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Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See

Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See

Last updated on: July 27, 2015 at 10:50 pm by Paul Asay

Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See 2015-07-27T22:50:01-06:00 Paul Asay

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The eye always gave him trouble.

It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought—full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He’d sleepwalk through round after round, taking punch after punch. He had to be hurt, it seems, to let loose his beast, and so the blows rained down on the full of his face like hail blowing sideways. By the time Billy won—and he always won—his left eye was a bloody, pulpy mess … along with the rest of his face.

But what did he need to see for? He had his beautiful wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), to take him by the hand and lead him, just like she had for years.

But when Maureen is taken from him unexpectedly—leaving him to take care of his career, his life, their young daughter, Leila, alone—Billy realizes just how blind he is. His rage, such an asset in the ring, turns on him and tears him down. His posse, sensing his self-destruction, leaves him almost to a man. In despair and under the influence of something, he purposefully crashes his own car into a tree. His lack of foresight and horrible decision-making eventually cost him everything he has: His boxing license, his home, even his daughter.

In desperation, Billy turns to Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker), a talented trainer who has dedicated his life to teaching young boys and men the “sweet science,” the sport of boxing. A cross hangs in his office. He carries around a well-used Bible. He talks of God’s providence and plans. And he takes a deeply humbled Billy Price—eyelid still drooping over his battered left eye—in, but under a few conditions: Billy can’t drink or do drugs. He can’t throw a punch until Tick tells him to. And, at first, Billy won’t be a fighter at all, but a janitor. He’ll pick up gear and scrub the floors for fighters who have just a tiny percentage of Billy’s skill.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an athlete, high on his own hubris, needing to be humbled before getting a shot at redemption. Boxing movies specialize in these themes, it seems. Didn’t we see this in Rocky II? And III? Maybe most of them? But I like the way Southpaw, anchored by the talented Jake Gyllenhaal, tells this story.

True to his name, Tick gets under Billy’s skin. He teaches Billy how to do more than just throw punches. He shows him how to box—to jab, to defend, to protect his eye. He suggests that rage—blind rage—is Billy’s enemy, not friend, and encourages the fighter to be patient; to watch and wait for his opponent to make a mistake. In a way, Tick teaches Billy how to see, not just feel.

Out of the ring, Tick’s lessons are no less valuable. Tick preaches the value of keeping focused and staying out of trouble. When Billy’s daughter lashes out at her father, Tick encourages patience—taking care of himself and making responsible decisions while she works out her own anger. He encourages Billy to be an adult, really—someone who’s capable of making good decisions, controlling his anger and live as though it’s up to him to keep he and his daughter on an even keel. Because it is. No one’s around to take care of either of them anymore.

During the climactic fight (and really, how could there not be a climactic fight), Billy is goaded again into an unseeing rage. His opponent makes some horrible remark about Billy’s dead wife, sending the fighter over the edge. It seems like Billy—his left eye seeping blood again—will either kill the guy or die trying.

But Tick’s in his corner, talking him down, encouraging him to think and push the rage aside.

“God is watching you!” Tick says. “Your wife is watching you! I’m watching you! Your daughter is watching you!” It’s like Tick is saying, Make the right decision, right here, for all of us. Don’t just feel: Open your eyes and see us. See the road before you. See.

I love that scene, the idea of Tick pulling Billy back from his terrifying anger, to remember who he is and what he’s fighting for.

We’re all a little like Billy, I think. We all have things we fight for, people we live for. We know what’s important to us … most of the time. But sometimes we forget. Rage or passion or greed or sin get in the way. We lose sight of what’s precious. We go blind.

We all know the words to “Amazing Grace”:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I’m found.
T’was blind, but now I see.

Grace is the foundation of Christianity: God’s grace, and His willingness to pluck us from our own sin and misery, is key to everything the faith is about. God’s grace feels a little like Tick, I think. When Billy needed a hand, Tick was there for him.

But that hand up wasn’t the end of the story. Billy needed to get that his way wasn’t the right way to go. He needed to understand that he had to change. He couldn’t walk through his life blind anymore. He had to live smarter for he and his daughter. He needed to see.

Just like we all do, right? Grace is a wonderful thing, but it’s not an excuse to continue to walk blindly down the same sinful roads we’ve always walked. We gotta see. We’ve got people counting on us, after all. And they’re watching us.

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