Scorsese vs. Mailer: Boxing as Redemption in Raging Bull and An American Dream: Difference between revisions

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{{notice|From an essay written for a graduate course and reprinted here with the permission of the author's daughter.}}

Throughout most of his career, [[Norman_Mailer|Norman Mailer]] has used gladiatorial combat, and boxing in particular, as a moral touchstone in his life as well as his work. ''Raging Bull'', Martin Scorsese's penetrating treatment of Jake La Motta's boxing career and the role of violence as it defined La Motta both in and out of the ring, provides a number of parallels (and some significant differences in focus) to Mailer's vision of boxing.