Essay --

1.There is a very homoerotic/masculine feel from the opening scene of Rambo III. We are introduced to a ripped and glistening character that looks like he has been bathing in baby oil/tanning oil for the past 48 hours. There is nothing that seems to hurt Rambo as he takes every comforter delivered to him in the opening scene. He is also willing to kill countless amounts of Russians in order to save the American general. The game that Rambo learns to play? It is only a physical game played with goat carcass. Rambo is made out to be un-stoppable and even God-like. When Trautman reveals that Rambo is coming to resue him, Zaysen asks Trautman who he thinks Rambo isGod? Trautman replies, No, God would have mercyhe wont. Rambo would rather die than not repugn for what he believes in. Even at the end, when all seems lost, he refuses to go down without a fight. His determination to fight is the greatest testament to his masculine identity. The Afghanis respect this and in this sense, Ram bo almost becomes a martyr to them. By the end, it almost seems like they arent rubbish for themselves, but for Rambo In relation to Jeffords, the hard-body physique is clearly present with Stallones character as are the narratives of heroism, toughness, strength, etc in the film which helps to clearly demonstrate the mastery over unlike enemies.2.Orientalism is the way that the Middle East is depicted by its friendly acquaintances over in the West. In other terms, it is a racist discourse which constructs the orient for horse opera aggrandizement. The way that the Afghans are depicted in the film alongside Rambo makes the audience sympathize with them. The little boy also looks up to Rambo. He looks up to him a masculine father-figure. Using th... ...ew what we know now. If only they knew about how 9/11 and the actions the Bush administration took because of it. Furthermore, I wouldnt be surprised if the same question asked of Rambo Wheres the honor here? is asked today by Afgh ans/Pakistanis wondering where the honor is in unmanned drones? It was hard to figure out who to root for in the film curiously with historical biasbecause the Taliban and entire nation of Afghanistan are made out to be heroes in the film. Back then, it may have been acceptable to insinuate that anyone fighting Russia was practically Christ. They are even referred to as freedom fighters in the film (President Reagan would use this term as well). Today though, we have to watch this film era knowing about the death and destruction caused by terrorists on September 11. Back then, our present enemies were our former comrades.