and
Questions raised by Fiske's analysis (1989) as discussed in my lecture on popular culture
Note how, in these two scenes, one is offered two very different "hooks" on which to "produce" (in Fiske's terms)a popular interpretation relatively independent from the formal hegemonic interpretation (whatever Holywood announced the movie as). One hook is the representation of the CIA as something to shoot at (or the officer in uniform as a related part of the United States). The other hook is Rambo himself, half-naked, successful in saving men from horrible captivity, who walks away from the officer, the army camp and, by implication, from the United States. Either of these hook can be used as the "symbol of America:" The United States, its institutions and executive arms as constituting America vs. the individual rebelling against illegitimate authority (Jefferson and others writing the Constitution vs. the Puritan Pilgrims moving away from England).
But they also offer other hooks for other imaginations as the images are placed within other frames:
You might also want to compare these scenes from Rambo with scenes from Shane