Duaffy M&S - Rocky IV

 I said no one else had gotten to "Rocky IV," well now they have...

Did we really have robits in the 80s?

There's a running motif(?) throughout "Rocky IV" that I never noticed before. "Rocky IV" is about our ability to change.

When Rocky is trying to convince Apollo not to fight Drago:

Rocky: Let's face it, we got to change sometime.

Apollo: I don't want to change! I like who I am!

and then "You and me, we don't have a choice"

Later, Adrian tries to convince Rocky not to fight:

Adrian: Why can't you change your thinking, everybody else does.

Rocky: Because I'm a fighter [...] we can't change what we are.

Adrian: Yes, you can.

Rocky: Can't change anything, Adrian. All we can do is go with what we are.

And then after the fight, Rocky gives his speech:

"During this fight, I seen a lot of changin' - the way youse felt about me and the way I felt about you. [...] If I can change... and you can change... everybody can change!"

[And when it's time to change, you've got to rearrange.]

This running theme underscores the movie as a allegory for the Cold War itself. Rocky is told that fighting Drago means certain suicide, why is he willing to risk "everything"? But he continues on the path toward the fight, believing that there was no alternative. But the US and Soviet Union don't have to stubbornly march toward mutually assured destruction - it isn't destined, we can choose not to fight, we have a choice.