Janine Charles
April 30, 2005
Million Dollar Baby
The movie I have chosen to semiotic analysis is the Million Dollar Baby. The Million
Dollar Baby is about a 32-year-old white female who wants to become a boxer. Her name is
Maggie. Maggie only wants this man name Frankie to train her and become her manager.
Maggie had seen Frankie achievement with other boxers so she knows what he can accomplish.
She won’t give up until her goals and dreams have been completely fulfilled.
This movie had so many twist to it I don’t know where to begin. First things I really
notice throughout most of the movie until last quarter was the gender discrimination. Just
because she was a female Frankie thought she wasn’t good. He thought that she couldn’t be win
as a male would. He also thought she didn’t see the standards of a male when it comes to
becoming a boxer. Frankie thought she was too old to get into the game where she wouldn’t be
able to learn and be more experience like you just learning as a child. This is an example of what
goes on in this world today, people think women can’t do half the things males can do.
The target audience of this movie is to a couple of people. The people are women, boxer
lovers, poor people and for people who have dreams/goals to believe in keep faith and the will
achieves their goal as long as they put their minds to it.
This movie implied but not actually using words is that if you want to achieve something
in life badly you can as long as you go after it. It does matter where you come from. It doesn’t
matter if some else say you can’t do it. If you put your mind to it, you can. You can also change
people around you by achieving the goal that your going after. In the movie she changes Frankie
ways and mind on how he felt about her. In the end he treated her like that was his daughter.
Maggie status was she was a poor white woman working in a restaurant going after her
dream. She also had no FAMILY members who care about her. It made it hard for her to do
things. Her mom weighs 312, her brother in jail, her sister cheating welfare by claiming a baby
that is dead. The only person she cares about and looks up at as a role model are dead and that’s
her father. Maggie family doesn’t care about her they just sit on their lazy butt and gets
whatever free thing’s people giving them.
The black gentleman who was exercising/training in the gym character was a symbol
how some people see black males today. He was bothering the retorted boy (Danger) who was
training in there also. He was the weakest boy. He fought him and beat him badly. Which to me
they made it seem like he was a bully. Also made it seem that no one can touch him or be at his
level in his world. Another thing is that his an asshole because when he approaches Maggie
saying “That’s a girl. Oh Yea that is really a girl. I see her little tit tie. It looks like mosquito
bites. It’s not a mouth full. Let me see.” It makes him males seem like jerks always having
something smart/negative to say to a female. Scrap is the black old man with the knowledge
(wisdom/advice) and the stories on everybody life including his own. His own is basically saying
how he was there but didn’t get a chance to finish and come out like a champ title. The Frankie
is the one who is said to take a challenge because he scared and can’t live with himself if he
makes the wrong mistake. Maggie is the brave one.
Religion had a role to play in this movie to. Frankie was a faithful believer. Always
praying to God and asking the priest questions. Reading spiritual things. He went to church
/mass every day for last 23 years.