(Loved Trope) Character finally reveals their true power level

[u/Tannerknox]

John Wick - the viewer spends the first 25ish minutes just being told John Wick has an infamous past of being an assassin. Once the first home invasion happens, we see him fully unleash the Baba Yaga, completely annihilating a dozen unsuspecting assailants.

Rebel Ridge - the viewer learns early on that Terry Richmond is a Marine veteran who was never sent overseas for an initially unclear reason. Over half-an-hour into the movie he has a standoff with the town’s corrupt police chief. It’s revealed in this scene that he’s THE martial arts instructor for the Marines. He proceeds to disarm two police officers with extreme efficiency.

Naruto - Rock Lee is a character we’ve seen prove to be a capable fighter in a couple of episodes prior to his fight with Gaara, despite Rock not having any inherent Ninjutsu abilities. When his strikes can’t make it through Gaara’s automatic sand shields, Rock’s instructor, Guy, gives Rock permission to take off his leg weights. The bystanders watching the fight don’t understand how taking off some leg weights will give Rock an edge in the fight, but then when Rock drops them, they’re revealed to be hundreds, maybe thousands of pounds. This then reveals that Rock can move at super speed, and he can shockingly out maneuver Gaara’s first layer of shielding.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

This reminds me a lot of that clip of Denzel Washington talking about culture when promoting "Fences".
It's not really something you can learn by reading, you need to experience it.

You're clearly not from Eastern Europe / Slavic, so you don't get it, and that's fine.

PS. I could also say- you're working weirdly hard to convince others it's a mistake. That doesn't really bring anything to the conversation.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, but reading about something, and actually experiencing it in its cultural context, are two different things.

You have never experienced your Mom telling you to clean up your toys, otherwise the Baba Yaga was going to get you- something most Polish kids would hear during their childhood.

Honestly- this dude explains it really well: Denzel Washington 'It’s Not Color, It’s Culture!' 🔥

A thousand books would never teach you what it's actually like to be Polish / Slavic, because that's something you experience. That's not me gatekeeping, that's a fact. It's the same way I wouldn't pretend to have more authority speaking about whatever culture you're from.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

And again- you are confusing the myth, with the culture. The myth is completely irrelevant here.

It's not about "my mom told me"- it's about shared experience.

My friends would hear the same from their parents. My cousins would hear the same from theirs. We have all experienced that. That's what culture is- a collection of experiences that connect a group of people together.

For all kids in Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia (and so on), Baba Yaga means one thing "Evil witch you should be very afraid of".

That's it. The origins of the myth, its variations- are all irrelevant to the contemporary cultural use of that character- which works perfectly in the context of the movie.

Growing up in Poland might not make me an expert on the myth, but I'm fairly sure it makes me more of an authority on our culture, than you are.

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

Dude, be for real- you're just frustrated because someone with actual experience on the topic corrected you on your bollox, and you're being dismissive because you have zero other arguments.

Imagine if I came into this thread and started correcting Americans (which I'm like 99% sure you are) on the cultural aspects of ranching or baseball or other parts of your culture, because I read some wikipedia articles. How arrogant would that be?

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

Cool... now search for "scaring children with Baba Jaga".

I can give you a plethora of links if you'd like. They are all in Polish of course, but for an expert on Slavic culture that shouldn't be an issue.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Polska/comments/1cx2gr2/czym_was_straszyli_w_dzieci%C5%84stwie/ Here you have other Polish people discussing how they were scared with Baba Jaga.

https://mamadu.pl/118277,przyjdzie-baba-jaga-i-cie-zabierze-straszymy-dzieci-choc-to-glupie-i-malo-wychowawcze

https://kobieta.onet.pl/straszysz-dziecko-baba-jaga-to-nie-jest-dobry-pomysl/rpc9gge

https://www.malecharaktery.pl/artykul/czarna-wolga-baba-jaga-drzewo-w-brzuchu-czy-straszenie-dzieci-jest-dobrym-srodkiem-wychowawczym-1

[u/TheGuardianInTheBall → u/[deleted]]

Why exactly is it dumb? 

Also your original comment was

 She's a witch, and she is not expressly evil or malign, though she is very dangerous. She can be one of the good guys in the right situations, when she is treated with respect. This is on no way what they meant when they called John Wick a Baba Yaga

Which already shows lack of understanding of cultural meaning of the term, because Baba Jaga is very much scary and evil in Eastern Europe. 

So I don't think you can now claim "nobody disagreed with that". 

And finally- where is the pivot? My original position was "Baba yaga is used as a term for something / someone very scary".

That is still my position. I never pivoted from "myth to culture" either. You simply didn't understand that I was talking about culture the whole time- which was obvious from  "This reminds me a lot of that clip of Denzel Washington talking about culture ".

Finally- it actually makes perfect sense to use Baba Yaga, to further emphasise that compared to Wick, the Russian mob are like children. 

I mean, be for real- boogeyman wouldn't make him sound any more bad ass, because that is not the point.