Equipped hostages in Beirut.
"Commie bashing'. out the Commie Gooks in 'Nam.
subtle films were in yogue such as undergoing a mass guilt purge them received a hero's welcome.' 'AFTER SEEING Rambo last night 1 know what to do next time this happens.' Thus Reagan after the release of the The movie Rambo currently, along with Bruce Springsteen, is the biggest phenomenon in the States. Reagan has not been slow in jumping on Springsteen's for his portrayal of humble American folk and championing the veterans' cause, and Rambo's for its blatan Since World War Il films in particular have served as useful propaganda vehicles — the most notorious during the Vietnam war was a charmless piece of celluloid starring John Wayne called The Green Berets. This was very popular with US au — it told of heroic boys and men sorting For a period after the Vietnam war, and up to Reagan's presidency, such blatantly reactionary material was unfashionable with directors. More Apocalypse Now, and Coming Home The majority of these films, along with the spate of *Viet Vet tries to readjust' movies were considered stylistically they were leagues above John Wayne The therapy appears to have done the trick and America, after putting itself on the psychiatrists couch, has recovered and is now more confident and convinced of its rightness than it has been for a long time. Reagan is firmly guiding the process.
Now we have on the one hand 'musical Dee Hunters' like Springsteen and Paul Hardcastle's 'Nineteen' and on the other hand we have new John Wayne's like Sylvester Stallone. Hardcastle might be miffed at the categorisation but "19' is as one-sided a view of the war as any film or song pro duced by an American. Of particular relevance is the repeated phrase at the end of the song 'None of But now on to the real looney tunes — films former concerns a Red invasion of America which is resisted by about a half dozen WASPS. This stirring patriotic bunk received lavish praise from no less a dignitary than Alexander Haig - who claimed it presented the most convincing case for But to get back to where we came in, Rambo mania has apparently reached epidemic proportions in the States. Sylvester Stallone portrays the eponymous hero who frees American prisoners still being held by the Commies in the jungles of South East Asia. Stallone even out guns Wayne in the macho stakes, as he achieves this with very few clothes and without the aid of the Green Berets.
eyen psychologists are getting in on the act by providing rational explanations for 'Rambo mania'. The film grossed £60 million in three weeks and the commercial possibilities appear boundless with off shoots and the president's approval — which of course leads us to its political implications.
In the words of Stallone 'people have been waiting a long time to express their patriotism. The logical outcome would be to express their patriotism in support of participation in an offen. sive against the Communists. For arguments sake lets say more specifically against Nicaragua and instead of one Rambo throw in a whole army of As a practical extension of the solidarity work taking place in the Centrad America campaięns in Britain we could be building support for the ider of actually protesting outside the cinemas which screen Rambo as it is released in this countr!.