As a helicopter encircles the ceaseless Afghan landscape, a tall, muscular, shirtless man crouches behind a craggy peak, carefully fitting a sharp arrow into its shaft. Suddenly he emerges, making eye contact with a terrified Soviet pilot. His arrow rips through the helicopter, which erupts into flames — to the delight of Americans everywhere. Delight, why? Because they have just watched one of Hollywood’s most memorable action scenes. Sylvester Stallone has taken out a murderous, pillaging Soviet invader in Rambo III. It’s a thrilling sequence and a reminder that freedom and liberty will always prevail over evil, no matter the odds.
While this beloved scene regularly resurfaces on social media, the plot context is less well-known. In Rambo III, Rambo is fighting against the invaders alongside his mujahideen brothers — or as they’re better known today, the Taliban.
Celebrating the Taliban in an action blockbuster may seem backward now, but it was normal then. The plot directly mirrored political realities at the time, when the US military was training the mujahideen to fight the invading Soviet Army.
Rambo III was just one of many propaganda films churned out by Hollywood during the Cold War. And it’s not as much of a relic as we’d like to think. The military-entertainment complex is every bit as robust today, with vast numbers of American movies and video games designed to promote American imperial ideology — often with the support of the military itself.
In Holly Hightower and Travis Hancock’s board game Hollywood 1947, released…
La suite est à lire sur: jacobin.com
Auteur: Hamza Shehryar
