Dan Rowden wrote:rebecca702 wrote:Has anybody here seen "Million Dollar Baby"? It's about a female boxer. I think it's interesting in the beginning when she's in the gym trying to get Clint Eastwood to be her trainer. He says, "I don't train women," and repeatedly tells her other trainers would be happy to take her on. But she doesn't give up and then he finally agrees and says, "but I don't train women." And they're like "OK"... a metaphor for the philosophical quest?
Interesting. Before I answer, why do you think he chooses not to train women?
Hmm. Well, that can be interpreted many ways. In the actual story, I think the reason is that he's dealing with some hugely emotional regret due to something about his long-lost daughter, which is never made very clear. It seems he's been tortured for many years by his emotions (going to mass every single day, etc) - and I suppose having close contact with women brings it all back.
But maybe you don't mean the actual character in that story. I suppose without knowing anything about his history, he'd choose to not train women because none of them had proven themselves worthy. Essentially, none of them had been bullheaded and tough enough to break through the barrier. They'd all given up too quickly and settled for something less.
So I'm not sure which way you meant it. But I definitely think it shows that he has utterly refused to treat her one iota differently than he would a male. Maybe females in the past have worn him down or demanded special treatment. He's sick of it, as he should be. She knows what sacrifices she has to make. She's leaving certain things behind to embark on this challenge. She's very single-minded and sticks to her guns, and also doesn't cling to him and rely on him. She has her own vision... and she's okay with being treated as a man, and being in every way like a man, in order to attain it.
He's not willing to train someone who's going to simply invest in him (the parasite-mind thing), and think he's going to make everything okay. Do the thinking for her, make decisions for her, etc. Abdicate power to him. Maybe that's what happened to him. Somebody did that, and turned over their personal responsibility to him, and then something went wrong, and he forever feels guilty about it. And will never let that happen again.
I am assuming you've seen the movie in question. So what do you think?