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* AccidentalAthlete: Howie discovers Emile while he is making hats and is impressed with how strong he is, which turns out to be due to him being forced to lift cinder blocks as a child. He promptly recruits Emile into boxing as a result.
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* HomophobicHateCrime: Emile is beaten up by a bunch of thugs after being seen in a gay bar. It accelerates the dementia he is already developing from his career of boxing.
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A little confused on what his sexuality was supposed to be, when I watched it I got the impression he married a woman to hide his sexuality and that's how the wikipedia page portrays it as well, but I saw an article that referred to him as bisexual.
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* ManlyGay: Emile is gay and a champion boxer.
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* ManlyGay: Emile is gay interested in men and a champion boxer.
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Champion is a 2013 {{Opera}} with music by Terence Blanchard and a libretto by Michael Cristofer, which is a dramatization of the life of real-life boxer Emile Griffith, using the FramingDevice of an old Griffith, affected by dementia due to his time in boxing, recalling his previous life. It chronicles him going to the United States from the Virgin Islands and becoming involved in boxing, his rise to prominence, and how he struggles with his sexuality and the homophobia that surrounds him, and is haunted by [[CasualtyInTheRing accidentally killing his opponent in the ring]].
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!!Tropes:
* BerserkButton: Emile is very upset about the homophobic insults Benny levies at him, and has to be held back from fighting Benny then and there. When he does get a chance to box with him, he retaliates brutally.
* {{Biopic}}: Tells the story of the life of Emile Griffith, a boxer who existed in real life.
* BullyingADragon: Benny homophonically taunts Emile before their match, who retaliates by being [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutal]] with him in their match, inadvertently leading to Benny's death.
* CallToAdventure: Howie appears near the beginning of the first act looking for a boxer, and when he sees how muscular and strong Emile is he introduces him to the sport, which Emile initially had no idea about.
* CasualtyInTheRing: Emile knocks Benny Paret into a coma during their match at the end of the first act, and Benny dies ten days later. Benny is suggested to have died not only because [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Emile beat him so brutally]] but because he had a head injury from a previous fight and wasn't given time to recover.
* TheCenterpieceSpectacular: The fight between Emile Griffith and Benny Paret at the end of the first act, which includes dramatic music besides the spectacle of the physical combat. The second act is relatively more low-key in comparison.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Emile was left by his mother, who [[ParentalNeglect didn't seem to pay that much attention to her children]], with his cousin Blanche, who constantly forced him to carry cinder blocks as a punishment (leading to Emile becoming very strong).
* DashedPlotLine: Several time skips are used. The first act, after the beginning HowWeGotHere scene, takes place in the late 1950s before skipping to 1962 when Griffith fights Benny Paret. The next act skips from the mid-to-late 60s to the early 1970s and then finally returns to older Emile.
* DeliriousMisidentification: Older Emile, when suffering from dementia, mistakes Benny's son for Benny himself despite him being dead. Benny Jr. does say they look alike, which is shown by them being played by the same actor.
* {{Forgiveness}}: Emile talks to Benny's son, Benny Jr. in order to get forgiveness from him for killing his father, but Benny Jr. says he isn't the one Emile should be asking forgiveness from, and Emile instead needs to see if he can forgive himself. At the end, Emile decides that he can, shown as telling his forgiveness to the actor playin his younger self.
* {{Gayngst}}: Emile goes through a lot of angst from having to hide his sexuality, made worse by Howie's refusal to let him talk openly about it and the generally homophobic nature of the boxing world.
* HauntingTheGuilty: An older Emile talks to Benny, who he thinks he sees. Benny tells Emile he didn't really want to kill him, but the aspect of himself that he hated which Benny was representing by how he taunted him.
* HowWeGotHere: Opens with an old Emile suffering from dementia reflecting back on his life.
* ManlyGay: Emile is gay and a champion boxer.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Emile is horrified by killing Benny and tries his whole life to find forgiveness for it.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The match between Emile Griffith and Benny Paret ends with the former landing many blows in quick succession to the latter, which later ends up killing him. Emile is also on the receiving end of one later on when he is beaten up upon being seen in a gay bar.
* ParentalNeglect: Emelda, Emile's mother, had seven children by various fathers and left most of them, not even remembering Emile and thinking he's one of his brothers. Though admitting she wasn't a good mother, she wants Emile to at least love him as the only mother he has.
* PoirotSpeak: Characters like Luis and Benny sometimes use Spanish words in their lines.
