Raging Bull - Masculinity and Tragedy

[@andyhornhornhorn]

Good review that. This film touches a lot of nerves for men who have had their own issus with jealousy, insecurity, self-destruction and poor life choices. Coupled with Scorsese's direction and De Niro and Pesci's acting masterclass, this is easily in my top ten movies of all time.

[@rhodesab55]

Well said

[@genie_inabottle7691]

I hope it isn't super relatebale because this is a character study of the worst parts of "maleness"-- he cannot handle any of the very normal feelings you just mentioned

[@gggallin8279]

@@genie_inabottle7691 i think its kinda relateable for every men to a certain extend because everyone has these nasty feelings and thoughts but some can control them and want to be a better Men then for example the Main character of Raging Bull but some saddly cant control themselves and become violent and self destructive

[@andyhornhornhorn]

@@gggallin8279 absolutely right.

[@joemarz1823]

He is screaming why while punching the jail cell because his whole life everytime he has a problem he does the only thing he knows how to do and thats fight. And evidently if fighting is your only answer youre gonna end up with only one last person to face.

[@EnzoRadford]

I agree. Not only is it that, but the whole reason he is angry at the world is because he’s really angry at himself and depressed but it’s harder to face that reality than to rage outwardly through boxing, his self justified toxicity and violence due to feeling himself as a victim.

[@lexkanyima2195]

​@@EnzoRadfordhe's so confusing

[@jackzanaa24]

i disagree about the ending where he is trying to play victim again. because of the bible quote and also him pointing at himself in the mirror, i took it as Jake finally holding himself accountable and realizing everything is his fault and its too late for him. while he is not fixed or a better person by the end of the movie, he was once a blind man but now he can see.

[@johnramsey4971]

Thank you! Excellent commentary.

[@demosthenescotto2190]

In 1981 I was a 17 Year old high school senior with only the weight of answering the question of what will I do with my life. I invited some of my good male friends to see Raging Bull with me at a theater that was not located at the Deuce 42nd Street but on 81street Sutton Place "a white people's theater". 2 minutes into the movie 3 of my friends walked out because "it's in black and white". Another 20 minutes into the movie 4 more walked out because "this is bullshit". Today in 2021, 41 years from the day I sat alone in a clean and quiet movie theater and witnessed a work of art on the movie screen. My life has taken me around the world and I've experienced the living of life and the moments when I'd wished I wasn't living. Through all of that in which I am grateful because a man by the name of Martin Scorsese decided to make a movie titled Raging Bull. A story about a man who must distroy himself to live for another day. Right after I saw that movie I began involving myself in the world of camera operations in the studio environment. Although fulfilling for the moment I was not satisfied. Today I'm a working actor and I love everything about acting. Thank you for producing the excellent short documentary about the in debth life of Raging Bull. I'd love to know the information about the background music. It too was perfect with your KZbin video. I wish continued success with all of your work.

[@ducc764]

It’s absolutely brilliant. It touches on something everyone feels, man or woman, and that is insecurity. Paranoia. Vulnerability. All the while trying to mask it. Is everyone to this severe a degree as Jake? Of course not. But it resonates for this reason. My favorite movie of all time. “You never knocked me down Ray.”

[@YPAReviews]

4:07 you’ve earned my favorite video essay moment sir.

[@KrimsonKloud]

This became my favorite film, BECAUSE I related to the character, I was going through something similar and became somewhat a lost cause around the time I first watched it, but I definitely understood Jake.

[@mistarrred]

same here, pretty shitty character to relate to but there's something comforting to confront yourself as you see watch and relate to his downfall

[@rohandas3573]

This is so very nicely made. How does this not have more views!

[@alwaysacomplicatedaffair2407]

Rick Deckard good question Mr. Deckard

[@erikbentley9005]

Nice analysis but I disagree with him trying to justify his actions in the jailcell. When he screams why he is finally looking introspectively for the first time and he says “why are you so stupid” as he is finally confronting himself and his demons.

[@Rubber_Monkey]

Christopher Sadler You'll also hear him say, ”They called me an animal. I’m not an animal!”

[@joemarz1823]

No, he is screaming why while punching the jail cell because his whole life everytime he has a problem he does the only thing he knows how to do and thats fight. And evidently if fighting is your only answer youre gonna end up with only one last person to face

[@kalyanvejalla]

He immediately chants "I am not that bad"

[@erikbentley9005]

@@kalyanvejalla not true

[@kalyanvejalla]

@@erikbentley9005 he does though, i just saw it yesterday'

[@theshahofiran3354]

I think another big factor of what made jake so angry/bipolar/depressed is all the brain trauma

[@atomicfoo1222]

His father would also have him fight other kids in the neighborhood growing up for change , most of which his dad would use for booze and rent

[@fables4564]

@@atomicfoo1222- Agreed. Traumatic brain injuries and perpetrators of domestic violence are highly linked.

