First Blood

"They drew first blood." Ah, Rambo - the epitome of the testosterone-laden American action hero, in the tradition of Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jean Claude Van Dam, and Stephen Seagall. Or is he? Before he became Rambo: American Super-Soldier, he was the Rambo of First Blood - Rambo the anti-hero.

The story is rather familiar now. Vietnam vet John Rambo has been finding it difficult to assimilate back into normal society. He still has flashbacks and emotional scars from the war, and seeks out the last member of his troop, only to find him recently dead from cancer caused by Agent Orange. Wandering into a small town, Rambo is harassed and mistrusted by the people he once fought to protect, and he finally snaps. The movie than morphs into a guerilla war between a single man and local, state, and national guard troops led by a bloodthirsty captain (Brian Dennehy). The first part of this occurs in the forest near the town and is the best part of the movie, as we see Rambo in full survival mode. It is all quite one-sided, of course, and ends with Rambo trashing the town. It's not exactly Shakespeare, but it is gritty, edgy, and well-made. And it deals with the alienation of the Vietnam veterans, which the country was still working through in 1982 when the movie was made. A country realizing that there are greater costs to war than simple body counts.

Isn't it funny, though, how as soon as a movie and a character become popular, it inevitably spawns several sequels. But now the two-dimensional character, who we both admire and despise, suddenly becomes this totally likable guy - the hero, our champion. It happened with Rambo in Rambo II and Rambo III (which admittedly I don't remember). It happened with the Terminator, where Arnold reappears and suddenly he's the good guy! And it happens alot in television - for example Beverly Hills 90210, Friends, etc. In the first year, each of the characters has some good things and bad things about them, some edginess that keeps us from totally liking them, but which also makes them very interesting as people. But by the 3rd or 4th season they're all so popular that they have to be watered down so as not to be offensive. Then the shows have to bring in secondary character to provide the conflicts. It's amazing how often this happens. Anything to keep the audiences coming, I guess.