Chachi takes the ring in the “Glove Story” episode of Happy Days. Is his hand in an ice bucket? Looks beat.
Television and we the loyal viewers, in turn, love the tropes. We watch our beloved regulars get prettied up and boogie at the school dance. We set the DVR for the holidays episodes. We have also grown to accept TV (and movie) character cues: That character is smoking a cigarette because he or she is stressed out/pensive/badass. That hacker character’s desk is a mess, but he can break through the firewall of anything that runs on electricity! And boxing is the ultimate shorthand.
Making smoking and advertising cigarettes cool, per Smoking Trope. It’s OK, Mad Men smokes ironically.
The “Boxing Trope,” for Punchy’s purposes, represents a sudden appearance of a boxing storyline or characterization in an otherwise non-sports fictional series. (Seriously, if there were as much boxing in the real world as on screen, it would not be a dying sport.) Whatever the instance, it will fall into one or a couple of the Boxing Trope Categories:
1. Organized Quarrel: “Hey, you! Yeah, you! I hate your dumb face. And there are a bunch of girls watching! So meet me at my gym Thursday night. Bring your gloves. Pussy.” (Pro tip: Don’t cede home ring advantage just ’cause you got blindsided by a callout.)
It’s like a duel, but less poncey (that’s British for “pretentious”). Anyway, nobody thinks the Game of Thrones guys are that tough. Def NOT Sean Bean.
But does this ever happen in real life? Thank God TV has stepped in so we can have all the Organized Quarrels we want. “But, Punchy,” you’re probably thinking, “What if somebody challenges me to an Organized Quarrel and I don’t know WTF I’m doing?!” Then you, my friend, need a…
Lights Out wasn’t too bad, but it was canceled before it could get good and/or seriously recapped here.
2. Boxing Lesson: Fast. Got a washed up drunky-punchy uncle/father figure/constantly-masculinity-proving friend? You’re all set. It helps if he’s really gruff and old-timey. He’ll get you ready to face that bully or romantic rival.
3. Passion Pits: “Romantic rival”? Yep, that’s one way to land in the Passion Pits. Because it’s every little girl’s dream to watch two half-naked men beat each other bloody in a ring to win her affections. All so sexual…
Men fighting? Homoerotic? Britta Perry knows what I’m talking about.
On very special occasions, however, those in the ring are actually fighting over their own personal relationship, romantic (better) or otherwise (still interesting!). When you’re in Passion Pits by yourself (aww), you might be working out your aggression on the bag because of some romantic frustration. Bang away ’cause you’re…
4. Cool Conditioning: Montage alert. It’s one thing to see a character sitting alone in a room, stressing out over Drama. It is quite (more exciting) another to put that character in a gym venting that frustration. He or she looks great! He or she is working really hard! This Is Progress. And if you throw another character in, they will form a Bond. Gym Mates. Best Mates. Soldiers. All That.
Ernest Hemingway fancied himself one.
5. Badass Notification: Boxing : any TV character :: freezer : water in an ice cube tray. It makes you ice cool. Even though I’m openly mocking the use of boxing in TV characterization, have you ever seen someone boxing and not immediately thought they were cooler? OK, unless they were really bad. Me neither. It’s a trope ’cause it works.
6. Isolated Warrior: Is anyone as cool as the guy toiling alone in the gym, preparing for some upcoming physical, mental or emotional battle? Is there as cool as sexy alienation? James Dean’s corpse and generations of black and white artsy portrait photographs say, “No.”
Remember when Wladimir Klitschko was on Entourage, in season one or something? It was the last semi-interesting performance by a Klitschko.
7. Champ Encounter: “Is that Floyd/Ray/Mike/The Champ? Man, he’s smaller in real life.” If you’re really lucky, like, 20th Century sitcom lucky, your Champ Encounter will come just in time for your Boxing Lesson. And pray he doesn’t want an Organized Quarrel. It can also manifest more simply: “Yo, I’m going to the Fight later.” Cool, see you there.
8. Coulda Contender: The saddest trope of them all, thankfully, isn’t trotted out as much as the others. Maybe we understand the sad, drunk, washed up guy more because, hey, he used to be a boxer and we all know they are miserable because they get beat up for a living.
To be fair, some shows totally pull off these tropes–with varying levels of reality–as we will see.
I cannot possibly list all the shows that have employed the Boxing Trope. Procedurals alone would take all life. So I’ll stick with more serialized dramas and sprinkle in some other classics and oldies. This is so far from comprehensive.
Stay tuned. There will be blood and spoilers.
Punchy Pulp 