Sometimes it takes motivation to… well, get motivated. Many people struggle to get up every morning to hit the gym. Others have a big job interview coming up or a chat with their boss regarding a promotion that’s making them nervous. There are also folks that just want the energy to clean their apartment. Maybe you’re one of these people and the only energy you have is to put on a movie.
But what if that movie helps you get out of the blahs? Many film fans have their favorite movie that helps them get motivated, whether it’s a high-action movie that gets adrenaline pumping or a quieter yet inspirational tale that reassures you that good things are possible, even in the face of adversity and when the odds are against you. The right movie could help you get into the mindset to fight, to work, and push for success.
Here are a few favorites to add to your watch list when you’re feeling deflated.
Rocky
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This film is on several people’s pump-up list just for the soundtrack alone. The tale of Rocky Balboa is a story of sports, struggle, love, and the working class. While many cite the other films in the Rocky franchise, this is the one that started it all. To quote famed film critic Roger Ebert, “It’s about heroism and realizing your potential, about taking your best shot and sticking by your girl. It sounds not only clichéd but corny — and yet it’s not, not a bit, because it really does work on those levels.”
Rocky didn't focus on a person winning but just feeling and being worthy. To be validated and seen by their peers as a person worthy of time, love, and opportunity. How much more relatable can a character be?
Mad Max: Fury Road
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Let’s say you’re not in the mood for much talk and just want your brain shown images of bravery, badassery, and stuff blowing up to get endorphins flowing. Then Mad Max: Fury Road is there for you. Brilliant practical effects and adrenaline-bursting stunts thoroughly mixed with disgustingly beautiful creativity in a post-apocalyptic world. Make sure you’re not going into traffic after watching this movie or you’ll get a speeding ticket. Critic Jason Bailey of Flavorwire called the movie a “120-minute chase” which frankly is enough of a selling point.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
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Now, one might question how a documentary about a children’s TV show host is on a list of motivating, hype-up movies, but this one still checks those boxes but differently. Won’t You Be My Neighbor? shows a real-life example of a mild-mannered person who made a difference in many lives. Not for fame or for fortune, but just wanted to bring a semblance of good into the world. Mr. Rogers isn’t extraordinary of a person because of what he was but because of the impact of the small contributions he made. While the film is a “security blanket for our troubled times” as Entertainment Weekly put it, it can also stir up a person to stand up and be a “helper” like Fred Rogers was for their friends, family, and the community around them.
Mulan (1998)
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You may want to have a film that can motivate you but also is safe to watch with little kids around. If so, Mulan might be for you. Based on Chinese legend, Mulan is an inspirational story of a girl disguising herself as a male soldier in order to protect her older father from going to war. It’s not just a “girl power” tale but one that sees the title character grow as a person through strategy, hard work, and underestimated talent. There’s literally a song that starts with the lyrics “Let’s get down to business” and you’ll find yourself humming along with it as you do a push-up, wash your dishes, or do whatever needed task is in front of you. As a critic from Newsday stated, “Mulan is one of Disney's most daring animated features and, at the same time, it's the most child-friendly since The Lion King.”
RRR
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If you want a rush of adrenaline through a story of friendship mixed with highly cartoonish action and brilliantly frantic dance numbers, then RRR is for you. The three “R’s” stand for “Rise, Roar, Revolt” so with that alone it can burn a certain fire within a viewer. It’s a lengthy three-hour movie but doesn’t feel long as it is packed with a visual feast of fight scenes, dancing, and over-the-top melodrama that just doesn’t stop. If you’re looking for a bromance that “contains more exciting action scenes than all the Marvel movies put together” as NPR puts it, then enjoy the show.
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You may have missed the actual meaning behind these 5 popular songs.
'Every breath you ...' what? 5 classic songs where people totally missed the meaning
I’ve never been a "lyrics guy"—as long as the words sound pleasing to the ear, are relatively interesting, and aren’t evil or distractingly dumb, I don’t care all that much what the singer is going on about. I’m focused on the dynamics, the color of the arrangements, the rhythms, and harmonies. It’s only natural that I’d misinterpret some songs over the years, including ones that I’ve heard a thousand times while walking around malls and supermarkets.
I know I’m not alone. And I’d argue there are plenty of factors behind this phenomenon: Some people take lyrics too literally, while others only focus on hooky choruses and fail to notice nuance in the verses. Context can also blind us—if the music is danceable and upbeat, you might fail to catch darker elements in the words. Still, it can be hilarious and/or shocking when hugely popular tunes are misinterpreted on a mass scale.
Speaking of which: Let’s consult a viral Reddit thread titled "Any songs that are (or were) misunderstood by the public?" There's a mountain of suggestions—everything from '90s Latin-pop hits to '80s heartland-rock epics. But five of them felt especially perfect, so let’s dig a little deeper below.
