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Chapter 5

Between the Reel and the Real

[W]e live in a culture of images, a society of the spectacle, a world of

semblance and simulacra … – (W. J. T. Mitchell, Picture Theory 5)

The proliferation of ‗images‘ in the era of visual culture has significantly

influenced all the disciplines and schools of art. Literary forms of writing are no
exception.1 Martin Jay asserts that ―[t]he new fascination with modes of seeing and
the enigmas of visual experience evident in a wide variety of fields may well betoken
a paradigm shift in the cultural imaginary of our age‖ (―Vision in context‖ 3).
Autobiographies of sportspersons exemplify this ‗shift‘ as they evince a considerable
visual drive. There is a significant crossover of the ‗screen‘ and the ‗text‘ in these
autobiographical narratives. They either anticipate or are prompted by the techniques
of cinematic world. Driven by pictorial imagination, sports autobiography moderately
delivers with words what cinema produces with visuals. In this way, these accounts
problematize the commonly held distinctions between the visual and the verbal.2

Due to its cinematic orientation, contemporary sports autobiography has the

inherent tendency of providing a working script to a sports film, particularly to a
3
biopic. Elizabeth Bruss, in her article ―Eye for I: Making and Unmaking
Autobiography in Film‖ claims that a film is ―resistant to autobiography‖ (315).
According to her, there is no corresponding ‗eye‘ for an autobiographical ‗I‘ since a
film lacks the ―capacity for self-observation and self-analysis that we associate with
language and literature‖ (298). She adds that the three parameters i.e. truth-value, act-
value and identity-value, which lend an autobiography its generic status, are
fundamentally distorted by the film (299-301).4 Bruss maintains that autobiography is
‗personal‘, whereas film is an ‗impersonal‘ act in which ―the automatic undoes the
autobiographic‖ (303). She identifies numerous other reasons to consolidate her claim
of the ―intranslatability‖ of autobiography (297). Bruss supports her argument with
clarity and scholarly references; nevertheless, it elicits reductionist overtones. The two
mediums – autobiography and film – are not completely analogous to each other but
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there are possible grounds of identification between a sports autobiography and a

biopic. The cinematic ‗eye‘ and the autobiographical ‗I‘ complement each other
despite the fundamental differences in their modes of communication. Biopic has its
own generic compulsions and, subsequently, it flouts the grammar of autobiography;5
nonetheless, it derives substantially from its literary predecessor/counterpart.6

Sports autobiography does not function merely as a ‗source‘ material for a

film. It possesses several elements that offer crucial ingredients of screenwriting.
Linda Hutcheon, in her work A Theory of Adaptation, believes that some kinds of
stories are more adaptable than others. Their lively dialogues, melodramatic
scenarios, pictorial tendencies and scenes of spectacle render them readily adaptable
or at least ―adaptogenic‖ (15). Autobiographies of athletes are action packed
narratives which attempt to replay the actual sporting moments. They evoke an
element of ‗liveness‘ and immediacy by recreating the past experience in spectatorial
terms. Murray Pomerance argues how sport suits cinematic representation and
instinctively interacts with the world of screen:

Sport is essentially cinematic. Its moments are temporally contingent

dramatizations of intent and meaning especially opened to vision – that
of fans, referees, scorekeepers, managers and owners, certainly, and
also that of athletes performing. Unlike much organize activity that is
the subject of popular film – legal argument in the courtroom, kissing,
surgical or police procedure, corporate management, university
lecturing, writing and other creative activity – sport is naturally
susceptible to cinematic activity because it is inherently and densely
consequential and inherently visual. (311)

Apart from their visual nature, life narratives of sportspersons present everything a
sports film should possess: readymade protagonist and rivals, instances of elation and
suffering, tension and melodrama, climax and anticlimax, fantasy and flashbacks,
crowd scenes and family matters, quest and achievement. They are exercises into
image consolidation and myth-making and, thus, they cater prefabricated legends and
myths for the cinematic purpose. Their animated dialogues and epigrams render them
amenable for filmic reworking. The aim of this chapter is to discern all these
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cinematic traits in the autobiographies of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pelé),

Muhammad Ali and M. C. Mary Kom.

II

Pelé: The Autobiography is story of a small town boy from Brazil who
became three times world champion in football. The narrative has substance of a
legend and is steered by cinematic principles. It begins with a claim: ―Memory is like
a film which we alone can watch. For me, childhood is the best part of that film: time
and again my thoughts return to my experiences, the innocence and mischief of that
time, and the dreams and nightmares too‖ (Nascimento 11).7 The autobiographer‘s
opinion suggests that he has a baggage of childhood memories which set off the
unfolding of events in the life story. Autobiography is generally defined as a
recollection of past events and incidents. The act of remembering the past is also often
termed as ―picture memory‖ or ―perceptual memory‖ (Brewer 23). Whether coherent
or distorted, memories are believed to contain pictorial content. A childhood memory
is ―translated into visual imagery only at the time of its revival‖ (Ross 49). Therefore,
the autobiographer avers in the beginning that he can ‗watch‘ as his thoughts ‗return‘
to his childhood experiences. This ‗return‘ to past introduces the element of flashback
which takes the readers back to the streets of Bauru, his hometown.

