his kids back. This accurately depicts how children had to be sent away to different parts of the country because families did not have enough money to support them.

         Another accurate depiction of the Great Depression is how the city looked in the movie. During this time, most businesses had been closed and many people would live on the streets begging for money and asking for jobs. Before the Great Depression in the movie, the houses and even the boxing rink looked like it was built with a lot of money. Inside the house, you could see lots of expensive objects like china. After the depression happened, there was a shift from rich to poor. I automatically got the view that almost everyone in the city had to live in conditions like this, which was true. The area that the Braddock’s family lived in was under ground and barely had lighting inside their home. Everyone’s clothes in city looked like they were worn out because during this time, people tried to sell everything they could. Out of all of the stores downtown they showed a meat shop, but everything looked like it had been closed down and that it was the only store open. A big part of the city was also cars before the Depression. Most people had cars during this time period and after the depression hit, there were barely any cars shown in the movie. The city life was a big part of the Great Depression and the movie accurately shows how a big city could turn into something that looked like a fire had destroyed everything.

             In conclusion, Cinderella Man is an accurate depiction of the Great Depression. The director does a good job of portraying the hopelessness and the struggle of Americans during the Great Depression. It vividly illustrates the struggles of the Great Depression and how it brought hope and faith in families like Braddock’s. One can learn about the life during the Great Depression from just watching the film. Cinderella Man is a great way to open our eyes to the historical significance from just watching Braddock’s story of how he became successful and from his family. 

Websites:

http://www.boxingscene.com/-biggest-thing-cinderella-man-got-wrong--1317
http://fashion.just-the-swing.com/1930s-womens-fashion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinderella_Man
http://www.jamesjbraddock.com/