When it comes down to finding out the best film of an actor’s career, it’s mostly easy to choose from since there may be that one iconic role that they are famous for or that one performance that sticks out from the others. But when it comes to Christian Bale, it truly becomes a topic of debate as every single film he’s been a part of is nothing short of phenomenal when it comes to his performance.
But apart from his depiction of the character he’s assigned, the film can have many flaws, something that can ruin it completely. This was the case with his film that was released in 2010 when the director came under fire for his biopic from the people on whom he had made the film, especially when his depictions of the female characters were inaccurate.
Christian Bale’s The Fighter Called Out For Inaccurate Portrayal Of Female Characters
From his iconic portrayal of Bruce Wayne in The Dark Knight trilogy to his unforgettable performance as a malnourished insomniac in The Machinist, when Christian Bale takes on a role, he makes sure that he gives the audience something to remember through it, which has worked wonders for his career. But at the same time, while he may have some very popular roles in the industry, he also has some underrated ones, which while being lesser-known, are still impactful, like his role in David O. Russell‘s 2010 biopic The Fighter.
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While the aforementioned film may have been one of the best sports drama films from the realm of boxing, what truly brought it out in a negative light was the director’s choice to cast the main and supporting female leads differently than what they looked naturally. Alice Eklund, the real-life person who was the inspiration behind her character in the film, talked about how she and her sisters were very different from how they were portrayed, saying:
“Those women were ugly. I never had hair like that. And Cathy—Cathy was a poster girl in the 1980s when she was waiting tables in Florida.”
Even Dickie Ward, who was the man that Bale was about to portray in the film, weighed in on this issue, saying that it wasn’t in the best taste for the director to portray her mother and sisters this way, saying:
“I done a lot worse than what you guys are showing, but do you guys have to show my sisters and mother this way?”
Along with this, the film also showed the main character Micky Ward winning the World Champion title, when in reality, he only won the World Boxing Union Junior Welterweight Title in 2000 and was never really recognized as a world champion.
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What Was The Fighter About?
While the film may look like another sports drama film, it turns out to be so much more than the fighter in the spotlight. The Fighter tells the tale of a young boxer named Micky Ward, whose family is his entire crew when it comes to professional boxing. But try as hard as he may, he doesn’t seem to win any of his matches despite his mother as the manager and his half-brother as his trainer.
Then one day, he finally heeds his girlfriend’s advice and decides to separate himself from them for the foreseeable future, which against all expectations, lands him a title shot, and his family a chance at redemption.
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The Fighter, streaming on Prime Video.
Source: Men’s Journal