* ARealManIsAKiller: Howie tells Emile that he doesn't want to hear about why homophobic insults are so hurtful to him, that they have to pretend none of those rumors about him are true and instead he has to react to being insulted by ruthlessly retaliating against Benny and having a "killer instinct", because that's what a real man does.
* SexForSolace: Emile goes to gay bars hoping that his affairs will make him forget his guilt over killing a man.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: When Emile was a child, his cousin Blanche tells him he has the devil inside him and punishes him as a result by making him carry cinder blocks. Emile decides maybe it's not such a bad thing to have the devil inside him, that even if it means he's evil at least the devil can give him strength to carry him through the ordeals he endures.
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!!Tropes:
* BerserkButton: Emile is very upset about the homophobic insults Benny levies at him, and has to be held back from fighting Benny then and there. When he does get a chance to box with him, he retaliates brutally.
* {{Biopic}}: Tells the story of the life of Emile Griffith, a boxer who existed in real life.
* BullyingADragon: Benny homophonically taunts Emile before their match, who retaliates by being [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutal]] with him in their match, inadvertently leading to Benny's death.
* CallToAdventure: Howie appears near the beginning of the first act looking for a boxer, and when he sees how muscular and strong Emile is he introduces him to the sport, which Emile initially had no idea about.
* CasualtyInTheRing: Emile knocks Benny Paret into a coma during their match at the end of the first act, and Benny dies ten days later. Benny is suggested to have died not only because [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Emile beat him so brutally]] but because he had a head injury from a previous fight and wasn't given time to recover.
* TheCenterpieceSpectacular: The fight between Emile Griffith and Benny Paret at the end of the first act, which includes dramatic music besides the spectacle of the physical combat. The second act is relatively more low-key in comparison.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Emile was left by his mother, who [[ParentalNeglect didn't seem to pay that much attention to her children]], with his cousin Blanche, who constantly forced him to carry cinder blocks as a punishment (leading to Emile becoming very strong).
* DashedPlotLine: Several time skips are used. The first act, after the beginning HowWeGotHere scene, takes place in the late 1950s before skipping to 1962 when Griffith fights Benny Paret. The next act skips from the mid-to-late 60s to the early 1970s and then finally returns to older Emile.
* DeliriousMisidentification: Older Emile, when suffering from dementia, mistakes Benny's son for Benny himself despite him being dead. Benny Jr. does say they look alike, which is shown by them being played by the same actor.
* {{Forgiveness}}: Emile talks to Benny's son, Benny Jr. in order to get forgiveness from him for killing his father, but Benny Jr. says he isn't the one Emile should be asking forgiveness from, and Emile instead needs to see if he can forgive himself. At the end, Emile decides that he can, shown as telling his forgiveness to the actor playin his younger self.
* {{Gayngst}}: Emile goes through a lot of angst from having to hide his sexuality, made worse by Howie's refusal to let him talk openly about it and the generally homophobic nature of the boxing world.
* HauntingTheGuilty: An older Emile talks to Benny, who he thinks he sees. Benny tells Emile he didn't really want to kill him, but the aspect of himself that he hated which Benny was representing by how he taunted him.
* HowWeGotHere: Opens with an old Emile suffering from dementia reflecting back on his life.
* ManlyGay: Emile is gay and a champion boxer.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Emile is horrified by killing Benny and tries his whole life to find forgiveness for it.
* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The match between Emile Griffith and Benny Paret ends with the former landing many blows in quick succession to the latter, which later ends up killing him. Emile is also on the receiving end of one later on when he is beaten up upon being seen in a gay bar.
* ParentalNeglect: Emelda, Emile's mother, had seven children by various fathers and left most of them, not even remembering Emile and thinking he's one of his brothers. Though admitting she wasn't a good mother, she wants Emile to at least love him as the only mother he has.
* PoirotSpeak: Characters like Luis and Benny sometimes use Spanish words in their lines.
* ARealManIsAKiller: Howie tells Emile that he doesn't want to hear about why homophobic insults are so hurtful to him, that they have to pretend none of those rumors about him are true and instead he has to react to being insulted by ruthlessly retaliating against Benny and having a "killer instinct", because that's what a real man does.
* SexForSolace: Emile goes to gay bars hoping that his affairs will make him forget his guilt over killing a man.
* ThenLetMeBeEvil: When Emile was a child, his cousin Blanche tells him he has the devil inside him and punishes him as a result by making him carry cinder blocks. Emile decides maybe it's not such a bad thing to have the devil inside him, that even if it means he's evil at least the devil can give him strength to carry him through the ordeals he endures.
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