He said he hadn’t meant to kill Benny Paret, “but what he said touched something inside.”. Tap to unmute. The ref is confused. [4] Barely two months later, Paret took on middleweight champion Gene Fullmer and was knocked out in the tenth round being behind on all three judges' scorecards. Also: check out OutSports Anti-Gay Slur roundup. Shopping. For instance, Mailer describes Griffin’s fists, “whipping like a piston rod which has broken through the crankcase, or like a baseball bat demolishing a pumpkin”(Mailer). This story is really about the machismo of sports and the closet, something that has changed little since this tragedy. The author uses imagery to describe the eagerness of Griffith when he is about to take the life out of Paret in the fight. His place of birth was in Santa Clara, Cuba. The filmmakers interviewed Paret’s wife and son, and Griffith himself, now 67 and still tormented by what happened to Paret and his own lifetime of struggle with his sexuality. The survey finds people either conflicted about their own views of gays in sports or certain their neighbor is more bigoted than they are. Outsports published some seriously conflicted/confusing poll results about public attitudes about gays and sports gathered by NBC/USA Networks, conducted to coincide with the airing of the documentary. Although Paret had been battered in the two fights with Griffith and the fight with Fullmer, he decided that he would defend his title against Griffith three months after the Fullmer fight. In short, the investigators looked into every possible cause except the real one. Fifty years ago at Madison Square Garden, Emile Griffith delivered a pummeling to Benny Paret, who died after 10 days in a coma. * 68% thought it would hurt an athlete’s career to be openly gay. The story of Emile Griffith and Paret's death has been turned into an Opera in Jazz, Champion. Boxing Career In round six Paret nearly knocked out Griffith with a multi punch combination but Griffith was saved by the bell. We invite you to share condolences for Benny Mardones in our Guest Book. Griffith’s “eighteen right hands in a row” was the cause of Benny’s death. He hoped to ride this year in New York’s Gay Pride Parade. It is alleged that Paret taunted Griffith by calling him maricón (Spanish slang for "faggot"). Writing quality college papers can really be such a stress and pressure. Copyright FDL Media Group ©, All Rights Reserved. The Death of Benny Paret Paret was a Cuban, a proud club fighter who had become welterweight champion because of his unusual ability to take a punch. It’s depressing.”. Homophobic comments by athletes are rated on a scale of 1-5 John Rockers, for the Atlanta Braves pitcher notorious for his bigoted comments, including: “Imagine having to take the 7 train to (Shea Stadium in New York) looking like you’re (in) Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. Perpetrator Comprehension The Fans 3. he said that Griffith was whimpering while he attacked and his right hand whipping like a piston rod which has broken through the crankcase. Benny (Kid) Paret died because of homophobia and gay self-loathing that still exists today, make no mistake, in both Red and Blue states. [5], In the twelfth round of the fight Don Dunphy, who was calling the bout for ABC, remarked, "This is probably the tamest round of the entire fight. Eight days after the Garden drama, on April 1, the Roosevelt hospital published a press release: “Benny Paret continues to fight. At lunch, Mr. Griffith’s smile faded as he recalled the taunts he took from Paret. The beating resulted in Paret being carried out on a stretcher, later falling into a coma and dying. The purpose of this is to show the reader the intensity and high level of violence within Griffeth that led to the death of Paret. (Corbis). The man named Benny Paret was brutally beaten by his opponent. Why does Cousins believe "it is futile to investigate the referee's role" (9)? Get the knowledge you need in order to pass your classes and more. It is theorized that one of the reasons Paret died was that he was vulnerable due to the beatings he took in his previous three fights, all of which happened within twelve months of each other. This was a surprise to all because everyone knew Parent as the toughest man and able to take a punch like no other. [3] Paret recaptured the crown on September 30, 1961, in a split-decision over Griffith. Come browse our large digital warehouse of free sample essays. [5][9][10] Paret was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. For more information, read full disclaimer here. “The poll shows us that we still have a long way to go in this country before homosexuality is accepted in sports.”