[@bce6936]

trying to give his character all these labels dulls the way you view the movie

[@iseekq]

Speaking from experience of being a former boxer myself and the subject of abuse, I completely agree with your comment.

[@uncletheoneshotkid3001]

No he had a genetically thick skull or something. The amount of beatings he took, if he had the average man’s chin, he would’ve been incoherent in senior years, but he was witty and wise as ever. He had zero punch drunkenness. It wasn’t the brain damage that made him the way he was, it was his upbringing with an abusive family in a horrible neighborhood having his childhood essentially robbed from him

[@allsystemsgo8678]

Polarizing? It was nominated for 8 Academy Awards. Deniro won for best actor, lol.

[@crysdee461]

It is polarizing. Clearly many people didn’t like it... and even if you like it, there are some parts that are just so disturbing you can’t brush it off.

[@amaury12v89]

@@crysdee461 disturbing?

[@gab_gallard]

It was polarizing. It did good in the academy awards, but half of the critics hated it and it did bad on the box office. It became a classic later, in the 90s.

[@MrOctober44]

​@@crysdee461You're all over the place. He said it polarized critics. I countered with that it was nominated for a slew of Oscars. Your personal like or dislike has nothing to do with my comment

[@nauxihzwol]

​​@@MrOctober44yeah because being nominated for a slew of oscars must mean every single critic loved it lmao

[@therobulus]

What's the song used in the background of this beautiful essay? it's simply brilliant

[@defketra2817]

Jake is the definition of "childish masculinity"

[@therasbull]

Incredible analysis.

[@r.v.biagioni7210]

That this film did not win “Best Picture” is the worst Oscar snub of all time. 40 years later, who cares about “Ordinary People”?

[@Prodbyjah464]

Slumdog millionaire beating the dark knight, the kings speech beating the social network and inception, 40 years later the Oscar’s haven’t changed.

[@vedant.make.films_]

Great video man

[@DiegoMartinez-ur7gi]

Huh I always found the ending mirror scene as him actually finally owning up to himself that’s why he’s saying it to the mirror because On the waterfront the lines are directed to his brother in raging bull he’s saying it to himself he’s marlon and his brother he’s pretty much saying yeah you(jake himself) fuck up this is what we gotta work with now it’s time it own up

[@juliomisarirosales6566]

This movie has a lot to do with male-chauvinism, rejecting it and showing us how cruel it can be; however, that issue is minimized in this video.

[@guns854]

Nice video! Very well explained!

[@CinemaWizardBoy]

guns854 Thanks so much! I appreciate it.

[@angeloiodice9304]

To me, and coming from that culture, it is not such strange behavior. I have seen it and lived within it and have seen it still in myself after estranging myself from it -- even divorcing myself from it, and choosing a life away from that which I grew up in, where this type of behavior flourished in my community at that time. Jake is the product of a masculine ego-structure where a man is thought to be required to protect and defend his honor at any cost. A hyper-vigilent ego, where one feels pressure from amongst his peers in his herd to stand and fight any even perceived minor infraction against the thought of his masculinity have any vulnerable, weak, or feminine qualities. There is no room in such an ego for one's true self to emerge. It is a sad and poignant life and I give the real-life Jake Lamotta a lot of credit for eventually, in his 92 years, to find a way out of its confines. But, maybe it is just the role of time to disengage one from one's egocentricity.

[@brileyvandyke5792]

I hear criticism of masculinity, but I still embrace it.

[@gab_gallard]

You can embrace your masculinity while still rejecting the destructive parts of it.

[@misterkay58]

@@gab_gallard femimism is similar to your statement too

[@candide1065]

@@gab_gallard cringe

[@gab_gallard]

@@misterkay58 I don't see myself rejecting that idea anywhere so I question your motive to mention it.

[@misterkay58]

@@gab_gallard just tryna contrast!

[@CarlosReyes-sk1zs]

I DINT UNDERSTANT SHIT BUT I FELT IS A BRILLIANT ANALYSIS OF THE MOVIE.

