G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the big summer tentpole of the week and of course, with the premiere of the film comes all the attention uninformed mainstream networks try to pile on at the eleventh hour.
In regards to G.I. Joe, it was an inevitable that we would eventually have to hear one particular voice of dissent speaking up: Those who think that G.I. Joe has been stripped of the ‘Americanness’ that once made it great. I wouldn’t call this news, per se, but it definitely made it onto a major news network (MSNBC), so if you haven’t seen it, take a look at the video before we get into the lengthy debate:
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The guy crying foul in the video is John Miller from the Conservative publication National Review. Now before you dogpile Mr. Miller and start tearing him down for expressing his opinion (as it is), let’s at least consider his point of view:
THE OLD DAWGS
If you’re over the age of 45, then you’re probably ancient old enough to remember the days when G.I. Joe was a 12″ “Action Man” figurine inspired by WWII soldiers (with some Korean War influences thrown in the mix). The original toy line -- launched by Hasbro in 1964 -- included four figures corresponding to the four branches of the U.S. Military (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines). Accessory packs (or “blades” for you old-timers) were sold separately, allowing kids to customize each “Joe” with the “blades” they purchased. If that sounds like Barbie for boys, that’s because it was.
This early incarnation of G.I. Joe was unapologetically an American icon and a proud military warrior crafted in homage of those who were out there in the world, fighting the good fight on behalf of the U.S. And that depiction is exactly what guys like John Miller remember: It is the core essence he feels has been lost from the G.I. Joe franchise with it’s new international scope and ‘Robocop-style’ outfits.
And while it might be easy to say “Let it go, dad,” just take a minute first and think about all the beloved staples of YOUR childhood that have been “ruined” by Hollywood in the last couple years (or will be ruined in the next few years to come). Suddenly it’s easy to sympathize with the cranky old-timers, isn’t it?
THE 80s BRIGADE
Yes G.I. Joe got his start as an over-sized, pro-military, knock-off Barbie doll, but what really turned the franchise into a permanent cultural fixture (and a cash-cow for Hasbro) is undoubtedly the G.I. Joe resurgence of the 80s, which turned a whole new generation (mine) onto the franchise and also coined the phrase “A Real American Hero.”
The 80s G.I. Joe came in the form of “modern” action figures (3.75″ short now), and a toy line that included vehicles, accessories and massive play sets. Hasbro also pioneered new strategies in merchandising with G.I. Joe, marketing the toy line while simultaneously launching other media ventures. These included an accompanying Marvel comic book series and, of course, two installments (1985-87, 1989-91) of an uber-popular cartoon series (and one legendary cartoon movie), which helped lure millions of young kids (me included) into the revamped world of G.I. Joe and their nemesis, an evil terrorist organization known as Cobra.
If you’re between the ages of 20-40, then G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero is probably the G.I. Joe you’re familiar with. Names like Duke, Scarlett, Lady J, Hawk, Snake Eyes, Cobra Commander, Baroness, Destro, Zartan, Serpentor or (my fav) Sgt. Slaughter are ones you know and love -- and you certainly know all about epic gunfights using red and blue lasers.
That’s MY G.I. Joe.
Continue reading ‘G.I. Joe: The (Not) American Hero?’
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144 Comments
I would have seen the movie if it had red and blue lasers.
Since it does not I will not go see it.
While Spiderman was good the follow up movies were not as good in my opinion. Not enough action, too much crying and packing too many villians into the movie without enough back story to make them interesting. I collected all the issues of all four titles up till 1998 and so yes I am familiar with all the story arcs. They let the director decide what to put in the films and Sam Raimy tried to do too much too soon.
Spider-Man, Dark Knight, X-Men 2, The Hulk (Nortons version) and Iron Man, are all on the same level of superhero perfection. You can even include Watchmen!!!
Don’t make me add Ghost Rider Aleric !!!!
as far as the Spider-Man movies go ,
2 out of 3 isnt bad .
and 3 was BAAAAAAAAAAD!