Memory has a potential of transporting a reader to the ground zero of

experience. Pelé‘s life story brings forth a series of picturesque childhood memories
such as playing with a ball made of socks, skipping school and classroom
punishments, swimming in the hot afternoons, breaking into orchards to steal
mangoes, and many more. The narrative manifests these instances of childhood with a
close ‗eye‘ for details. There are evidences of ‗witnessing‘ when the autobiographer
relates his past: ―[A]t the age of four the happiness that train journey gave me is
engraved on my mind. I spend almost the whole journey glued to the window,
transfixed by constantly changing view. The train went slowly but that was fine by
me: all the more time to take in the scenery‖ (Nascimento 17). The description
records the instance purely in motion-picture terms. The use of words such as ―glued‖
and ―transfixed‖ convey the stillness of camera/viewer. On the contrary, the words
and phrases like ―slowly,‖ ―more time,‖ ―scenery‖ and ―constantly changing view‖
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capture the pace and movement of images/train. The word ―engraved‖ indicates the
storage of these images. In another instance of journey, the autobiographer again talks
about the ―breathtaking view of jungle and cliffs‖ (62) with his ―eyes fixed on the
landscape‖ (63).

Out of all ―scene[s] from the film of my life‖ (52), the most frightening
incident is that of a glider crash. The autobiographer remembers the ‗scene‘ minutely
for it, time and again, gives him ―nightmares‖ (23). Pelé recalls that he was playing
football with his schoolmates when a friend brought the news of a dead person in the
morgue. Finding the idea exciting, he plans to visit the site of crash:

I went to look at the scene of the accident close-up, naughty and

curious, eager not to miss anything. As if that wasn‘t enough, my
friends and I then went over to the hospital where the autopsy was
taking place, and saw the dead pilot laid out on the slab through a dirty
window … then the mortuary attendant or doctor or whoever he was
tried to manipulate the corpse, which was still clothed, and in moving
the pilot‘s arm, which must have already been starting to stiffen, he
had to yank it hard and this caused a gush of blood spurt out on to the
floor. It was a terrifying sight, like something from a movie, and the
image remained burned in my mind for days and nights afterwards.
(22-3)

The autobiographer explicitly reveals that cinematic imagination is at work here for it
was a scene ―like something from a movie.‖ He shows voyeuristic tendencies as he
was ―curious‖ and ―eager‖ to have a ―close-up‖ look at the scene and did not want ―to
miss anything.‖ The ―window‖ involves the element of gaze and adds to his
voyeurism. The use of adjective ―dirty‖ for window hints towards the quality of
‗view‘. The narrator creates the environment of a horror film exhibiting mortuary as a
site. Moreover, the references to ―corpse‖ and its stiffened body supplement the
atmosphere of fear and frightfulness. The ―gush of blood‖ that spurts out on the floor
achieves the ocular peak and heightens the cinematic effect. The overall image
remains ―burned‖ or intact in the mind of viewer and functions like a flashbulb
memory.8
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The life narrative is consummately visual when it depicts the action on the
football field. Football as a sport is a typical ‗moving image‘ phenomenon. Discussing
the nature of sport, Pelé highlights its aesthetic appeal: ―Football is special … When
it‘s well tuned, it all comes out beautifully, as though we were taking part in a
cleverly choreographed dance. And it really thrills the audience when this happens,
they can appreciate the tone of the game, its beauty‖ (Nascimento 6). The engrossing
involvement of audience in the matches makes a sport spectacular. Spectacle is an
interactive display which includes ―mediation between viewers and viewed, actors
and audiences‖ (Kyle 14). In other words, it is an act of ―seeing and being seen‖ (14).
Pelé perceives a spectator to be ―the twelfth player on a team‖ (Nascimento 6).
Consequently, the narrative witnesses numerous scenes of spectacle that contain
visual as well as aural images. The vivid presence of spectators ―waiting to embrace
us … shake our hands‖ and their ―madness and euphoria‖ (104) is juxtaposed with
sound images like ―booed by crowd‖ (71), ―a great roar went up‖ (103), ―cheering,
waving and chanting‖ (104) to create an atmosphere of live action taking place.

Whenever the autobiographer comments on matches and their outcomes, he

employs cinematic metaphors such as ―full scale drama‖ (73), ―seven goal thriller‖
(93-4), ―an action-packed game‖ (140), ―a thrilling victory‖ (158), ―this extraordinary
spectacle‖ (232), and so on. The screen-related vocabulary develops automatically in
the course of narration: ―I outjumped two Swedish defenders, touched the ball with
my head and – as if in slow motion – watched it loop in the corner of the net‖ (97).
The idea of a football looping in ‗the corner of the net‘ is highly visual, what makes it
all the more cinematic is the ‗slow motion‘ of the unfolding image. The instance also
appears to be a piece of running commentary. At many occasions, the narrative gives
an impression of live commentary taking place except that it is written in the past
tense: ―I got the ball near the penalty spot, turned and passed a player and ran to the
right of the goal. I shot past the keeper and – from nowhere – a defender lunged and,
on the goal line, kicked the ball away‖(170). The description maps the exact moves
and directions on the football field and draws precise pictures in mind. It sketches a
geography of ‗movement‘ with references such as "near the penalty spot,‖ ―turned,‖
―ran to the right,‖ ―shot past the keeper,‖ ―from nowhere,‖ ―defender lunged,‖ ―on the
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goal line,‖ and ―kicked the ball away‖ (170). The swiftness of ‗motion‘ excludes the
possibility of writing a full length sentence for each ‗move‘. The whole description
lasts two sentences and even the shift to second sentence becomes possible only when
he gets a little breather while running to the ‗right of the goal‘. In terms of preciseness
required for a running commentary, the narrator/commentator does not waste many
words except for a few conjunctions.