[@Suave121]

Rotten Tomatoes Hire this man

[@TheCostascrete]

Amazing movie review

[@_Mark41]

I think saying "bad man" is an oversimplification

[@rishyiv]

there is literally nothing redeemable about this man wdym

[@ailidhniccraith9658]

The video draws a lot from Pam Cook's “Masculinity in Crisis?" article

[@stevebrennan2873]

In the later movie "the bronze bull" some of the story about Jakes father brutalising Jake is shown.Perhaps this is the paradigm that Jake lived in...."the defiant anger " of the masochist....."Ray......you didn't get me down...man"......seems to ring true here and the conflict he lives in between freedom and closeness.......alienating everyone he knows............yet longing to be known and connected too. An extraordinary film.....exceptional acting.and editing................the abuse is hard at times to stomach............ raw savagry

[@bryanzzz748]

I don’t think that feminist critiques necessarily disagree with your overall take on the movie, and your disregard of the feminist opinion as putting ALL men on trial doesn’t really capture the actual opinion. It can be true that Jake Lamotta is an exceptionally terrible person, but the feminist viewpoint points out nearly all of his erratic and flawed actions point back to the framework of masculinity; that is, everyone is insecure, but the way that Jake expresses it is explicitly masculine

[@kevinmahon7848]

Jake was a Great Fighter He stood up too the Mob. In real life Joey was really Pete Petrella. DeNiro and Scorsese made it a Brother movie. Though Joey LaMotta was a real and important part of Jokes life Pete was the real character.

[@thomasmacisaac1503]

"The decline and fall of Jake LaMotta" What? You mean RISE and fall?

[@jesss.5864]

I think the movie is definitely a critique on toxic masculinity. The keyword there is toxic. Masculinity is not inherently bad, but the societal expectations of being a man can cause a lot of pressure on some men and can cause them to act overly masculine and start fights and tunnel deeper and deeper into insecurities and lashing out instead of ever communicating these negative emotions.

[@frankinafishtankable]

"Feminist film critics'" dude come on.

[@austinlangdon9847]

I like the video a lot but I think I disagree with you on the film not taking sides. Like Taxi Driver, I think Raging Bull is an overtly feminist film. It doesnt tackle masculinty, because that term only has relative meaning. When we speak of masculinity, that term only has meaning if you contextualize it. As a social construct, there is no unifrom masculinity. What Raging Bull examines is a prevailing form of toxic masculinty within social environments he is familiar with, and its one that appears in most of Scorsese's films. As a director that makes a lot of mob movies, it is impossible to tell an honest story about mobsters without including depictions of toxic masculinity. The Sopranos is one of the best examinations of toxic masculinity on television. And Raging Bull I think can be seen as an overtly feminist deconstruction of toxic masculinity.

[@genie_inabottle7691]

Well said. The maiden whore complex is overt. I see a lot of men in here standing by the text of jealousy being a normal part of male ego but this man's shadow self is all that remains and he can only see women as black or white...just as the movie is shot, instead of complex people. This is exactly the thing women have been struggling against and unfortunately, still are.

[@candide1065]

Holy shit, what a load of insecure bs literal toxicism

[@augustgreig9420]

Jake's a horrible person? What? He had a rivalry with the greatest boxer if all time, and was on of the only men to ever beat him. And he didn't do it by skill, talent or out working Robinson. He did it by heart and determination alone. He was surely a flawed man, but he was also complex man. And no matter what you want to say about him, he was still a champion who beat Ray Robinson.

[@dangerouslydubiousdoubleda9821]

being tough doesn't mean you are kind and empathetic and anyone who hurst there partner repeatedly over delusions is not a good person

[@bozotheclown666]

I like Lamotta. A big boxing inspiration. But just because you’re a champion doesn’t make you a good person.

[@Nothingtoseehere-eo7zq]

He beat his wives and raped a woman

[@gab_gallard]

I lost the whole point of this film, pal.

[@monica.masala]

that's like story of my father...

[@hegstad9]

4:08 : ~ you misunderstood this ! ~ By screaming " ... why ... why ... why ... " ~ he doesn't mean why did you throw me in jail for this ... He was screaming to himself ... asking himself how he could let himself fall that low ... totally f****** his life up ... alienating all his friends ... let himself totally, fully hit dirt rock bottom ... !"

[@maniac9046]

jake was the coolest character, i want to be like him

[@theoilymaniac8073]

Police! Open the door!

[@michaelgarza8271]

Sorry, but this reviewer is not up to the material.

[@edge845]

People might agree with your assessment that Deniro's character was a piece of shit - but that doesn't mean you should have said it - a review isn't intended to be that - Is is supposed to be more objective so I think to call it a review is a disservice to the word review.

[@thomasmacisaac1503]

Swearing is a crutch for having no insight

[@ilitardo160]

Why is jake considered masculine tho?

[@diver2791]

He is a strong man with profesional boxing skills, many would consider him masculine by those facts alone in a traditional sense. He is also always highly aggressive, seeking to fight and dominate in any social situations, to be the "alpha", which is recognized as typical behavior for male mammals, including us human.

[@christopherjames375]

Always thsattacker ..closed the ring down .whalop. goodnight .

[@noahwilliams1244]

sources?

[@bh3855]

He sounds like my horrible , who I'm worried , is going to hurt my other brother and parents.