In Million Dollar Baby there are some fairy-tale elements as well as poetry. It can be compared to Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. Indeed we have an omniscient narrator embodied by Scrap.

The plot would be as follows: girl wants to become a boxer with the help of a skilled box-trainer.

We can also find destiny in this movie as well as the opposition between Good and Evil. In the beginning of the film we are told that Maggie comes from some place set in the cedars and oak trees.

This is very poetical and is reminiscent of the beginning of a fairy tale: "Once upon a time…"  Frankie becomes a Prince; he is the one who is going to spend a good time with his princess, together they are strong. Snow White has to face the jealousy of her step mother who tries several times to kill her with unfair means (she hires a hunter to kill Snow White and offers her a poisoned apple). Maggie goes through several fights and confronts a number of boxers and finally the German Prostitute, Blue Bear (an allusion to Blue Beard, another mythic, destructive character?). The woman is definitely a baddie. She is jealous of Maggie's success and wants to be the best boxer in the world by all means. uses unfair methods in order to save her pride and honour. She is not loyal at all, hitting Maggie when she turns her back to her after winning the round.

Sleeping Beauty waits for her prince to awaken her from a deep sleep. This is the spell she has to undergo. Maggie also has to face a curse: she is bound to stay in bed and cannot move since she has broken her neck when falling on the ring.

Frankie is the Prince Charming in a reversed situation. Indeed he is not going to awaken his princess from a deep sleep like in the tales. He is going to put her to sleep so she can die in dignity. He kisses Maggie and explains how he is going to make her die by disconnecting the air machine. This scene is a proof of love.

Like in every tale, there is also a moral at the end of Million Dollar Baby. Indeed this story might have made Frankie wiser, he can be proud of himself because he has made a good decision. Scrap tells us at the end of the story that Frankie might have gone back to a place set in the cedars and oak trees. That is where the circle is closed, looking back to where Maggie comes from.

And as Danger says to Scrap at the end of the film: "everybody can lose a fight".

contributed by Marie Krpata, December 2005

Is the last scene a happy end? Somehow it is, because it includes the fulfilment of her last wish of stopping her unbearable fall. Therefore it's a natural ending, it couldn't be otherwise. Her tears  express liberation. All her life  has been a fight, death is the last one and she preserves it with dignity : "I was born... pounds /ounces. Daddy  used to tell me I’d fight to get into this world, and I’d fight my way out"

Having reached the top of success she has accomplished her destiny and she has everything she needs in life. Now her last wish is to escape  the fall, the disintegration of her achievements. (“don’t let them keep taking that away from me”) and to leave a world void of meaning where she cannot be what she really is, a world without dreams and hopes. Spiritually, she is no longer alive, her great expectations, her reason to exist are vanished, so she accepts her death without fear, because it’s the only way to keep intact what she has accomplished. (“death is the last enemy to destroy”-The Bible)

The striking allegory death-sleep is an attempt to reduce the tragedy of the scene and make us remember that death is a part of life, may be a doorway to another, where Maggie could remain a winner for eternity. 

contributed by Elena Gutu, December 2005

“Death is both unnatural and inevitable. It is an unnatural intrusion in our lives as a consequence of the fall… “(The Bible)

The word euthanasia comes from Greek, and its first meaning was “a good, easy death”. It was morally acceptable to the Greeks, they thought a person should have the right to choose when he wants to die. The euthanasia scene comes as a conclusion to the whole movie; Maggie dies at her apogee. It is reminiscent of the Aztecs’ tradition to kill their chief when he got to the peak of his glory, in order not to experience the fall.

This is her last fight, in which she has to prove once and for all that she is the best: a real fighter, a winner. Therefore, the act of euthanasia is the easiest and most peaceful way of “leaving”. It is made here as natural as possible.

The relationship between Frankie and Maggie begins as a master/disciple one, and evolves into something deeper. In the end, we can feel there is a “fatherly protection”, and when Frankie says “Mo Cuishla means my darling, my blood” we understand that he has identified Maggie as his daughter, as a very important person in his life. Even though his face is very tense during his last monologue, Frankie tells Maggie sweet and kind words, as though he has been doing it forever. He kisses her good night, exactly as a father does when he puts his daughter to sleep. When he leaves, he doesn’t close the door, as a father does with his little daughter when she is afraid of the dark.

He realises he is committing a sin, but he has to assume it, because he can’t do otherwise, as he feels responsible for her and her happiness.

This scene somehow contrasts with that in which he accepts to train her: there is very little light, and it is getting increasingly weaker, announcing the end. The only background sound is Maggie’s artificial, painful breath, followed by a soft piano music. The atmosphere is sad but not dramatic; we have the feeling that Frankie has done his duty, something natural, for which he had no alternative.

contributed by Irina Dima, December 2005

This is a love scene. It begins when Frankie has decided to accept Maggie’s demand (for the second time…), and disconnects her from the air machine.

He enters the hospital room without any unnecessary verbal introduction, getting right to the fact. He knows there is not much time for him to accomplish his “duty”, which means that the three things he says to her are of capital importance. He is aware that those will be his last words to Maggie:

“All right..."

He accepts to help her. It is probably the most important for Maggie, as it means the end of her suffering, and at the same time a deep and meaningful understanding between them.

"I'm gonna disconnect your air machine and you’re gonna go to sleep, and I'll give you a shot and you'll stay asleep.

This will accompany her through the last step she has to take in her life. One might think that these few words are empty, but it is the tone that reveals the struggle in Frankie’s heart. The expression on his face betrays his profound sadness and reluctance to fulfil Maggie’s demand, also conveyed in words during his talk with the priest:

“Now she wants to die, and I just want to keep her with me”
“By keeping her alive I'm killing her”

Finally, his last sentence to her, "Mo Cuishla means "my darling, my blood," is a love declaration. Maggie is overwhelmed by gratitude; her tears express relief and happiness. Frankie leans over to kiss her; it is obviously a love kiss (he also kisses her when she is dead). Although Frankie’s love for Maggie is above all a paternal love, there seems to be a sort of attraction to her as a woman. Frankie needs Maggie. The idea of losing his loved one terrifies him. Maggie is the only person he cares for, as Scrap pertinently underlines:

“Then he walked out; I don’t think he had anything left.”

In a way, this scene makes him her saviour, her hero. In almost every story, the hero is the lover, but here, strangely enough, he delivers her from life, not from a death threat.

contributed by Simona Florescu, December 2005