Not once did I hear anyone but a boxing insider comment on Lucia Rijker’s chilling and polished performance. Nowhere did anyone talk about female boxing, athleticism, ethics in boxing, equality in boxing. All I heard about this movie, in reviews, commentaries, debates, etcetera, was that it was a sticky suicide issue film. Then all there was to do was settle back and watch the public react. I was much more engaged in the first half, the wannabe-come-champion, than the second, the drawn-out drama, but all in all, it was an engrossing couple of hours with stellar performances, and as movies go, that’s good enough for me. It struck me as two different movies, split by Maggie’s tragedy. So you can imagine that all three of these factors coming together in one film was something of a Kismet moment for me. I have long felt connected to Swank on a deep level, and her phenomenal performance in Boys Don’t Cry permanently bound my loyalty to her. Third, Hilary Swank is my all-time favorite actress. She’d been trying to break into movies for years, and after my bitter disappointment that she was not cast from among three finalists as the robotic femme fatale in Terminator III, I was overjoyed that she had nailed a significant role not only in a mainstream movie but also one that raised awareness of her beloved sport. I’m a fanatic I know the documentary Shadowboxers by heart, own the soundtrack, and have a collection of Lucia Rijker fight tapes and postcards. Secondly, as a female boxing fan, I have my champions, and Lucia Rijker, dubbed the most dangerous woman in the world, is more than the ultimate boxing champion to me – she is one of my greatest heroes, an uberwoman of unparalleled eloquence, lucidity, discipline, strength, power, beauty and grace. I am a female boxing buff, so I am thrilled that a major film revolving around this fringe sport broke through to mainstream. The project is significant to me for reasons not on the radar of the mainstream moviegoing public. While the film was in production, I eagerly awaited its release. Now that Million Dollar Baby has had its run, taken the crown at the Oscars and been digested, debated, reviewed and fallen out of the fickle spotlight of pop culture, I am relieved that I can coddle the film in peace, but troubled at its wake. Meanwhile, here's my commentary on the film.

The crippled boxer is Katie Dallam, and many news stories covering the parallel are posted on her site.

The movie Million Dollar Baby was fiction, but there was a real event that may have inspired FX Toole's story.

Million dollar baby true