. * 78% says it is OK for gay athletes to participate in sports, even if they are open about their sexuality. Emile Griffith puts Benny Paret in a coma in 1962 fight. … So I did what I had to do.”, …I asked Mr. Griffith if he was gay, and he told me no. Immediate Cause(s) of Paret’s Death Remote Causes to Consider Main Cause(s) Contributory Causes “human fist delivers enough impact, when directed against the head, to … I am satisfied with the services your provide to college students. First, Cousins begins explaining the fight that took Paret's life, because of the foul comment he … The son embraced Griffith, and told him he was forgiven. Create an online profile of Benny so that his life is remembered forever. Mailer again uses a successful metaphor when he writes “He went down more slowly than any fighter had ever gone down, he went down like a large ship which turns on end and slides second by second into its grave” (Mailer). At the time there were rumors about Griffith’s homosexuality floating around in the boxing world (he had been spotted in gay bars), so to have it called out was not just a slur but a perceived call to the defense of his manhood. [2], Paret won the welterweight title for the first time on May 27, 1960, by defeating Don Jordan. Some part of Benny Paret’s death did reach out to all of us. Griffith was able to walk out, but not unscathed. Write an essay that analyzes the rhetorical devices (choose 2) Mailer uses to craft his argument about the death of a famous boxer. Benny Paret was killed because the human fist delivers enough impact, when directed against the head, to produce a massive hemorrhage in the brain. Afterwards, Norman Mailer published a passage, The Death of Benny Paret, describing the brutal fight and delineating his perspective on the issue. The opera was written by composer Terence Blanchard, with a libretto by playwright Michael Cristofer, who went on to develop the stage play "Man in the Ring" on the same subject. 1. And for the guys, well, you all are sh*t out of luck if you’re in a team sport; the number of out gay male athletes in active team competition is…are there any? It’s why kids that are effeminate still get the sh*t kicked out of them in school and “fag” and “dyke” are easy epithets tossed around the classroom; it’s why a Texas teacher can be fired from her job because people think she’s a lesbian. Size: 35431 Kb. An American political journalist, author and professor, Norman Cousins in his essay Who killed Benny Paret expresses his point of view as to the death of a prize-fighter on the ring and the society’s complicity with this death, caused by the unjustified popularity of boxing. Paret is also one of many boxers named in the lyrics of Sun Kil Moon's album Ghosts Of The Great Highway. This fight was televised live in one of ABC’s boxing shows called Fight of the Week. Benny (Kid) Paret died because of homophobia and gay self-loathing that still exists today, make no mistake, in both Red and Blue states. “I got tired,” he said, “of people calling me faggot.”, He said again, as he has many times, that he was sorry Paret had died. Certainly back in the 1960s, I can’t imagine athlete being out of the closet, and for a black man at that time, well, the end result tells you how bad it was to be thought of as gay. [5][8], Another theory is that Goldstein was afraid that Paret's supporters would riot. Mailer describes Griffith "like a cat " who "is ready to rip the life out of a huge boxed rat" when he is fighting Paret. Cause of Death Paret was put into a coma after sustaining 17-25 blows over the period of a few seconds Paret suffered major brain hemorrhaging from the blows and developed broncho-pneumonia the day before he died Paret died 10 days after the fight failing to come out of the coma Boxing would not be televised on a regular basis again until the 1970s. [7], Griffith wanted to fight Paret on the spot but was restrained. Share. But he added: “He called me a name. Benny “Kid” Paret, wearing white trunks, met Emile Griffith, wearing black trunks, in a 1962 fight that would prove fatal to Paret. The human brain is the most delicate and complex mechanism in all creation. [The situation hasn’t gotten much better — imagine what would happen if a hard-core rapper was exposed as a homo?]. Norman Cousins explains in great detail a few cause and effect points about boxing. In the essay "The Death of Benny Paret" Norman Mailer had shown a lot of details of how the fight went and used a lot of metaphors to describe what each fighter was going through.For example. Up Next. In the essay “Who Killed Benny Paret?” Benny Paret was born on March 14th, in 1937. The sheeple are being shaped and led by the Rovian Right, and the saddest aspect of this development is that there are way too many homophobic, intolerant black pastors willing and able to lead their parishioners even further down this path, driving gay men and women of color like Griffith even deeper into the down low closet. It’s why Martina Navratilova dominated the tennis scene in the 1980s, yet lost her endorsements when she came out. In it, Frank cast Griffith rather than Paret as the defending champion and makes no mention of Paret's recent fights or his prior history with Griffith. 4. In The Death of Benny Paret, Norman Mailer utilized stylistic devices such as diction, literary devices, and syntax to give the reader an overall dismal mood about the brawl throughout the passage, because that is how Mailer felt that mournful day. It was a scheduled boxing match between Paret and Griffith which was a hard fought fight but ultimately ended in the death of Paret. How does he try to win symapthy for his position 1. Boxer Benny (Kid) Paret died because of homophobia, seriously conflicted/confusing poll results. Info. 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