The build-up to Pelé‘s thousandth goal is full of suspense and drama and so is
the final moment of achieving this mark. The autobiographer recalls that the occasion
created ―a hyped-up state of delirium‖ (168). The football world announced that a
thousand goals equal immortality which added to ―the pressure‖ (168). Pelé attempts
to recreate the ‗scenes‘ inside and outside the stadium: ―You cannot imagine the
scenes there. There were parades in the streets, it was like it was carnival … The
stadium was rammed, with a Cup final atmosphere. There were flags and banners and
drummers and a huge, contagious excitement‖ (169). Under such circumstances, the
campaign unfolded ―very theatrically‖ (169) for whenever he got chances to score a
goal, he would either ―hit the woodwork‖ (169) or the goalkeeper made a brilliant
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save. The disappointment was followed by a tackle from the defender of the opponent
team and the referee awarded a penalty, a typical cinematic deus ex machina moment.
The unraveling of the final outcome intensifies the element of suspense and drama all
the more:

For the first time in my career I felt nervous. I had never felt a
responsibility like this before. I was shaking. I was on my own now.
My team-mates left me alone and stood along the centre line of the
pitch.

I ran to the spot, seemingly in slow-motion, struck the ball …

Before we get there, a slight diversion about the way I took penalities.
(170-71)

As the narrator is relating the incident, he is aware of the cinematic effects he aspires
to produce. He imagines the whole scenario ‗seemingly in slow-motion‘ and therefore
employs various techniques to achieve it. The use of ellipses enhances the nucleus of
waiting and suspense which is further aggravated by the ‗slight diversion‘ on the art
of penalty taking. A penalty kick, as a form of action, naturally stimulates a
suspenseful situation. Unlike a field goal, it allows a moment of ‗pause‘ and ‗pose‘.
The drama re-begins:

Back to Santos v. Vasco on 19 November 1969. I ran to the spot,

made a paradinha, and struck the ball.
Goooooooool! (171)

Paradinha is a Brazilian word for a ―little stop‖ (171). As a form of penalty kick, it is
a trick employed by the strikers to judge the movement of the goalkeeper.
Synonymous with ‗stopping,‘ it complements the ellipses and the ‗slight diversion‘
used earlier by the narrator and thereby retains the tension. The graphic inscription of
the word ‗Goooooooool!‘ shapes the movement of ball towards the net. As Pelé
achieves the elusive thousand goals mark, the drama ends and jubilation begins.

Sports films, especially biopics, thrive on a ―larger imaginative sweep of

legend and heroic sentiment‖ (Chakravarty 158). They emphasize traits of greatness
so as to generate ―a ‗mythical‘ level of resonance, their qualities already in the realm
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of legendary‖ (Corner 98). Autobiographies of sportspersons are an amalgamation of

mythical and biographical consciousness. Pelé‘s life story is a parallel narrative of
war with all the hints of heroism, battle, revenge, victory and national pride. The
narrative employs mythical tropes and archetypes to ensure the ‗birth of a legend.‘9
Pelé emerges as a heroic figure or a king ―chosen by the people‖ (Nascimento 103).
Time and again, he perceives himself as ―a soldier‖ (113) and football as a ―war‖
(112, 137). The metaphors of heroism reverberate for he considers football as ―a game
for men‖ (184) which requires ―character and dedication‖ (152), ―a little piece of
audacity‖ (179) and ―motivation of national pride‖ (173). The preparation for sports
event against their archrivals Uruguay and Argentina turns out to be ―a military
campaign‖ (153) motivated with a desire of ―some kind of revenge‖ (183). In a match
against Italy, the reference to their ―door-bolt‖ defence generates impression of
fortification (186). The life story evokes an emotional resonance whenever the
autobiographer speaks about his nation: ―We lined up for the national anthems, and I
felt a surge of emotion through my veins: this was what it was all about. This was
what all the training had been for … To represent one‘s country, a football-mad
country, in the biggest competition of them all‖ (91). As they win their first world cup
in 1958, Pelé receives a hero‘s welcome the moment he ―touched down on Brazilian
soil‖ (103). All these allusions of heroism, achievement and national glory
consolidate the legend of an international icon aptly packaged for cinematic
representation. Pelé: The Autobiography, thus, reflects shades of cinema in unison
with the empirical details of life. The autobiographer almost compulsively
acknowledges the contribution of cinema in the making of the text: ―Movies will
always be part of my life, whether making them, watching them or simply replaying
the film of my memory‖ (247).

III

The life narrative of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, The Greatest: My Own
Story is so imbued with cinematic imagination that it appears to be more of a film-
script than a document of autobiographical experience. The narrative employs various
techniques of celluloid world such as continuous use of flashbacks, formation of
scenes, dialogue based situations, camera angles and movements, dramatized action,
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reified narration, readily adaptable fight scenes, dreams and visions, and so on. Most
importantly, the autobiography possesses the element of a filmable ‗story‘ and a
readymade protagonist. The narrative commences like the beginning of a film setting
up a visual atmosphere straightaway: ―Louisville 100 miles. I barely see the sign in
the rain‖ (Ali and Durham 17). At the outset, the narrator displays a signboard as an
object to be ‗seen.‘ ‗Rain‘ is a cinematic trope and the life story makes use of it time
and again. As it ―pours down heavier‖ in the dark background (17), the
autobiographer evinces a moment of flashback: ―I keep going over the same scene,
like in a movie‖ (17). Ali‘s autobiography is pervaded with flashbacks which bring
different time zones together and, hence, introduce a frequent fade-in and fade-out of
images. The narrative is replete with expressions such as ―[I] look down the curve the
way I did … twenty years ago‖ (34), ―[d]riving around the old streets reminds me of a
time‖ (42), ―I remember one hot Saturday morning‖ (48), ―I‘m back in Louisville …
seven or eight years old‖ (88) and so on.

