5 Powerful Life Lessons We Can Learn From Creed III
Written by: Dr. Bryanna Campbell, Psy.D
Date: March 12, 2023
Instagram handle: @drbryannacampbell
Creed III picks up after the retirement of boxer Adonis Creed and shows how he has nurtured the different facets of his life including his thriving family and career. Adonis has matured in his thought process and the ways he handles the roles of husband, father, son, businessman, and retired athlete. The unexpected reemergence of his childhood friend Damian Anderson causes Adonis to have to reckon with his past and contend with the repercussions of his choices.
Here are 5 powerful life lessons we can take away from Creed III:
The power of creating your own path
Throughout the Creed trilogy we have witnessed the transformation of Adonis coming into his own sense of self. In the start of Creed III we saw how Adonis created his own path and definition of success. He learned to honor and incorporate his past while forging a lane of his own. The other members of the Creed family, Mary Anne, Bianca and Amara, have also progressed in forging their own paths since the previous film. The reentrance of Damian challenges Adonis’ security in what he believed to be true about himself and we watched him enter a season of doubt and insecurity that impacted all of his other relationships. Throughout the film we witnessed the reconstruction of Adonis and Damian’s personal narratives and while they took different paths to get there, they both engaged in the introspective work that helped them forgive themselves and each other.
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Creating a personal narrative takes the ability to truly look at ourselves and take inventory of our life experiences and how they have impacted us. By understanding our past, we can provide important context to the present and help inform the future. This process does not always have to happen in isolation as the relationships in our lives can help us understand ourselves and the way we show up in the world. Your personal success is defined by you. Your morals and values can help guide you, which is why identifying what’s important to you and why is important. Defining yourself is a dynamic and ongoing process that requires honesty and humility.
The power of disruption
Adonis Creed’s life appeared near picture perfect before Damian resurfaced in his life. The power of disruption was in full effect as we saw Adonis try and navigate parts of himself that he tried to bury in the past. The reentrance of Damian into Adonis’ life was such a significant agitator that it made Adonis immediately have to reflect on his choices and brought up old personal wounds. Adonis’ impostor feelings, survivor’s guilt, and embarrassment were a few wounds that he was confronted by just by knowing Dame was back and wanted a chance at the title.
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Sometimes agitation and interruption can truly be a precursor to growth. There may be times in life where we experience things that rattle us and make us have to pay more attention to the present. We may pursue change in our lives because we believe something needs to be different. While we may know something may need to change, actively pursuing change can happen in stages. For some of us it takes an event or circumstance that launches us into the change process and for others they may be intrinsically motivated to pursue what they are wanting in their lives.
The power of human complexity
It could have been very easy to write Dame off as a mere antagonist in the film, but through understanding his story we were able to recognize some of the things that were truly motivating him - the anger of being abandoned, loss of time, feeling humiliated, and the need to be recognized and be meaningful to those around him. Through this understanding the audience was given the opportunity to cultivate empathy for someone whose needs were not being met. The primal rage we witnessed in Dame could be seen as just the tip of the iceberg. When we saw the strategic and calculated nature of Dame’s movements it could be assumed that he only wanted to win against an old friend, but what he also wanted was acknowledgement from Adonis that his lack of attempt to connect truly hurt him. Both characters displayed displaced anger with Damian using Felix Chavez as collateral damage to communicate his intention and pain to Adonis. Dame displayed his complex reactions to watching Adonis support someone the way Adonis supported him when they were kids. Adonis displayed much of his displaced anger with Bianca and his mother, instead of the actual target of a lot of his guilt and anger- himself.
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Human emotion can often be more complex than what is initially communicated. There can be many layers of motivation to human behavior and if we only listen to respond we can miss the true message of what is attempting to be communicated. When we are not honest with ourselves other people may become the target of our unexplored emotions, which has the potential to impact the quality of our relationships.
The power of support and relationships
Throughout the film it was apparent that Adonis had a community of support around him that truly cared about his well being. Be it his daughter Amara, his wife Bianca, his mother Mary Anne, or his colleague Duke, it was clear that Adonis was surrounded with support and care from his community. On the other hand, we saw how Dame’s contention grew with the isolation he experienced both in the isolation from his community and Adonis from being incarcerated. When Dame finally got support from his community after winning against Felix, it seemingly came at the cost of his relationship with Adonis. The childhood relationship between Adonis and Dame created the sense of obligation that Adonis contended with throughout the film. As children Dame offered support in a heated moment in the best way he knew how, and when he felt he needed support from Adonis he did not get the reciprocation he was expecting which led to an intense rupture in the relationship.
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Relationships are complex and layered experiences that have the power to shape us and help us evolve. They can come in the form of several dynamics including (but not limited to): parent-child, romantic connections, mentor-mentee relationships, friendships, and sibling relationships. The people we have around us have the ability to impact and influence us. Sometimes the ruptures we experience in relationships have the ability to be repaired if all parties are willing to engage in the process and be honest about their thoughts and feelings.
The power of vulnerability, being understood, accountability and acknowledgement
Some of the most powerful relational progression we saw between characters was when they were willing to engage with each other vulnerably. This was illustrated in Adonis’ conversations with Bianca, Mary Anne, as well as Amara. Where he once started off guarded, he became more able to tolerate the discomfort that can accompany vulnerability with hope that it would lead to a more meaningful connection. Much of the palpable tension between Adonis and Dame was maintained throughout the film because of the lack of acknowledgement of how past choices impacted their relationship. The attempt to try and pick up right where they left off with no discussion of what occurred between them fueled the misunderstanding between the two characters. Prior to the final fight, Adonis had attempted to resolve his survivor’s guilt by being generous and overcompensating by offering resources, but not with his personal acknowledgment of the issue at hand which maintained the intense contention.
Ultimately we witnessed this between Dame and Adonis in the scene where they acknowledged fault and took responsibility for their perceived contributions to the breakdown of their relationship. Once they truly saw, understood, and acknowledged each other they could finally disarm themselves and connect from an authentic place. Once both men received the recognition they needed they released each other (and themselves) from the bondage of guilt and remorse and gave each other an incredible gift - grace.
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Vulnerability has often been posed to us in a negative light, but when used responsibly, it is a true strength. Vulnerability gives us the power to hear and see things without being clouded by ego or the need to be correct. Through vulnerability true connection can occur and we can meet the needs of being seen, understood, and valued by those we choose to connect with. Accountability and acknowledgement are very important components of relationships and not experiencing them can often create conflict. Relationships can evolve when people are aware, willing, and capable of examining their role and contribution to the dynamics of the relationship.
Final round thoughts
Creed III teaches us that our relationships have the power to nourish us, but also wound us. It contends with the idea that growth can require us to look at ourselves in ways that are uncomfortable and to reckon with the ways we contribute to our experiences. We can learn about the power of relationships, self-reflection, and giving grace to those we care about. We can learn that communication is powerful and occurs in many different ways both covertly and overtly. Creed III is a love letter to the humanity in each of us, especially those of us who have ever felt overlooked, misunderstood, or in a season of creating our own path.