{"id":633,"date":"2015-07-27T22:50:01","date_gmt":"2015-07-28T04:50:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/?p=633"},"modified":"2015-07-27T22:50:01","modified_gmt":"2015-07-28T04:50:01","slug":"southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/","title":{"rendered":"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"southpaw2\"<\/a>The eye always gave him trouble.<\/p>\n

It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round after round, taking punch after punch. He had to be hurt, it seems, to let loose his beast, and so the blows rained down on the full of his face like hail blowing sideways. By the time Billy won\u2014and he always won\u2014his left eye was a bloody, pulpy mess \u2026 along with the rest of his face.<\/p>\n

But what did he need to see for? He had his beautiful wife, Maureen (Rachel McAdams), to take him by the hand and lead him, just like she had for years.<\/p>\n

But when Maureen is taken from him unexpectedly\u2014leaving him to take care of his career, his life, their young daughter, Leila, alone\u2014Billy realizes just how blind he is. His rage, such an asset in the ring, turns on him and tears him down. His posse, sensing his self-destruction, leaves him almost to a man. In despair and under the influence of something, he purposefully crashes his own car into a tree. His lack of foresight and horrible decision-making eventually cost him everything he has: His boxing license, his home, even his daughter.<\/p>\n

In desperation, Billy turns to Tick Willis (Forest Whitaker), a talented trainer who has dedicated his life to teaching young boys and men the \u201csweet science,\u201d the sport of boxing. A cross hangs in his office. He carries around a well-used Bible. He talks of God\u2019s providence and plans. And he takes a deeply humbled Billy Price\u2014eyelid still drooping over his battered left eye\u2014in, but under a few conditions: Billy can\u2019t drink or do drugs. He can\u2019t throw a punch until Tick tells him to. And, at first, Billy won\u2019t be a fighter at all, but a janitor. He\u2019ll pick up gear and scrub the floors for fighters who have just a tiny percentage of Billy\u2019s skill.<\/p>\n

\"southpaw<\/a>This isn\u2019t the first time we\u2019ve seen an athlete, high on his own hubris, needing to be humbled before getting a shot at redemption. Boxing movies specialize in these themes, it seems. Didn\u2019t we see this in Rocky II<\/em>? And III<\/em>? Maybe most of them? But I like the way Southpaw<\/em>, anchored by the talented Jake Gyllenhaal, tells this story.<\/p>\n

True to his name, Tick gets under Billy\u2019s skin. He teaches Billy how to do more than just throw punches. He shows him how to box\u2014to jab, to defend, to protect his eye. He suggests that rage\u2014blind rage\u2014is Billy\u2019s enemy, not friend, and encourages the fighter to be patient; to watch and wait for his opponent to make a mistake. In a way, Tick teaches Billy how to see, not just feel.<\/p>\n

Out of the ring, Tick\u2019s lessons are no less valuable. Tick preaches the value of keeping focused and staying out of trouble. When Billy\u2019s daughter lashes out at her father, Tick encourages patience\u2014taking care of himself and making responsible decisions while she works out her own anger. He encourages Billy to be an adult, really\u2014someone who\u2019s capable of making good decisions, controlling his anger and live as though it\u2019s up to him to keep he and his daughter on an even keel. Because it is. No one\u2019s around to take care of either of them anymore.<\/p>\n

During the climactic fight (and really, how could there not be a climactic fight), Billy is goaded again into an unseeing rage. His opponent makes some horrible remark about Billy\u2019s dead wife, sending the fighter over the edge. It seems like Billy\u2014his left eye seeping blood again\u2014will either kill the guy or die trying.<\/p>\n

But Tick\u2019s in his corner, talking him down, encouraging him to think and push the rage aside.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod is watching you!\u201d Tick says. \u201cYour wife is watching you! I\u2019m watching you! Your daughter is watching you!\u201d It\u2019s like Tick is saying, Make the right decision, right here, for all of us. Don\u2019t just feel: Open your eyes and see us. See the road before you. See<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I love that scene, the idea of Tick pulling Billy back from his terrifying anger, to remember who he is and what he\u2019s fighting for.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all a little like Billy, I think. We all have things we fight for, people we live for. We know what\u2019s important to us \u2026 most of the time. But sometimes we forget. Rage or passion or greed or sin get in the way. We lose sight of what\u2019s precious. We go blind.<\/p>\n

