Ivan Drago: Misunderstood

I'll admit, the number of times that I have seen Rocky IV is so low that it borders on the un-American.  I only recently found it on Netflix and decided to watch it last night while I caught up on some work.  Toward the end, a strange thing happened.  I don't remember feeling this way the other times I've watched this film, but I ended up feeling really bad for Ivan Drago.

I know what you're thinking, "Woah, Drago represents everything that was wrong with the Soviet Union and why they were such a threat to the US of A. "  And you're right, but for more reasons than you know.  We all understand that Ivan Drago is the product of the latest (at the time) advances of exercise science.  We see him injected with what we can only assume is anabolic steroids.  The result?  A magnificent physical specimen, but what about the man inside?

The Ivan Drago I see is a product of the failed Communist school system.  He speaks six times in the film: four in Russian, two in English.  Every time he speaks, we hear the most basic sentences with little to no thought or nuance.  When he is brought out to fight or go to press conferences, he looks frightened and confused.  Coupled with his poor schooling, I really estimate his cognitive development is mildly to moderately retarded.  Being a professional athlete and nationally beloved sports hero can bring a lot of pressure, especially to someone ill-equipped to cope with it.

The part where I really sympathized with him was right before the last round of the fight.  In the later rounds, Rocky was making up ground on the scorecards, but he was still behind.  Had it gone to a decision, Drago still would have won easily.  However, the Soviet crowd had turned on their hero before the fight was even over.  Like Frankenstein's monster, Drago only wants to be accepted for who he is, and it's that rejection that pushes him over the edge.  Drago loses his cool, chokes out a member of the politburo, and steps in for the final round.  He loses to Balboa by K.O. and the rest is history.  Rocky wins.  Ivan Drago is relegated to obscurity, comforted only by his wife after a devastating loss.  6 years later, the Soviet Union crumbles.

I've had my say and most will disagree with me.  Bad guys are just bad guys, you might say.  But that's where you'd be wrong in this case; Ivan Drago lacks the requisite intelligence to be a truly bad guy.  What we're left with is less of an evil villain, and more of a 6'5", 261 pound idiot man-child.