Cinderella Man

A few weeks ago my wife and I spent a Sunday Night watching the critically acclaimed Ron Howard film, Cinderella Man. We had heard good reviews from our friends about this story of an against-all-odds boxer trying to survive during the depression. But we weren’t quite prepared for how the story would resonate with us. We quickly became enamored with the hero, James J. Braddock who quickly fell from being a touted prize-fighter to a husband and father of three just struggling to pay the heating bill.

The story of James J. Braddock’s struggle to keep his family together during the toughest of times and his mythic rise as a figure of hope for the average man of the depression impacted me. I saw what appear to be biblical themes being lived out, incarnated before my eyes and in my heart I longed to measure up. And as the movie wound down I found myself on my feet cheering on this Rocky-like underdog as he represented me, the average man fighting the good fight. Here is what I remember of the hero:

He had Integrity: At one point in the story, Braddock’s oldest son stole a salami. The boy confessed that he was afraid that if his parents couldn’t feed him that the kids might be sent away. Braddock marched his son back to the grocer to return the stolen goods. He knew that ones desperate need did not justify taking advantage of others. His own character and reputation was more valuable than a full stomach.

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. Proverbs 10:9

He was a Good Father: In the same seen above we find out that the son stole the salami out of fear that the family would be broken up. Braddock sensing the fear in his son looked him in the eye and promised to keep the family together. As he struggled to follow through on his promise he humbled himself to accept support from the government. He even swallowed his pride enough to go to the boxing promoters whom he had made rich and to beg for some handouts from them. He took his responsibility as a provider and protector of his family as seriously as a prize-fight.

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. Psalm 103:13

He gave Hope to the Hopeless: Braddock’s rise from the streets to world champion status made him a mythic hero for every struggling, working man. Men struggling to find work identified with Braddock as one who walked in their shoes and faced their pressures. So with every blow that Braddock landed it was as if America’s depressed were being lifted from their devastation and freed, if but for a moment, from their own chains of poverty. It is here that Braddock becomes almost Christ-like, as a man who saves men from their hopelessness.

Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. Hebrews 2:17

Jesus, the incarnation of God, has walked in my shoes. He walked with integrity, caring for his people like a father, giving hope to the hopeless. His life was whole and unified in its loyalty to the will of the Father. The story of James J. Braddock as “The Cinderella Man” has re-connected my heart with the one who has fully identified with me and offers not just a mythic hero to follow but propitiation for my sin.