Rambo Social Statement

It seems like in today's world most celebrities have a political or social cause that they stand for. An example would be how currently celebrities are big in the "Go Green" movement, in hopes to help the environment. Most of the time celebrities stay away from issues that do not involve the United States, but Sylvester Stallone has decided to take a leap of faith and go against the norm. Sylvester Stallone uses the movie Rambo as a social statement about how the world cannot change and to educate people on the crisis in Burma. In the beginning of the movie Rambo is approached by a man who asks him to take himself and his group of fellow missionaries to Burma so they can help the Karen tribe members, who are regularly raped, tortured and massacred by Major Tint's sadistic soldiers, with food and medicine. Initially Rambo flatly refuses but is later convinced by the determination and heart of the lone female in the group, Sarah Miller. In an interview on NBC's Today Show with Matt Lauer, Stallone talks about why he states in the movie that "nobody can change the world…war is natural," as the reason he does not want to help
the missionaries. In the interview Stallone said, "It's the same thing that happens with a lot of policemen or military people that thought they were going to change the world." "They realize their entire life has been a waste, that war is natural, peace is an accident. They feel bitter, estranged," he said. Rambo realized this after fighting in the Vietnam War and has responded by moving away from everyone and everything. "He's in isolation. He's in a purgatory, almost a hermit," Stallone said. "He's atheistic, he's cold, he's completely out of touch both spiritually and physically." However when he is approached again later by Sarah Miller, she awakens something inside Rambo. "A spark," Stallone calls it, "this last vestige of optimism, ‘If I can get these people out alive, maybe I have done something with my life.' " At the end of the movie as Rambo looks over the death and carnage on the battlefield, the implication of this scene seems to be that he as a soldier can have no family and therefore no normal life. In a sense he has sacrificed his humanity to redeem it for others.
In the movie, a disillusioned Rambo has moved to the wilds of Thailand in Southeast Asia near the border of Burma.
This location was carefully chosen by Stallone because of his wanting to educate people about the situation in Burma. "I thought, ‘Let me be a little responsible. Let's do something that's actually happening,' " he said. With the Burma situation being in the news recently about monks protesting, this movie could not have been released at a better time. "I just felt right now this is a great story," he told Lauer. "No one knows about Burma. Burma is a horrendous situation ... It's the longest-running civil war in the world, 60 years against these peasants, and it's horrifying. It isn't just a civil war. This is torture, beheadings, cannibalism, buried-alive children, it's the most horrific situation on the
planet." In the movie Stallone does not fall short of showing viewers what exactly is going on in Burma. In one of the scenes at the beginning of the movie it shows the Karen tribe members being raped, tortured and massacred by Major Tint's sadistic soldiers. Because of scenes like this the movie received an "R-Rating". The violence is stomach-churning, and it is supposed to be that way. "It should be tough to watch," he told Lauer. "If you don't turn a couple of times during the film, I really failed," he said. I believe Stallone was successful at clearly depicting the violence in Burma, because I had to turn away a few times and I enjoy gory movies. Some people will think that with this movie Stallone is trying to get people angry about the situation and trying to get the United States to intervene, if you are a person who thinks this then you did not watch the movie close enough. He show this at the end of the movie when Rambo is back in the United States. You see him walk past a horse farm and a mailbox with the name R. Rambo on it. Slowly, Rambo makes his way down the dirt driveway of the farm. I think this is showing the he does not want to intervene in somebody else's war. This may not be your typical celebrity social cause or beliefs but I think Stallone did the right thing by taking that leap of faith and going against the Hollywood norms. This movie definitely will get people talking about the situation in Burma now that they have been better educated about it and they may even start thinking that war really is natural and peace is accidental. That is what Stallone was hoping for when he put this movie out.