Raging Bull Essay Questions

In what ways is Jake a masochistic character? In what scenarios does he display his masochism and why?

Masochism underlines many of Jake’s actions. Jake, a deeply self-loathing character, relies on masochism to inflict suffering onto himself. After he laments about his “little girl’s hands,” he forces Joey to hit him as hard as he can in the face; this enables Jake to exert control and display his masculine tolerance for pain, while simultaneously punishing himself for his feminine features (his hands). As a reflection of his repressed, guilty sexuality, Jake pours water on his erection after succumbing to Vickie’s sexual allure. After senselessly attacking Vickie and Joey, Jake persuades Robinson to severely mangle him during their final tumultuous fight. Finally, when Jake can no longer use other people to inflict pain on him, he slams his head against the wall of his jail cell. Jake loathes himself, and masochism provides an outlet for him to punish himself, all the while exerting his control over others.

Several visual and thematic clues hint at Jake’s possibility for redemption and salvation. Do you believe Jake finds redemption and/or salvation at the conclusion of the film? Provide plenty of evidence from the film.

Due to the ambiguity of the film’s ending, there is plenty of evidence to argue either for or against the possibility of Jake's salvation. The possibility of Jake finding redemption permeates the second half of Raging Bull. Jake is a vile, self-destructive character, but Scorsese often uses Biblical imagery to characterize Jake, thereby suggesting his worthiness of salvation. During Jake’s final fight with Robinson, his trainer offers Jake his mouthpiece while making the sign of the cross. Later, Jake awaits his punishment on a rope, an image sharing visual similarities to a crucifixion. When Jake sits alone in his dimly lit jail cell, a single glimmer of light illuminates his shoulder, which reinforces a hope for Jake’s atonement. The film’s final title card, the Bible quote “Once I was blind and now I can see,” implies that Jake is now aware of his past sins, and he can now find salvation.

At the same time, Jake doesn’t undergo an explicit spiritual or moral journey in the film, which makes it hard to see how he could be transformed. Jake is unable to make amends with Joey, his self-identification with one of cinema’s tragic heroes, Terry Maloy, reveals only his own self-deception, and some suggest that the Bible quote on the film’s final title card applies more to the story of director Martin Scorsese, rather than Jake.

Describe some of Scorsese’s innovative cinematic devices in the boxing scenes. What do these innovations reveal about Jake, and how do they tap into Jake’s subjective mind?

Martin Scorsese's cinematic techniques represent groundbreaking innovation in the previously tired boxing genre. Scorsese's camera constantly moves inside the ring, and his use of cinematic effects, from slow motion to still photographs, gives a brutal and palpable energy to the scenes. The innovations are also surrealistic; they provide psychological insight into Jake's subjective state of mind. In particular, slow motion emphasizes Jake’s heightened sense of awareness during his fights.

We don’t receive any real insights into Vickie’s character in the film, other than her status as a victim of Jake’s sexual insecurities and jealousy. Do you believe Vickie’s lack of characterization to be a fault or achievement of the film?

Some could argue that Vickie’s lack of characterization was, in fact, Scorsese’s intent in making Raging Bull. Scorsese focuses more on the perpetrators of violence (Jake), rather than its victims (Vickie), to display how destructive male aggression can alienate the perpetrator from those closest to him. Jake’s point of view dominates the film, so we view Vickie not as herself, but through Jake’s perspective, which is dominated by paranoia, lust, and suspicion.

Others could assert that the lack of emphasis on Vickie’s character illuminates film’s tendency to gloss, or even glamorize, victims and survivors of abuse. As the audience, we deserve to see how Jake’s violence affects Vickie’s psyche. To do this, Scorsese could feature more scenes like the second Copacabana sequence, where Vickie explains how Jake makes her feel like a prisoner. This would imbue Vickie's character with more nuance while also intensifying our repulsion toward Jake.

Throughout Raging Bull, Scorsese glosses over the triumphs of Jake’s professional careers. Why does he devote so much time to Jake’s domestic life, rather than his boxing career? How does Scorsese subvert the genre conventions of a sports biopic?

By focusing on Jack’s home life rather than his boxing success, Scorsese undermines the genre conventions of a sports biopic. Biopics often adopt an inspirational rags-to-riches story, but Scorsese doesn’t any provide any background information on Jake: we don’t see scenes from his youth, his rise to fame, or even his parents. Scorsese intentionally eliminates Jake’s past from the film’s narrative to prove how Jake’s self-hatred, masochism, and male aggression is an intrinsic part of his character. Scorsese is, therefore, more interested in portraying how Jake’s violence intermingles with his domestic life, and vice versa. Jake is not a role model, so Scorsese doesn’t bother to idealize himself as such.