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Apollo Creed, the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, is scheduled to defend his title in Philadelphia, on New Year's Day in 1976, but his opponent drops out just six weeks before the fight because of an injury. Apollo decides to honor the nation's Bicentennial and the American spirit by giving an unknown fighter a shot at him and his title. He chooses Rocky. And why? Because of his nickname, "The Italian Stallion." Filled with self-doubt, Rocky at first declines the million-to-one shot—he resists the call, as movie heroes so often do—but finally he accepts. And beginning with his relationship with his manager, Mick (played by Burgess Meredith, who was also nominated for an Oscar), Rocky undergoes a remarkable transformation—as a man, a friend, and a fighter. Rocky's goal is not to win the fight, but just to go the distance, to last all 15 rounds and prove to the world, and to himself, that he is not "just another bum from the neighborhood." Along the way, he wins the love of a woman and develops friendships without which he never could have succeeded. And he learns that, without this love and these friendships, success would have no meaning. Rocky overcomes the odds, redeems himself, and realizes the American Dream. The real glory for him is not in winning, but in striving to be his best.  At the age of five, Philip Baldino is already a Rocky fanatic. This adoration is something the boy's father, Joe Baldino, encourages. He thinks Rocky is a great role model. "I've been promising to take him here for I don't know how long." No scene in Rocky is more symbolic, more powerful, or more enduring than the one at the art museum steps. Earlier in the film, Rocky sets out on a training run, but he is so out of shape that by the time he reaches the museum he can't even jog to the top of the steps. He has to walk. Near the end of the movie, on the eve of the big fight, he tries again. This time, though, he has changed. He has worked so hard, improved so much. He leaves his dreary row-house apartment, runs through the Italian Market, past the burning barrels of trash that merchants used to warm themselves, sprints along the docks, and finishes by racing up the museum steps at dawn, taking them three and four steps at a time, celebrating with a spirit and verve that still draws throngs to that very spot, in real life, three decades later. At the top, he spins and dances and thrusts his fists into the air, an action and gesture for which I have coined the verb to rocky. He isn't celebrating victory; this scene takes place before the fight. He is celebrating something more important—how far he's come in life. The steps become a symbol of his journey, his triumph—our triumph. Most of the people who run the Rocky Steps understand that the movie, in its own kitschy, corny, classic way, represents what is great about America. An Everyman can make his dream come true; an underdog can triumph through hard work; and few things are possible or worthwhile in life without love and friendship. People want to believe the American Dream is still true, still possible, for themselves and for everyone. Actually, this desire transcends nationality. It is not just an American dream, but a universal one. And because of a remarkable serendipity of architecture, history, and cinema, the people can come to this spot and bring that dream to life. They don't have to have much in common with Rocky; they may not even especially like the movie. But the sense of joy, self-expression, and hope that everyone feels as he or she celebrates on the steps is unmistakable and undeniable. People feel part of something here. They can visit the Liberty Bell, sure, but they can't hear it ring. At the steps, for a moment, they can actually touch the American Dream. They can bond with the thousands and thousands who have run before them, and with the fictional hero whose cinematic journey symbolizes their own. Making a run up the Rocky Steps has become a national, and international, rite of passage. Michael Vitez
Philadelphia, 2006 The Pilgrim The steps and the movie and what Rocky represented may have meant more to Mehdi Jabrane – may have affected him more – than anyone else I met there. I will long remember his smile, his zeal, his desire to walk a righteous and successful path. – Michael Vitez Mehdi Jabrane, 25 years old, is the son of a Moroccan father and a French mother who met working in a shoe factory in Pau, a small city in southwestern France. Mehdi grew up there in a housing project for immigrant workers. He had a very difficult childhood. "When I was with white kids they treated me like an Arab. When I was with Arabs, they treated me like a white." He was raised as neither Muslim nor Catholic, but simply to believe in God. It seemed everybody else in school had more money than his family, who couldn't even afford a car. "I always felt I was inferior," he said. His father had a drinking problem, and when Mehdi was 16, his parents divorced. He began to get into trouble as a teenager and dropped out of high school in his last year.  Mehdi Jabrane, 25, is the son of a Moroccan father and French mother who had a very difficult childhood. "I find my motivation in Rocky. ... Thanks to those films, I always knew that I have to stay positive, even if sometimes I wasn't that good." Mehdi first saw Rocky on television when he was young. "I was shocked," Mehdi recalled, "because a guy from nowhere made an incredible thing, becoming the world champion, a thing he never dreamed because it was so far from his reality." Rocky Balboa became his role model. "Because I never used to talk with my father," he explained, "I always tried unconsciously to find a paternal figure. I don't know how many times I saw the film on TV, on VCR, and now on DVD, but it always makes me cry when I'm alone. It gives me hope. It gives me courage. When I see the film, I still do pushups with one hand. Thanks to those films, I always knew that I have to stay positive, even if sometimes I wasn't that good." In 1998, an American vacationing in France invited Mehdi to visit her in Philadelphia. He mopped floors for four months to earn airfare, but the day before he was to leave, she changed her mind and told him not to come. He went anyway. "I decided to go to Philly to make my dreams come true," he said. He ran the Rocky Steps like his fictional hero. "When I was there, I can't describe the feeling I got. It was like a new start." Back home, Mehdi began to turn his life around. He entered a work-study program at a pharmaceutical firm, and soon he will receive his college degree, the first in his family. He has plans for an MBA. "I know it will be difficult, but I know everything is possible." He has returned to Philadelphia twice to run the steps again. "It's like a pilgrimage," he said. "I find my motivation in Rocky, maybe because he's a model for me. He's humble, modest, a hard worker, and he never gives up -- all the things I really want to be." I met Mehdi when he visited the museum steps on February 28, a Sunday, about two o'clock. He came with friend Kevin Sampson. They ran together, laughing. At the top, both faced the city and raised their arms in victory. Then they hugged. Sampson's girlfriend captured it on video. "Each time, it's the same motivation, the same desire, the same dream," said Mehdi. "When I'm upstairs, I feel great, untouchable, proud, because the road was long for me to come here. I'm not talking about the trip from France, but the road to be a good person." Excerpted from 'Rocky Stories: Tales of Love, Hope, and Happiness at America's Most Famous Steps' with permission from Paul Dry Books.
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