Apart from the timely use of flashbacks, the narrator seems to be an expert of
ocular techniques and camera movements. In a written narrative, ‗eyes‘ are
synonymous with ‗camera‘. The chronicler precisely captures the movement of
eyes/camera and produces a visual effect. For example: ―I look down at a heavyset
white man who has jumped up on his chair yelling at me, waving a newspaper‖ (18).
This instance suggests a good deal about the positioning and angular movement of the
camera. The camera/eye is positioned at a higher level than the white man as the
viewer has to look ‗down‘ in order to have a ‗view‘ of him. Moreover, there is a
considerable distance between the ‗eye‘ and its object since the viewer subsumes the
entire image of a ‗heavyset‘ man including his jump and his arm presumably stretched
further to wave the newspaper. In another instance, the direction of camera changes as
his ushers ―try to open the dressing-room door‖ from outside but ―it opens from the
inside‖ (18). In a scene, where Ali‘s wife is hospitalized and he meets her in the
hospital room, the narrator creates an effect of back-and-forth/upward-downward
view: ―I look into her eyes; they are wide open, but she is looking right through me to
something far and away‖ (22). In this reference, both Ali and his wife are
onlookers/cameras settled opposite to each other. However, one produces a ‗zoom-in‘
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effect presenting the ‗wide open‘ eyes; and the other ‗zooms‘ its lenses ‗out‘ to look
at ‗something far and away.‘ In the life narrative, the instances of eye/camera
movement frequently reflect through references such as ―the co-pilot looked down at
me through binoculars‖ (256), ―I remember pausing and looking over to where I know
Belinda is sitting‖ (18), ―There are thirty draftees, but all eyes are on me‖ (161).

The Greatest: My Own Story deals with the game of ‗boxing‘ which is highly
spectatorial in nature. Camilla Fozas explains: ―Boxing offers a unique visual
experience that, for its voyeurism, is readily cinematic. The fight may elicit various
conflicting emotions and responses in the spectator – fear, anger, disgust, pleasure –
all of which heighten the emotional mood of the scene and intensify the fascination of
looking at bodies on display and in performance‖ (103).10 She adds that the ―unique
one-on-one quality of boxing, of two people fighting with their gazes fixed upon each
other‖ accentuates the overall drama (104). What aggravates these elements all the
more in Muhammad Ali‘s autobiography is the fact that he is a prizefighter. Unlike
amateur boxing, prizefighting bouts are extended dramas for they involve fifteen
rounds of boxing. They are relatively fierce and violent since the boxers are not
allowed to wear the headgears. In this form of boxing, the total atmosphere of a fight,
with all the speculations, betting bids, crowd involvement, and result anticipation, is
saturated with melodrama. Ali relates the atmosphere around the ring during a fight
against his competitor Joe Frazier: ―The garden is on its feet. Only a few shout, ‗Ali!
Ali! Ali! Ali! But Frazier‘s supporters are confident and loud: ‗Joe! Come on, Joe!
Knock him out, Joe! Knock him out, Joe!‖ (Ali and Durham 350). In another instance,
having lost to Ken Norton as Ali heads back to his dressing room, people shout, ―We
beat you, you bastard,‖ ―You finished, loud-mouth! You finished!‖ and the
autobiographer could sense ―the hatred and fury in those voices‖ (18). In the
autobiography, the descriptions of crowd response are so well-wrought that one can
‗visualize‘ people shouting, ‗hear‘ their voices, and ‗comprehend‘ their emotions.

The autobiography achieves this visual acclimation for it thrives on a reified

narrative form. Ezra Pound defines reification as an ―attempt to set down things as
they are, to find the word that corresponds to the thing, the statement that portrays,
and presents, instead of making a comment‖ (74). It is a cinematographic form which
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underscores visual brevity in written texts. 11 Ali‘s narrative exploits the form in a
manner that the physical entities and objects evolve into lively images without the use
of metaphors and similes. The autobiographer portrays that Ken Norton, after
defeating Ali, ―dressed his flashiest – black skintight pants, a blazing red, low-cut
Italian shirt, wide open to show his chest – and paraded around the lobby, boasting
about breaking my jaw‖ (Ali and Durham 23). Similarly, he presents Mrs. Arvin, ―a
big woman with hair dyed red‖ and ―dressed in a purple robe‖ (41). In a typical
reified manner, the narrator traces the objects in terms of their colour, shape, texture,
volume and density (Spiegel 239-40). The words such as ―flashiest‖ and ―blazing‖
induce ‗appearance‘; ―chest‖ and ―big‖ signify ‗volume‘; ―pant,‖ ―shirt,‖ ―robe,‖
―skintight‖ and ―low-cut‖ evoke ‗shape‘; and ―red,‖ ―black,‖ ―purple‖ present things
in chromatic terms.

