While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. (Um, yeah. Personality persistent, tough, and courageous. Suddenly, an injury renders Maggie permanently paralyzed from the neck down, unable to move, and dependent on a respirator to keep her alive. Maggies mother, Earline (Margo Martindale), and sister, Mardell (Riki Lindhome), respond to the gift with disdain, and they tell Maggie that her boxing career has made her a laughingstock. The film follows Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald (Swank), an underdog amateur boxer who is helped by an underappreciated boxing trainer (Eastwood) to achieve her dream of becoming a professional. "I had it all," Maggie tells Frankie, "so don't take it away from me.". Out of the several short stories in the book, the ones that are merged together to form the script of the film are The Monkey Look, Million $$$ Baby, and Frozen Water. Your email address will not be published. Toole, and was adapted for the screen by Paul Haggis. Maggie Fitzgerald Mary Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald is a fictional character appearing in the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby. It is based on a screenplay by Paul Higgins, who adapted it from the collection of short stories, Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner, written by F.X. I am a great fan of his. To take advantage of all of CharacTours features, you need your own personal Without hope of recovery, she attempts suicide, before finally persuading Frankie to help her die. Maggie cant abide the thought of being bedridden for the rest of her life; after having a leg amputated due to gangrene, she begs Frankie to help her end her life. Clint Eastwood is a legendary film personality. The film was released on VHS and DVD on July 12, 2005, and all editions of the Region 1 DVD, except for the "Deluxe Edition", came with a paperback copy of the book Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner. In the end, the real tragedy of Million Dollar Baby is not the heart-wrenching decision that Frankie has to make. On their return to Los Angeles, Frankie agrees to let Maggie travel to Las Vegas to face Billie The Blue Bear (Lucia Rijker) for the welterweight title. Maggie, a waitress from the Ozarks region of Missouri, starts working out at the gym. But in such a state of presumed depression, is it in her best interest for us to give her decision-making autonomy to end her life? For the 1941 film, see. Jewish law does not require the preservation of life in all instances, and in fact, when someone is terminally ill and suffering, we do not necessarily require treatments to prolong life. After losing a leg to gangrene, Maggie asks Frankie to kill her, as living in this condition is intolerable to her, but he will not. Maggies obese, white trash family have rejected her. Maggie is destitute, alone, and leads a non-significant life. account. A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional.A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional.A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional. Is it really possible for a person to want to live following an injury like Maggie's? Or that shed have given Frankie a glimmer of hope and picked a potato chip from the bowl a la Jill Kinmont* in The Other Side of the Mountain., Maggie fights on in my imagination. When Boyd had first approached him, Huntley thought about running him out of the gym. However, Boyd stuck with the schedule, and as time passed, their friendship grew and Huntley eventually got him as a cutman. When crisis hits, we must help our neighbor to dig deeper and solve the root of the problem even when they wish to die. Frankie Dunn: It wasn't fault. Please enable Javascript and hit the button below! Ms. Million Dollar. Maggie walked through that door with nothing buts guts. Frankie, who studies Gaelic, tells Maggie that he does not know what the phrase means. Frankie Dunn believes her too old to be getting in the line, but her conviction wins him over and they begin a rigorous training. As an actor, I had my reservations with him, but as a storyteller, I have truly inhaled him. If we can get her trained up. Scrap, concerned when Frankie rejects several offers for big fights, arranges a meeting for Maggie with Mickey Mack, but out of loyalty to Frankie, she declines. View the profiles of people named Maggie Fitzgerald. It is further contradicted by plenty of hard data. ", So we need to ask: Is Maggie's decision to die reasonable? Million Dollar Baby received the award for Best Picture of 2004 at the 77th Academy Awards. The movie caused a great deal of controversy. Gradually making her way upwards, she becomes notorious for taking out opponents in the first round while earning herself the moniker of "Mo Cuishle." His only friend, Scrap, an ex-boxer who looks after Frankies gym, knows that beneath his gruff exterior is a man who has been seeking, for the past 25 years, the forgiveness that somehow continues to elude him. She retired Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Profession rising star in the female boxing world. Get familiar with the big names that everyone talked about. If you have any unfortunate news that this page should be update with, please let us know using this form. Our weekly email is chockful of interesting and relevant insights into Jewish history, food, philosophy, current events, holidays and more Dr. Daniel Eisenberg is with the Department of Radiology at the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA and an Assistant Professor of Diagnostic Imaging at Thomas Jefferson University School of Medicine. [8], Million Dollar Baby initially had a limited release, opening in eight theaters in December 2004. (I was happy with my amateur hour status, because some of those gal fighters hit hard.) Portrayed by Hilary Swank bagged her second Oscar for the sheer determination and heartbreaking emotion on display as Maggie Fitzgerald, a 31-year-old waitress desperately clinging to her dream of becoming a boxer. Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) has trained and managed some incredible fighters during a lifetime spent in the ring. Interests boxing, her only calling in life. [27] The Blu-ray Disc version was released on November 14, 2006. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. As the Torah teaches, "Do not stand idly by as your neighbor's blood is shed" (Leviticus 19:16). He has taught a Jewish medical ethics class for the past 15 years. Almost uniformly, these people reported regretting their decision to jump. Million Dollar Baby was based on stories in Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner (2000), written by veteran boxing trainer and manager Jerry Boyd under the pen name F.X. Maggie will never let anyone tell her that she cant accomplish her dreams. Hollywood star Hilary Swank rose to fame in the late 90s with one of her most incredible performances her portrayal of Brandon Teena in the biographical movie Boys Don't Cry.In 2004 the actress portrayed aspiring boxer Maggie Fitzgerald in Clint Eastwood's sports drama movie Million Dollar Baby.For both of her performances, Hilary won an Academy Award in the category Best Lead Actress. "[18], Eastwood responded to the criticism by saying the film was about the American dream. * Ill get around to Jill later shes definitely another Wow! It grossed $216,763,646 in theaters; $100,492,203 in the United States, and $116,271,443 in other territories. She describes her previous fame, the crowds chanting her name, and feels that having achieved that exulted status, there's no point in living as a quadriplegic. Maggie is tired of washing dishes and waiting on tables. [3], On Rotten Tomatoes, Million Dollar Baby has an approval rating of 90% based on 269 reviews, with an average rating of 8.40/10. explicit permission. She went to school in Bellingham, where she lived with her family, until she was 16. No chance in the world of being what she needed to be. However, as sheer determination forces the reluctant mentor to relent, Maggie soon finds herself on the fast track to making her dream come true. In the wake of a painful estrangement from his daughter, Frankie has been unwilling to let himself get close to anyone for a very long time. Maggie Fitzgerald Remembered She was like a fire cracker. I cant help but to get really choked up when I write about Margaret Maggie Fitzgerald, the protagonist in the 2004 Academy Award-winning film, Million Dollar Baby. Shes a Wow! [28] It was the first Best Picture winner released on either high-definition optical disc format in the U.S.; it and Unforgiven (also starring Eastwood and Freeman) were the only ones released in the U.S. on HD DVD prior to the first one released in the U.S. on Blu-ray, Crash. While he trained a lot of people in the field, he never got to make his dream of winning the world championship come true due to a boxing accident in 1970 that had left him with a detached retina. Both Katie Dallam and Maggie Fitzgerald were born into poverty in Missouri and began boxing in their 30's. Both ended up in the ring against a much younger, stronger opponent. She has also written and directed plays, dabbled in music, and served as an advocate for animal and human rights. Yet, she finds time and strength to train to become a professional boxer. She is mentally alert, but feels no reason to go on living. Margaret "Maggie" Fitzgerald, a waitress from the Ozarks, shows up at the Hit Pit, a rundown Los Angeles gym owned and operated by Frankie Dunn. Big Willie drops Frankie as his manager and signs with the more aggressive Mickey Mack (Bruce MacVittie). "My 'Million Dollar' Answer," OpinionJournal/Dow Jones & Company, Inc. (17 February 2005). Swank does great at portraying the physical progression in her craft as she trains with intense discipline and Frankie Dunns guidance - rising from awkward, garbage-eating, survivor to a confident, powerful boxer rising rapidly through the ranks. With Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel. He didnt get to see the alternate version of his stories and neither did he see the increased popularity of his works, a couple of which were released posthumously. Problem is, this is the only thing I ever felt good doing. The Academy Award-winning movie, Million Dollar Baby, strikes deep at the issues of self-worth and the value of life. Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Hillary Swank in the lead role, the Academy Award winning film follows the story of a waitress named Maggie Fitzgerald who decides to pursue a career in boxing. ", Often we fail to recognize that a cry for death is really a cry for help. We are certainly never permitted to shorten the life of someone like Maggie who is in a very compromised state, but not dying. Updates? Human He respects her wishes and ushers her into that big ring in the sky. Medved, Michael. Indeed, Maggie's severely disabled state is an enormous challenge to the human spirit. Then Maggie Fitzgerald walks into his gym and then his life changes. Eddie "Scrap-Iron" Dupris, Frankie's friend and employeethe film's narratorencourages and helps Maggie. As she tells him, I want a trainer. The back of Maggie's robe has the phrase "Mo Cuishle". According to CBS, Swank, like Fitzgerald, grew up in a trailer park and was a high. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her. Maggie Fitzgerald wins a "humble beginnings" contest nine times out of ten. [12], Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film four stars and stated that "Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby is a masterpiece, pure and simple," listing it as the best film of 2004. Stories of businessmen jumping off buildings after a stock market crash fill us with pity for the lost chance at intervention, not a feeling of satisfaction of them "having done the right thing. On June 8, 2002, the U.K.s Lennox Lewis showed the planet that might makes right when he won against Mike Tyson by glorious KO and claimed the title of heavyweight champion of the world. Common wisdom declares that the wishes of a patient, whether they be for more treatment, less treatment, or physician-assisted suicide, must be respected and carried out. Since she has earned a reputation for quick KOs, Frankie must resort to bribery to get other managers to put their trainee fighters up against her. However, fortunately, unlike the fate of Maggie in the film, Crockett didnt meet with any tragedy in her life. Maggie lands hard on her corner stool, breaking her neck and leaving her a ventilator-dependent quadriplegic. For those who are new and are wondering about why this was necessary, read the shift in editing starting March 1st blog. Frankie runs the Hit Pit boxing gym, and Scrap is his best friend and the maintenance man for the gym. Corrections? And both took a. But it's even more strikingly ironic that Christopher Reeve's most formidable accomplishments, what he will undoubtedly be remembered for above all else, came after he became a quadriplegic. Boxing movies are about rooting for the underdog and Maggie may the ultimate underdog on this list, delivering a character we root for her the whole way, no matter her fate. So perhaps the real ethical question is not "why does Maggie want to die? It does not matter whether we discuss a despondent disabled, boxer, fully cognizant of her condition such as Maggie; a woman who has remained in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, such as Terri Schiavo; or an old man lying unconscious on his deathbed, feeling (as far as we know) no pain and having no interaction with his environment. Scrap tells Maggie that Frankie is overprotective of his boxers and arranges for Maggie to meet Mickey Mack, but Maggie remains loyal to Frankie. Gender Studios. The last few minutes of Million Dollar Baby are a sobfest of epic proportions, and not in that cheesy Hallmark way, either. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Maggie Fitzgerald is a hillbilly who is poor, works as a waiter, and steals food to put together some savings (Swank, Eastwood and Freeman, Million Dollar Baby). Create your own unique website with customizable templates. Obtain more information on scheduling a lecture or learning more about Jewish medical ethics by visiting Dr. Eisenberg at www.daneisenberg.com, When Leonard Cohen Sang for Israeli Soldiers During the Yom Kippur War, How to Prevent Civil War: Arguing for the Sake of Peace, Top Six Rules Every Mother-in-Law and Daughter-in-Law Should Follow. Its time to give recognition to the man who runs the show behind the scenes. Just before administering a fatal injection of adrenaline, he tells Maggie the meaning of "mo chuisle": "my darling, and my blood." Required fields are marked *. People cheered her name and watched her in awe- she was wondrous and captivating. When Frankie sees that Maggie is a girl, he tells her to get out . From beginning to end, there is narration by "Scrap"- Morgan Freeman's recognizable voice. [22], Million Dollar Baby was listed on many critics' top ten lists for films released in 2004.[23]. Showing Editorial results for maggie fitzgerald. Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods and What the Vietnam War Did to My Father, Best Sex Positions to Improve Your Sex Life. She grew up knowing one thing: she was trash." Right.) As a society we would rather take a person's cry for help as a cry for death, rather than adequately fund the social services necessary to help people choose not to die. We, as a society, do not feel they are in a position to make prudent decisions. Maggie, born and raised in Missouri, has always had to fight for herself. Frankie then reluctantly agrees to train Maggie but states that he will not manage her. Some incredible fighters during a lifetime spent in the end, the real of. Eddie `` Scrap-Iron '' Dupris, Frankie 's friend and the maintenance man the... 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