Toxic Masculinity Tuesday: ‘Gladiator’ (1992)

Figured now would be the best time to review this movie before…

Back in 1992, our dad gave my brother and me a choice to pick our matinee movie. Being the nerd that I was, I chose The Lawnmower Man because of graphics! My brother, being an older jock, chose Gladiator. Reading up on the two because no one had the internet then, my dad chose Gladiator. And boy was that a good choice.

This is why everyone needs a dad. A real one. I eventually saw The Lawnmower Man, and it stunk, but Gladiator is a movie I still watch to this day. Thanks dad.  As we see that fighting your toxic masculinity with more toxic masculinity is working, let’s keep it going by watching Gladiator!

Plot

Gladiator unfortunately shares a name with the more famous movie that came out eight years later because most people don’t remember this movie. The earlier Gladiator movie, which I’m recommending today, is about Tommy Riley, a kid who moved with his father to the inner-city. Being white and in the hood, Tommy is immediately harassed by one of the weakest gangs you’ll see, the ‘storm troopers’ for having the audacity to shoot their basketball.

There is an underlying racism that permeates this movie. It’s Black versus Latino versus White in this school that Tommy has to navigate. The storm troopers try and harass Tommy out of his seat until he takes a stand. During lunch, Tommy meets a friend, Romano, who is turned away when the storm troopers arrive with their leader, Shortcut. Outnumbered, Tommy prepares for a beat down until Abraham Lincoln Haines leads a force of his own gang against them.

We learn later that Tommy’s father was a degenerate gambler who was in massive debt when he is visited by two leg breakers looking for money. They both had to downgrade to pay the bills as his dad gets a new job selling medical supplies. When his dad hears about the thugs visit he calls his bookie and relays a threat of his own, but Tommy knows it’s an empty threat.

When he goes out for a cup of coffee, he meets Dawn, a girl from his school. When she realizes coffee is all he can afford, Dawn offers him a job since their dishwasher did not show up. This is where Tommy displays peak toxic masculinity when he replies, “I’m not proud,” and takes the job that night.

The story then takes a turn when the Storm troopers jump Tommy in the alley, proving basketball is just that serious. Except they messed with the wrong man, as Tommy proves.

This alley fight is witnessed by Pappy Jack, a small-time underground boxing promoter. He offers Tommy 750 bucks to fight someone called Black Death. Tommy says he needs 1250 since that is what his father needs to make a payment to the bookie. This is a very toxic son willing to wash dishes and take blows from a strange fighter to help his dad. Young men shouldn’t be taught this level of responsibility.

At the fight, Tommy learns they use 6 oz gloves, which is a step above bare knuckle. While battling Black Death, Tommy is assaulted, as cheating is encouraged in the underground fights.

Tommy makes a spectacular comeback and completes a improbable win with a hilarious ending. This gets the eye of Pappy Jacks boss, Jimmy Horn, who had been looking for a white fighter to push more gambling. Tommy refuses more fights after getting paid but is seen by Pappy Jack paying off the thugs. Horn brings Tommy back in and tells him he has bought his father’s debt, and now he has to fight.

Why You Should Watch

While there is that underlying racism in Gladiator, there is also a multi-racial friendship that breaks through the animosity. Tommy’s friendship with Romano grows when he finds out that he too fights in the underground circuit.

When Tommy repays the favor to Lincoln by saving him from the Storm troopers, they also become fast friends.  

There is a lot left on the bone in Gladiator. The more Tommy fights, the deeper he gets pulled into the seedy underground world. Not to mention there is a gut-wrenching fight I don’t want to spoil. Tommy gets with Dawn, who somehow looks better in her 50s.

And there is an issue that threatens to come between Tommy and Lincoln as Horn digs his claws in.

Checkout Gladiator on Amazon Prime here.

****

Check out my superhero novel, Fiasco of Adventures here or here. And check out my new website TheMegacosm.com!