Reification also emphasizes ‗action‘ which is presented in the form of

―dramatized scenes‖ (Spiegel 229). The narrative of Ali‘s autobiography accelerates
in the form of scenes and episodes. Due to their reified narration, the scenes in the life
story have a cinematic propensity, entailing the potential of easy adaptation. The
scene where a gang of white boys and girls force Ali to gift his Olympic gold medal
to one of the girls in the group is full of action and drama. The initial setting of the
scene is a restaurant meant only for the whites. Muhammad Ali and his friend Ronnie
were already on the way when the weather was ―getting cloudy‖ (Ali and Durham
63). As it started raining, Ali decided to drop in at the restaurant despite his friend
Ronnie‘s objection. They occupied their seats and observed that ―a leather-jacketed
gang‖ was sitting ―at tables near window with their girl friends‖ (63). The pugilist
already knew the gang leader Frog and his deputy Slim who were infamous for
beating, lynching and chain-whipping the black youth in the white neighbourhoods.
The drama begins when the owner of the restaurant announced that ―we don‘t serve
no niggers!‖ (64). Feeling humiliated, Ali and Ronnie left the restaurant and as they
reached the parking area, they heard ―footsteps running in the rain‖ behind them (69).
In no time, the gang, with an exaggerated sound of the motorcycles, ―took off, r-r-r-r-
r-r-r-r-r-r-O-O-O-O-O-O-R-R-R-R-rrrrrrrr” and encircled them (69). With the
prospect of his first professional fight drawing near, Ali kept mum and waited for ―the
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settlement terms‖ (69). Pointing to Ali‘s neck, Slim announced that Frog needed the
gold medal for his girl. Ignoring his demand, Ali started off on his bike, straining
―against the wind and rain,‖ with the raging gang following him (71). Accelerating his
motorbike, Frog ignored Ronnie who was riding parallel to him. He, rather,
concentrated on Ali and ―whirled his chain like a cowboy‖ (73). Leading the scene
towards a climax, Ronnie displayed a cinematic stunt:

[W]ith perfect timing and in a coordinated move Ronnie leaped off his
machine, hurling it with all his strength underneath Frog‘s front wheel.
Frog saw it too late, made a frantic jerk, cut to the left, skipped up
against the cement mortar, smashing himself and his woman on the
bridge column. The woman let out a painful scream. Badly hurt and
bleeding, her blouse ripped, she scrambled over to help Frog, who
hung dazed against the rail. (73)

Meanwhile, the other members of the group reached the spot and one of them ―in the
German helmet‖ pulled out a gun (74), but he had to retreat back as Ali and Ronnie
had already got hold of his gang leaders. They ultimately released them and the gang
―disappeared, until all we could hear was rain and the shuffle and rattle of trains‖
(75). This episode carries readily translatable substance for a film. With motorbikes,
guns and whirling chains, it appears to be a short action-movie. The acts of jumping,
colliding, smashing, bleeding and other life-threatening situations call for a cinematic
interpretation. The elements of encircling, running and chasing lend the ingredients of
suspense and thrill to the scene. The uneasy circumstances are further intensified by
the heavy rain and blowing wind. The episode continues and rather becomes all the
more melodramatic in its climax. Wiping the blood from his gold medal, Ali realizes
that the medal had ―lost its magic (75). As he walked over to the centre of the bridge,
he had already decided what ―he wanted to do with this cheap piece of metal‖ (75).
Ronnie anticipated his action and, dropping his bike, he ran towards Ali, but ―I had
snapped the ribbon from around my neck. I held the medallion … and threw it into the
black water of the Ohio. I watched it drag the red, white and blue ribbon down to the
bottom behind it‖ (75-6). At its melodramatic crest, the incident provokes sentimental
response in the reader/viewer. As films generally attempt to do, the autobiographical
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scene creates a durable ‗image‘ in the collective memory of the people. Allegorizing
the American flag, the image of tri-colour ribbon symbolizes the fall of a nation,
‗down to the bottom.‘

The above mentioned scene also serves as an ―inciting incident‖ that triggers a
quest in the protagonist (McKee 181). Robert McKee, in his book Story: Substance,
Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting, explains that the inciting
incident in a film is ―the first major event of the telling‖ and ―the primary cause for all
that follows‖ (181). It may either happen to the protagonist or is caused by him (190).
The incident arouses a conscious as well as unconscious desire in the protagonist
which takes the form of a quest (192). The gold medal episode turns out to be an
inciting incident since Ali perceives it as a source of ―new secret strength‖ (Ali and
Durham 76). In a flashback, he recalls the incident and discerns: ―It was thirteen years
ago when I last stood here with my Olympic Gold Medal. It was a turning point in my
life and the starting point‖ (30). The references such as ‗turning point‘, ‗new secret
strength,‘ and ‗starting point‘ suggest a build-up to the future course of action. The
circumstances that follow are determined by or inextricably linked with this episode.
The incident ‗incites‘ a quest in Ali to emancipate his people from the shadow of
racism. He finds himself to be trapped in ―some big white net‖ (62) and resolves to
undertake a pursuit of ―correction‖ (63).

The Greatest: My Own Story, in this sense, intrinsically involves the

‗substance‘ of story required for a film script. According to McKee, a film story
demands a protagonist who has ―a free will and the capacity to desire, take action, and
suffer the consequences‖ (McKee 137). He, in other words, is a ―willful character‖
(137). The revelation of his character is fundamental to the story and the character is
revealed by the choices he makes under pressure (101). In a pursuit to achieve his
goal, the protagonist provokes ―forces of antagonism‖ (inner, personal, extra-
personal) that attempt to hinder his quest (148). His actions generate progressive
conflicts or a series of events which allow ―points of no return‖ (208). The life of
protagonist remains at ―perpetual risk‖ (149); nonetheless, he sustains his desire
through problems and hindrances. Right from the gold medal episode, Muhammad
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Ali, as a protagonist, evinces traits of a ―deep character‖ that is empathetic and self-
sacrificing (142). After the incident, he converts to Islam denouncing his slave name,
Cassius Clay. The conversion generates antagonistic powers which settle to finish his
boxing career. The promoter of his first professional fight directs him to convert back
to Christianity, or ―the fight is off‖ (Ali and Durham 100). Ali resolutely replies: ―I‘m
not going to denounce my religion, not even for the fight‖ (101). His refusal is an act
of ‗free will‘ even though it renders his career at ‗risk‘.

