Triumph and Tragedy in Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler”
Randy the Ram is full of contradictions. Warm and distant, kind and violent, and yet tender all at once. It’s the contradiction of his character that makes him such an engaging personality and all the more tragic. Randy the Ram isn’t primarily a bad or good man, he’s just human like all of us. The Wrestler is a heightened dramatization of our lives — all the beauty and tragedy at once — because when we see how beautiful human beings can be, it’s truly a tragedy when they become lost. That’s what The Wrestler is about — the tragedy of losing the self.
There’s a lot to explore in The Wrestler, but one can see the film as a continual downward spiral into tragedy; however, there are two offers of escape and redemption from the downward spiral. Redemption is the sub-theme of The Wrestler and is offered to Randy the Ram through romantic partnership and fatherhood — two central human “roles”. Randy has failed at both, but he’s offered redemption in the recovery of his role both as a partner (Cassidy) and as a father (Stephanie). Redemption is embodied here in Randy’s opportunity to love in the context of the roles we are given as human beings.
Stephanie is his first opportunity for redemption. Randy reaches out to her at the urging of Cassidy. After a failed attempt at connection, she agrees to walk along the boardwalk with him after he gives her a few birthday presents. It’s a bittersweet walk. Randy recalls memories of them together when she was young — memories she’s forgotten. Finally, with tears in his eyes, he tells her the truth.
I just want to tell you, I’m the one who was supposed to take care of everything. I’m the one who was supposed to make everything okay for everybody. It just didn’t work out like that. And I left. I left you. You never did anything wrong. I used to try to forget about you. I used to try to pretend that you didn’t exist, but I can’t. You’re my girl. You’re my little girl. And now, I’m an old broken down piece of meat… and I’m alone. And I deserve to be all alone. I just don’t want you to hate me.
As Randy confesses the failure of her fatherhood to Stephanie, she sees him — the deeper Randy. For the first time, Randy is beautiful — the broken father. It’s an emotional scene. We’ve seen Randy’s life and in a certain sense it’s a house built of straw falling apart, but in his confession, we get the truth; the truth of failure and the possibility of something new. Stephanie receives his confession and in a moment of braveness puts her arm around him. They enter an old abandoned hall and in a moment of surprising intimacy, they dance together. In a certain sense, it’s a surprising and symbolic act of reconciliation. It’s the only moment of true hope in the film, and however beautiful it is, it is short-lived.
Randy is offered a way out of the downward spiral of his life. His daughter’s acceptance of his confession is a turning point for him — all he has to do is change and show up and start to be the father he’s called to be. However, the offer of redemption is short-lived. Randy misses their evening engagement and settles for a night of drinking and sex. What feels like a moment of weakness for Randy is in reality the result of a life of misery and selfishness. As Stephanie waits and waits for her father to show up she realizes that he’s never going to show up fully — not now or ever. When he finally arrives she’s done, angry, confused, and hurt, screaming at him to leave and never come back.
The ending of the film brilliantly includes a second offer of redemption through Cassidy who, after saying no to a relationship, shows up at the last minute to the match. “I’m here, I’m really here. What do you call that?” she pleads — but it’s too late. Randy the Ram hears the crowd, they want him, “U.S.A, U.S.A”. Guns and Roses blares in the background. “The only place I get hurt is out there. The world don’t give a shit about me…This is where I belong,” he tells Cassidy. He walks out on stage and the crowd goes wild. An American flag falls behind him and he gives the speech of his life.
I just want to say to you all tonight I’m very grateful to be here. A lot of people told me that I’d never wrestle again and that’s all I do. You know, if you live hard and play hard and you burn the candle at both ends, you pay the price for it. You know in this life you can lose everything you love, everything that loves you. Now I don’t hear as good as I used to and I forget stuff and I aint as pretty as I used to be but god damn it I’m still standing here and I’m The Ram. As times goes by, as times goes by, they say “he’s washed up”, “he’s finished”, “he’s a loser”, “he’s all through”. You know what? The only one that’s going to tell me when I’m through doing my thing is you people here.
Triumph and tragedy — Randy revels in the moment. As the violence ensues it’s quickly apparent that he’s done, panting and needing to rest. With one last jump, he falls to his death as the crowd roars. Similar to Black Swan, The Wrestler ends with a white screen and thunderous applause which highlights Aronofsky’s theme of transcendence; man ultimately desires approval and applause. We will sacrifice everything for it.
It’s a fascinating ending because Randy chooses what he thinks he wants. He says no to Cassidy and chooses the crowd where he can’t get hurt, but the ending is seared with pain. It’s clear throughout the narrative that Randy desires relationship. He wants to become the father he should have been to Stephanie. We don’t know anything about Stephanie’s mother, but Cassidy symbolizes another chance at a romantic relationship — perhaps even a marriage. The pain of this choice is both emotional and physical. We watch Randy scramble through his last match, panting, railing against the limitations of his body. It’s physically exhausting to watching but emotionally it’s devastating. In choosing the crowd he seals the fate of his own story and not only hurdles to his death but misses out on the most human of oppertunities — love. Randy’s choice to turn is back on Cassidy is a denial of the self.
We live in a culture that says we get to choose who the self is. We are told we should dig deep into the recesses of our souls and choose the person we want to be, but The Wrestler flies in the face of this narrative. Randy thought his whole life he was choosing the right thing — fame, women, the applause of the crowd, but he ends up empty and alone. The Wrestler compels us to reflect on our choices and what ultimately matters in our life because amidst the triumph of Randy the Ram’s life are tears and tragedy. The final moments of ecstasy can’t erase the screams of his daughter, yelling at him to get out and never come back, or, the look on Cassidy’s face when he hears the crowd and turns his back on her offer of love. Here, in the final moment, Aronofsky asks key questions about what matters most in life.
In what way are we all Randy the Ram? In what way are we hurtling towards death by settling for the applause of the crowd? How do we stop our lives from becoming a tragedy?
