Popular Culture Review Vol. 19, No. 1, Winter 2008 | Page 18

14 Popular Culture Review The iconography of the film is complete with a final shot of a statue erected to the Wolverines for their patriotic service during the Third World War. The political ideology of Milius also celebrates the values of manhood which apparently can only be realized through combat. Thus, Jed and Matt are football players, warriors, and hunters, who celebrate the killing of a deer by drinking the blood of their prey. Liberals are politicians who make their living through words and compromise—they are not men of action. Thus, Daryl’s (Darren Dalton) father who is the mayor becomes a collaborator with the communists, even forcing his son to swallow a tracking device which almost allows the Soviets and Cubans to capture the Wolverines. Fearing another betrayal, the Wolverines have no choice but to execute Daryl, who, after all, served as the school’s student body president. Like Ronald Reagan running against the Washington establishment, Milius displays little use for politicians. But the values for which the Wolverines are fighting are unclear. After the execution of Daryl, Matt asks how they are any different than the Soviets and Cubans. The best that the rather inarticulate Jed can come up with is the banal reply, “Because we live here.” Rather than celebrating patriotism they appear to be more motivated by the command of Mr. Eckert (Harry Dean Stanton) that his sons avenge him. When Daryl suggests that the boys take a vote about continuing their resistance, Jed physically overpowers the smaller boy, making it clear t