Muhammad Ali resorts to exhibition and cinematic showmanship to save his

fighting career. In order to draw the attention of promoters and to provoke the rival
boxers, he brags in the public, goes on TV, recites poems, picks up fights in press
conferences, announces the rounds he would defeat his opponents in. He, moreover,
raids the house of rival boxer Sonny Liston ―to make it look like I want Liston so
bad‖ (110). Comparing himself with an actor, Ali opines: ―I believe in a fighter‘s
obligation to perform in the ring, in the same way an actor believes ‗the show must go
on‘‖ (142). His showmanship rewards him and ―almost overnight everybody wanted
to see me fight‖ (103). Nonetheless, his return to boxing and subsequent winning of
the World Championship Titles is accompanied by rather acute life-conflicts. While
training for his third title defense, Ali confronts another test of choice-making. The U.
S. Army plans to induct him for the Vietnam War, despite the fact that he flunks the
draft exam. He makes his anti-war sentiments public, announcing that ―I ain‘t got no
quarrel with the Viet Cong‖ (120). Following his remarks, the protagonist is labeled
unpatriotic and is given an opportunity to apologize or to show some signs of
patriotism. Politicians, promoters, fight organizers, press, family and fellow athletes
attempt to persuade Ali for apology, reminding him of the consequences. They offer
easy ‗choices‘: ―One stroke of the pen takes all the worry off your mind‖ (166), ―You
hardly ever pick up a gun. Just do a few exhibitions here and there. It‘s perfect‖ (166).
Surviving the pressure, the protagonist undertakes a self-less route and chooses prison
over Vietnam. His action once again perils his career and evokes the dialectic of
‗desire‘ and ‗risk‘ fundamental to a film story.
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Out on bail, Ali resiliently combats the adversities while waiting for the
decision of court. He realizes that his struggle is ‗time-ridden‘ and the ban on his
fights is ―a conspiracy to keep him inactive until it‘s too late‖ (260). He again resorts
to self-display in order to seek the worldwide attention. Ali convinces his fellow
boxer Joe Frazier for a mock fight in the gym ―to stir up things‖ or as ―sort of a show‖
(249). He showers unreal hate on his fellow fighters as a pretext for a ―Big Fight‖
(289). To keep his ‗quest‘ alive, he sponsors animosity for himself until he gets back
the license to fight. When the moment arrives, he has already been away from boxing
for nearly four years. Due to his aging body, he is written off as an obsolete warrior.
Nonetheless, Ali regains his World Heavyweight Title in Zaire and manifests a pan-
African victory. His life story ends with words which signify the fulfillment of his
quest: ―We‘re free now‖ (413). In this way, The Greatest: My Own Story presents a
protagonist who acts resolutely, fights odds, endures pressure, and retains hope. With
the profundity of his character, the story of Muhammad Ali befits the codes of
cinematic adaptation.
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IV

Like Muhammad Ali‘s autobiography, Indian pugilist M. C. Mary Kom‘s life

story, Unbreakable: An Autobiography encompasses the requisites of a film story.
The life narrative presents a female protagonist who ventures into the male domain of
boxing, encounters hardships, makes sacrifices, and ultimately goes on to become the
five times World Champion and an Olympic bronze medalist. The story involves all
three levels of conflict – inner, personal and extra-personal – as it archives her
Olympic quest, motherhood, and the problem of insurgency in Manipur.12 Apart from
a filmable story, Mary Kom‘s autobiography offers the constituents of a Bollywood
masala movie. It furnishes action and fights, melodrama and emotional ballast,
romance and love story in the usual style of Indian cinema. Enlarging the pugilist‘s
persona, the life narrative also endows a legend of a warrior woman. With its
anthropological focus on the architecture, physical surroundings and social rituals, the
autobiography, at times, evokes the form of documentary filmmaking.
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The life story commences with a ‗Prologue‘ which is written in the present
tense. Skipping the whole journey, it leads the readers to Mary Kom‘s present life
and creates a scenic impression. She relates:

I live in Imphal, Manipur. My house, a government quarter in Langol

Games Village, is only a couple of hours from Kangathei village,
which is where I grew up … There are policemen standing outside the
campus. They have big guns. It‘s a common sight everywhere in
Manipur. Both the policemen and the army men. Past them and
through the tall gate is my home. As you enter, you‘ll see that the walls
of my living room are full of framed photographs, photos that mark the
milestones in my career. (Kom and Serto 1)

The description captures the movement of camera from the tense streets of Imphal to
the inside of Mary Kom‘s living room. Before arresting a panoramic ‗view‘ of
photographs on the walls, the camera goes ‗past‘ the common ‗sight‘ of policemen
and army men, ‗enters‘ the ‗tall gate‘ and finally makes its way inside the
‗government quarter‘. For Mary Kom, the framed photographs are ―visual reminders‖
(2) which transport her to the boxing ring. Remembering her sporting expedition, she
realizes: ―I was the David who took on the Goliaths in the boxing ring – and I won,
most of the time‖ (2).

