[fella]

Is that the exception that makes the rule?

[LS]

Maybe. But also maybe many just did NOT KNOW how to tell the story of a "defeat" and yet be uplifting in its portrayal of the soldiers. I could be wrong, but this was the first movie to try to (wrongly, in my view) differentiate between the VC and the N Vietnamese. But you see some of the same theme in "We Were Soldiers."

[wtc911]

It's the exception that "proves" the rule. In this saying proves means tests (an OE usage). So the saying actually means that the "rule" can be considered true only after it has been tested and shown to be sound. The usage is the same as in the other OE saying "the proof of the pudding is in the tasting", which means that things may look ok on their face but must be tested (proofed) before they can be declared so.

Can't help it....Jesuit HS.