We all know the words to \u201cAmazing Grace\u201d:<\/p>\n

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound
\nThat saved a wretch like me
\nI once was lost, but now I\u2019m found.
\nT\u2019was blind, but now I see.<\/p>\n

\"southpaw3\"<\/a>Grace is the foundation of Christianity: God\u2019s grace, and His willingness to pluck us from our own sin and misery, is key to everything the faith is about. God\u2019s grace feels a little like Tick, I think. When Billy needed a hand, Tick was there for him.<\/p>\n

But that hand up wasn\u2019t the end of the story. Billy needed to get that his way wasn\u2019t the right way to go. He needed to understand that he had to change. He couldn\u2019t walk through his life blind anymore. He had to live smarter for he and his daughter. He needed to see.<\/p>\n

Just like we all do, right? Grace is a wonderful thing, but it\u2019s not an excuse to continue to walk blindly down the same sinful roads we\u2019ve always walked. We gotta see. We\u2019ve got people counting on us, after all. And they\u2019re watching us.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The eye always gave him trouble. It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round after round, taking punch after punch. He had to be hurt, it seems, to let loose his beast, and so the blows rained down on the full of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2036,"featured_media":637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1],"tags":[129,220,236,99],"class_list":["post-633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","category-uncategorized","tag-family","tag-grace","tag-southpaw","tag-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nSouthpaw: Blind, But Now I See<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The eye always gave him trouble. It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The eye always gave him trouble. It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Watching God\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-07-28T04:50:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/469\/2015\/07\/southpaw3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Paul Asay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Paul Asay\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/\",\"name\":\"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-07-28T04:50:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-07-28T04:50:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#\/schema\/person\/b7d54df93630808a5dce9d242d5e0183\"},\"description\":\"The eye always gave him trouble. It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/\",\"name\":\"Watching God\",\"description\":\"Finding faith with a box of popcorn.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#\/schema\/person\/b7d54df93630808a5dce9d242d5e0183\",\"name\":\"Paul Asay\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be136f94fadd74743ab6da681563930d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be136f94fadd74743ab6da681563930d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Paul Asay\"},\"description\":\"Paul Asay is an author, journalist and entertainment critic who now serves as a senior associate editor for the popular Christian entertainment review site Plugged In (pluggedin.com). He has been published in a variety of other secular and Christian publications, including The Washington Post, The Gazette in Colorado Springs, YouthWorker Journal and Beliefnet.com. He has a love of old movies, a disturbing affinity for bad ones and an appreciation for all things geek.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/author\/paulasay\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See","description":"The eye always gave him trouble. It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See","og_description":"The eye always gave him trouble. It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/","og_site_name":"Watching God","article_published_time":"2015-07-28T04:50:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/469\/2015\/07\/southpaw3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Paul Asay","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Paul Asay","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/","name":"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-07-28T04:50:01+00:00","dateModified":"2015-07-28T04:50:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#\/schema\/person\/b7d54df93630808a5dce9d242d5e0183"},"description":"The eye always gave him trouble. It was the price Billy Hope paid for the way he fought\u2014full of unbridled, unmanageable rage. He\u2019d sleepwalk through round","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2015\/07\/southpaw-blind-but-now-i-see\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Southpaw: Blind, But Now I See"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/","name":"Watching God","description":"Finding faith with a box of popcorn.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#\/schema\/person\/b7d54df93630808a5dce9d242d5e0183","name":"Paul Asay","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be136f94fadd74743ab6da681563930d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/be136f94fadd74743ab6da681563930d?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Paul Asay"},"description":"Paul Asay is an author, journalist and entertainment critic who now serves as a senior associate editor for the popular Christian entertainment review site Plugged In (pluggedin.com). He has been published in a variety of other secular and Christian publications, including The Washington Post, The Gazette in Colorado Springs, YouthWorker Journal and Beliefnet.com. He has a love of old movies, a disturbing affinity for bad ones and an appreciation for all things geek.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/author\/paulasay\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2036"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}