The biblical myth of David and Goliath recurs in the autobiography and
allegorically confers legendary stature to M. C. Mary Kom. 13 Myths and legends
possess the seductive energies of a culture. Therefore, the mythic quality of oft-
repeated legends is a part of biopic‘s stock-in-trade (Bingham 14). Like diminutive
David, Mary Kom valiantly fights the Goliath(s) – both inside and outside the ring.
The life narrative embodies the metaphors of ‗adversity‘ and ‗battle‘ which elicit the
mythical tropes. According to Hayden White, tropes are deviations from the literal,
conventional and ‗proper‘ use of language (2). Mary Kom‘s autobiography
exemplifies this departure from realistic language as the narrative presents the secular
story in a figurative form. The autobiographer asserts in the beginning that ―the
hardships I faced in my formative years are the foundation of my strength. I am tough
because of my background. They made me who I am today. They gave me the
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strength to keep fighting‖ (Kom and Serto 3). In the statement, the words such as
‗hardships‘, ‗tough‘, ‗strength‘, ‗background‘ and ‗fighting‘ customarily crop up to
consolidate the myth of a fighter. The life narrative is well-stocked with claims such
as ―I single-handedly fought my way through these hurdles (38), ―I had to beat down
the yearning to hang up my gloves and run home‖ (84), ―I fought with a do-or-die
attitude‖ (99), ―I am an eye-for-an-eye kind of girl‖ (105), ―I was going to fight the
battle of my life‖ (107), ―Criticism only brings out the fighter in me‖ (109), ―I were a
matador facing an angry, rampaging bull‖ (115), I fought ―like a tigress‖ (99) and so
on. The references evade realistic representation and enter the realm of figuration and
allegory.

The life story, in this way, augments the legend of a warrior woman. Mary
Kom identifies with the historical prototype of virangana which notably pervades the
popular Indian cinema and theatre.14 The virangana ideal signifies a ―good queen‖
who leads her people in the moment of crisis (Thomas 52). Cross-dressed as a male,
she champions the training sessions and displays fighting skills or an active
deployment of body. Holding the weapons generally carried by men, she takes on her
adversaries. Her status is largely driven by her own actions and deeds (52-53). Mary
Kom befits the virangana image as she is hailed as the ―Queen of Boxing‖ for her
feats in the boxing ring (Kom and Serto 73). In the insurgency ridden Manipur, she
combats for the common cause of her people and proudly asserts her tribal identity.
Like a warrior, she undergoes intense physical training: ―I had to run ten rounds of the
athletic track, at medium speed to begin with. As my speed increased, I had to run
twelve rounds daily … I would rest through the day and get ready for the sparring
sessions in the evening‖ (113). Moreover, she accustoms herself to a male-dominated
sport, wields boxing gloves, and prefers ―boyish clothes‖ (15). In other words, Mary
Kom‘s persona corresponds the virangana ideal which conventionally suits the
cinematic imagination.
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Unbreakable: An Autobiography is influenced by the peculiarities of India

popular cinema. In a Bollywood film, the protagonist‘s love interest, howsoever
incongruous it may be to the plot, is a crucial element of script. Mary Kom‘s
autobiography devotes a full chapter titled ―Onler and I‖ to portray her love life. In a
romantic undertone, she describes her meeting with Onler as a moment ―that would
change my life completely‖ (55). Driven by its romantic propensity, the following
scene from the autobiography calls for cinematic adaptation:

When I returned to the hostel, Onler called, which was highly unusual.
‗Hello?‘

‗Have you reached the hostel safely he asked?‘ he asked.

‗Yes? Did you have something to say?‘

Long pause. ‗May I say something?‘

‗Yes, of course, Onler, Do say what you need to.‘

Long pause again.

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I was beginning to get impatient. ‗Say it. What is it? I am all ready to
listen.‘ Maybe he wants to make a declaration of love, I thought to
myself, smiling. (59)

In the Bollywood boy-meets-girl format, after the declaration of love, the next hurdle
is to get consent for marriage from the girl‘s father who usually encroaches on ―the
smooth running of the romantic interest‖ (Sarkar 19). As Onler visits her home, Mary
Kom‘s father, without even looking at his face, announces, ―Don‘t follow my
daughter around‖ (Kom and Serto 63). Given the circumstances, she intends to elope
with Onler. Intensifying the social drama, her lover replies, ―We should not disgrace
our families‖ (64). As a result, they suffer ―separation pangs‖ (69) till their love story
culminates in marriage and achieves a happy-ending.

Likewise, Mary Kom‘s life story evokes melodramatic situations that are
typical of Indian cinema. In relation to Hindi films, Rachel Dwyer and Divia Patel
define melodrama as a cultural genre that emphasizes the ―functioning of characters in
situations that push their emotions to extreme‖ (29). It manifests the suffering of
characters generally triggered by illness, family break-up or doomed love (29).
Realizing its melodramatic significance, Mary Kom‘s autobiography foregrounds
illness and allots a full chapter titled ―The operation‖ to it. As the pugilist returns from
a competition in China, she confronts the news of her son being due for a heart
surgery. The incident corresponds a Hindi film scene: ―I reached just in time to see
my son being wheeled into the operation theatre … With a prayer I let go of his hand.
The surgery went on for a long time. We sat outside, barely breathing, praying as hard
as we could. Finally, the doors of the theatre opened‖ (94). The ‗scene‘ arouses
melodramatic response for it involves a mother-son relationship. The references such
as letting ‗go of his hand‘, ‗barely breathing‘ and ‗praying‘ hard cater emotional
ballast to the scene. In Hindi films, the surgical operations are part of a ―suspense
creating mechanism‖ (Sarkar 6). In the episode, the temporal markers such as
‗reached just in time‘, ‗for a long time‘, waiting ‗outside‘, and ‗finally‘ the opening of
doors consolidate this assumption. With all these apparent indicators, Mary Kom‘s
autobiography, therefore, seems to be driven by the Bollywood imagination.
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Cinema as a cultural phenomenon has influenced almost every facet of human

life (Marquez 170). The chapter, in this light, has addressed the cinematographic
nature of sports autobiography. Every biopic, as per its claim of being ‗based on true
story‘, is obligated to have some footing in reality. For this purpose, it counts on many
sources, including autobiography. Sports autobiography, however, serves not only as
a ‗source‘ but also contains necessary elements that go into the making of a
compelling film script. Sport is tailor-made for cinema for it primarily belongs to the
visual world. Moreover, it is known for its inherent dramatic qualities, suspenseful
situations, and result orientation. Within the generic limits, sports autobiographies
tend to recapture these visual and cinematic aspects of sports. In a reciprocal manner,
they evidently impact the cinematic adaptations and are significantly informed by the
techniques of cinema. As a result, autobiographies of sportspersons bring out the
conventional tropes of films such as voiceovers, flashbacks, action, melodrama,
spectacular scenes, heroic sentiment and the production of myths and legends.

