-That point was loud and clear. What makes Swank a contender is the fact -that she wants to get as far away from that as possible. Point being -there is absolutely no dignity in being part of the working class.
Joanna, that's an insane interpretation of a movie where almost every major character is working class; the boxing gym is filled with a multi-ethnic array of different lives.
The fact that the family of Swank is so brutally awful is, first, an explanation of why she has so little self-worth that she is driven to the self-punishment needed to suceed as a boxer and, secondly, why when the adjulation of being a champ is withdrawn, she sees no worth in remaining alive. Her last request is to kill her before the cries of her name by fans dies away in her mind.
I'm not sure how I feel about the message of the film, but the clear message is that people have the right to risk their lives for their dreams and make their choices when they go bad. Morgan Freeman is the voice of the film, because he had his chance and he lost his eye because of that risk, and is reduced to cleaning up the gym to survive in his old age. And the Clint character is deathly afraid of Swank repeating that kind of damage if she goes for a title round-- and his fears are correct. Yet the message of the story is not that Clint's character was right, but that Freeman and Swank had the right to the choice to the risk. And the choice to control the consequences of the aftermath of damage to their bodies due to that risk taken.
Nathan