Everyone knows Rambo movies are a collection of shirtless Stallone shots where Rambo uses a machine gun to mow down endless waves of soldiers. Also he probably kills a lot of people with knives and explosives too, just to keep it from getting monotonous. This is certainly what I thought, though I have never actually seen a Rambo movie. You don't have to see it when all the images are so constantly embedded in popular culture. I know Rambo without knowing it.
Except apparently I don't know Rambo.
I watched a review for the newest Rambo installation and found out that the original Rambo has only a single death in it, and it was from a fall. Rambo was largely responsible because he threw a rock that caused the fall, but it isn't at all clear he intended to cause a death. The movie had violence, but it was a lot more of a character piece and not an orgy of carnage like I had assumed.
It turns out that things that everyone knows are apparently just things I assumed from soaking up cultural references. Of course I was completely correct in my evaluation of all the other Rambo movies - here are there death counts.
Rambo 1 - 1
Rambo 2 - 115
Rambo 3 - 175
Rambo 4 - 254
These movies sure take a turn for the death right around Rambo 2!
But it makes me wonder what other cultural icons I know nothing about. Is Nightmare on Elm Street actually a poignant look at regret over missing out on raising a child? Is Rocky about a man who just wants to start a career as an actuary but boxes in his spare time to keep in shape?
What else do I know for sure, that everyone knows, but which just ain't true?
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