Notes:

1
Leo Tolstoy comments on the emergence of cinema and anticipates its powerful
influence on the literary works:

You will see that this clicking contraption with the revolving handle
will make a revolution in our life—in the life of writers. It is a direct
attack on the methods of literary art. We shall have to adapt ourselves to
the shadow screen and to the cold machine. A new form of writing will
be necessary. I have thought of that and I can feel what is
coming...Listen—it may turn out to be a powerful thing! (qtd. in
Marquez 166)
2
Literary and cultural theorist W. J. T. Mitchell, in his work Picture Theory: Essays
on Verbal and Visual Representation, discusses the oft perceived distinctions between
the image and the text or the visual and the verbal:
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The ―differences‖ between images and languages are not merely

formal matters: they are in practice linked to things like the difference
between (speaking) self and the (seen) other; between telling and
showing; between ―hearsay‖ and ―eyewitness‖ testimony; between
words (heard, quoted, inscribed) and objects or actions (seen, depicted,
described); between sensory channels, traditions of representation, and
modes of experience. (5)
3
The screenplays which use sports themes as their plot dynamics are known as sports
films (Cashmore 139). The genre is further divided in sub-categories such as
documentaries, sports biopics and fiction films. Sports biopic is a film based on the
real life of a sportsperson. It is also sometimes called a biographical film. The Joe
Louis Story (1953), The Jesse Owens Story (1984), The Babe (1992), Ali (2001), and
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013) are some popular films in this category.
4
The three parameters which determine an ‗autobiographical act‘ are explained by
Elizabeth Bruss in the following manner: ‗Truth-value‘ is to be consistent with other
evidences related to the same events. By ‗act-value‘ she means that autobiography is a
performance or action which ―exemplifies the character of the agent responsible for
that action‖ (299-300). ‗Identity-value‘ suggests that the distinct roles of author,
narrator and protagonist in the autobiography are performed by the same individual
(300).
5
Biopics exercise a degree of license in terms of the selection and omission of the
content. They are not particularly concerned with historical accuracy or empirical
facts and rearrange the historical episodes according to the demands of the script. In
other words, they have autonomy ―to play with time and space in elastic ways‖ (Rowe
146). They dramatize actual events in the interest of cinema and its audience.
Nevertheless, biopics have some basis in reality and lurk in ―a liminal space between
fiction and actuality‖ (Bingham 7).
6
The three sports autobiographies which will be discussed in this chapter predate the
biopics made on their protagonists. In some cases, a film also precedes an
autobiography.
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7
Pelé‘s original name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento. This autobiography is
ghostwritten by Orlando Duarte and Alex Bellos and is translated from the Portuguese
by Daniel Hahn. For convenience and to avoid any confusion, I have used only
‗Nascimento‘ in the parenthetical references.
8
A flashbulb memory is considered as an accurate copy of the original event. It is
very much like a photograph that ―indiscriminately preserves the scene‖ (Brown and
Kulik 74). In other words, flashbulb memory is a type of recollective memory that
appears to show ―a reduced rate of forgetting‖ (Brewer 32).
9
‗Birth of a Legend‘ is subtitle of a biographical film made on the early life of Pelé.
The film is directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Michael Zimbalist.
10
Pearson et al., in their article ―Sport Films: Social Dimensions Over Time,‖
undertake a quantitative study of sports film made in America between 1930 and 1995
and draw a conclusion that in the 590 films made during this period, a total of 21
sports were featured. Among these sports, boxing was found to be the most filmed
sport followed by American football, auto-racing and baseball (145-46).
11
Alan Spiegel, in his article ―Flaubert to Joyce: Evolution of a Cinematographic
Form,‖ opines that the reified form of narrative writing began with the publication of
Gustave Flaubert‘s Madame Bovary in 1857. This form was later practiced by writers
such as Joseph Conrad, James Joyce, William Faulkner, Vladimir Nabokov and Alain
Robbe-Grillet. According to Spiegel, all these writers were ―reificationalists,‖
however; they differ from each other and exploit the form in their own personal styles
(229-30).
12
Robert McKee, in his book Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of
Screenwriting, differentiates between a complicated story and a complex story.
According to him, a complicated story involves only one level of conflict. For
instance, a stream of consciousness genre includes an inner or subjective level of
conflict, whereas a soap opera develops a personal conflict related to human
relationships. A complex story, on the other hand, incorporates all three levels of
conflict (213-15). Inner conflicts are related to mind, body and emotions; personal
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conflicts involve issues pertaining to family, friends and lovers; and extra-personal
conflicts arise out of clash with the social institutions (146-47).
13
The biblical story of David and Goliath connotes the victory of an underdog
(David) over a rather stronger opponent or adversary (Goliath).
14
The popular Indian films such as Dilruba Daku and Hunterwali are influenced by
the vogue of virangana prototype, a fighting woman. Historical and legendary figures
from Razia Sultana to Lakshmibai, Queen of Jhansi have prompted the works of
creative arts including films, theatre, folk songs, calendar art, and comic books
(Thomas 51-52).