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The Police - "Every Breath You Take" (1983)
As someone argues in the comments, "Pointing out the real meaning behind 'Every Breath You Take' has to have become so commonplace that it can't really be misunderstood anymore." Point taken. But still…this eerie Police track continues to be used in pop culture and everyday life as a signifier of romance—appearing as the soundtrack to TV slow dances and being arranged for weddings by string quartets. It’s easy to assume, at first glance anyway, that the song's protagonist is pledging their devotion—sticking around for "every breath" their partner takes. Instead, the atmosphere is more disturbing, given the whole "I’ll be watching you" thing. "I didn't realize at the time [I wrote it] how sinister it is," Sting told The Independent in 1993. "I think I was thinking of Big Brother, surveillance, and control."
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Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the U.S.A." (1984)
"Born in the U.S.A." is one of Bruce Springsteen's signature songs—but also likely his most misinterpreted. As an official explainer video notes, the words "center around America's industrial decline and loss of innocence during the Vietnam War"—a message that became somewhat diluted as politicians began using the stadium-sized track for their campaigns. "Conservative commenters praised the song, and it earned the approval of both candidates in the 1984 presidential election," the clip's narrator adds. "Despite being adopted as a patriotic anthem, 'Born in the U.S.A.' is far from nationalistic." In a deep-dive piece, NPR quotes Springsteen talking about the song on stage: "'After it came out, I read all over the place that nobody knew what it was about,' he said before performing 'Born in the U.S.A' to a crowd in 1995. 'I'm sure that everybody here tonight understood it."
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Los Del Rio - "Macarena" (Bayside Boys remix) (1995)
Most Americans probably know the bubbly Bayside Boys remix of Los Del Rio's Spanish-language hit—it became the marquee moment of many a mid-'90s wedding reception and middle-school dance, thanks to its once-ubiquitous choreography. Maybe it's because people were too distracted by remembering the dance moves, but lots of us didn’t notice the lyrics. Of course, the chorus is in Spanish, which could have been a barrier for some, but the remix features English lines like the following: "Now don't you worry about my boyfriend / The boy whose name is Vitorino / Ha! I don't want him, can't stand him / He was no good so I, ha ha ha / Now come on, what was I supposed to do? / He was out of town, and his two friends were so fine."
"My little teenage mind was blown when I learned 'Macarena' was about cheating on a boyfriend with his friends," one Redditor wrote. "[Thank you] for the correction, it was 2 friends! Was sleep deprived writing this. I just did the moves, never questioned the lyrics." Yeah, gotta admit—this legitimately never crossed my mind either. Same with some of the people who took part in a reaction video for Distracify: "It’s definitely about dancing," one person said, before learning the truth. Another added, "I have no idea what it’s about still to this day. Please tell me it’s not something really dark."
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Baha Men - "Who Let the Dogs Out" (2000)
The party was nice. The party was pumpin'.' Until, that is, some "flea-infested mongrels" got involved. Back in 2000, you couldn't escape Baha Men's booming cover of "Who Let the Dogs Out"—it became a staple of sporting events everywhere, a kind of bookend for the Jock Jams era. "I know I definitely misunderstood 'Who Let the Dogs Out' to be about actual dogs," one Redditor wrote, likely speaking for most of the listening public. There's probably a good chance most of those people chanting the chorus weren't thinking about the song's real meaning, crafted by Trinidadian artist Anslem Douglas for his 1998 original. But if you pay attention to the lyrics, "Who Let the Dogs Out" has a feminist theme, telling the story of women who stand up against crass catcalling. "This is going to be a revenge song where a woman tells men, 'Get away from me—you're a dog,'" Douglas told Vice in a 2021 video history of the track. "[Offensive] slang was everywhere. It was just degrading women and calling them all sorts of derogatory names. I tried to do a social commentary as a party song, but the party song overshadowed the social commentary aspect of it."
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Hozier - "Take Me to Church" (2013)
One section of the Reddit thread is devoted to songs interpreted as pro-religion, when the truth is... well, more complicated. "'Take Me to Church' by Hozier is often used by Churches for things, and I’m like 'Oh, that’s not…,'" wrote one user. The bluesy, slow-burning ballad may use religious imagery. Still, it's about something more human—"[It's] this idea that powerful organizations use people’s sexuality in order to mobilize people against women, against gay people," the Irish songwriter told Genius in 2023. "And the justification behind that is often religious in nature." Hozier even isolated one particular lyric that highlights this misconception: "'She tells me, ‘Worship in the bedroom' [is] something tongue-and-cheek, a bit of humor to it, also revealing that this is not necessarily a traditional worship song," he said. "I think I still see my name put into playlists for Christian music, and I’m not averse to that—I don’t think the two are necessarily mutually exclusive. But that line I would’ve thought would’ve disqualified it from something like that."