What makes Spider-Man and all the other superhero films great is standout casting and writing.
Everyone loved Toby as Parker just as everyone loved RD as Stark.
When you have that perfect balance you can’t go wrong.
@SIN187UM: Consistency is key. What other roles has Marlon Wayans had that are comparable?
@OllieJ
Pfft consistency. The same bellowing was done when Robin Williams started to take on “serious roles” as well as Ed O’neil. I’ll never compare some one’s comedic film to one of their drama films because its a different style of acting. So I take it you didn’t see Requiem for a Dream.
Did someone just say “Heath Care?”
Btw, heard a radio ad today with Kid Rock’s “American Badass.” I’m not the biggest Kid Rock fan (and hearing them using Metallica’s Sad But True is weird), but it fits.
Heath
Right now there is a Russian Nuclear Akula class attack sub roughly 200 miles off the east coast. It may be the Oktober guard.
The world went from thinking we are bullies to thinking we are pussies. We had one kind of Facsist government for 8 years and now we have an all new kind of Commie- Ultra Left wing Facsist government where old folks expressing their feelings at town hall meetings are labled as an organized mob?? by a large portion of the media that has become little more than a propaganda arm for the administration. At least Bush was cool with people protesting him. Now we have a White House Hotline so Liberal wackos can report people to the Berkley Gestapo. We have no real journalists anymore. Makes me sad. We have a cult of personality in this country, beguiled by charm and charisma and a public mezmorized by a great public speaker (should sound familiar if you have read your history)
I’m with 790 on this one though I’m sure we would vastly disagree on politics. Give em hell!!
@790 and @Lord Garth:
Enough with the left-wing/right-wing bullsh*t name-calling. A majority of the people using terms likes socialist, communist, etc have no idea what the terms really mean.
And those town hall meetings where “old folks are just expressing their feelings” are highly organized corporate-initiated tactics to prevent any real dialogue and ensure that corporate fatcats continue to get their money.
Do some research for yourself. Don’t bother responding cause I’m not going to get sucked any further into this insipid discussion about the patriotism of a comic book character or the patriotism of any who sees or doesn’t see an issue with the movie adaptation of these characters.
It’s an effin’ summer comic-book film for goodness sake. It doesn’t make you an American or any less of an American if you’re pissed or not pissed about the portrayal.
Well that’s reasonable.
G.I. is no longer a reference to U.S. Army military personnel.
But they kept the letter GI… Is he Gastro-Intestinal Joe now? Staving off the forces of Diarrhea and encouraging kids to eat more fiber?
Seriously, what does the “GI” stand for in “GI Joe” if he’s part of an international force run like the UN with no national ties?
It would be like making an NY Yankees movie, but deciding it shouldn’t be set in New York; but instead in Chicago. you can make that movie; but calling it “The NY Yankees Story” seems stupid, doesn’t it?
Since we’re assuming they aren’t stupid; GI Joe must refer to a different GI. I still think Gastro-Intestinal is the most likely answer.
Eat you fiber kids, just like GI Joe. A clean colon is a happy colon.
@Gekkobear: Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity
“but it definitely made it onto a major news network (MSNBC)”
Sorry Kofi but this statement negates any other would-be points in your article.
I think my local 6 am newscast has a larger audience than MSNBC.
It appears many new fans to GI JOE series think Destro is the leader of Cobra…Nowhere in the trailers Cobra Commander was seen…which makes everything so confusing. As a fan of GI Joe from the 1980’s, I was starting to think Destro was the leader of Cobra based on the new movies thrilers. They should had at least a couple seconds of Cobra Commander in the trailers.
Ok, just re-watched the commercial, and I admit I’m clueless as to what everyone is complaining about. GI Joe is still an anti-terrorist force in the movie, it’s entirely staffed by Americans, it’s run by General Hawk, who’s clearly an American Army general. Everyone in the commercial who has an accent is one of the bad guys. They mention that GI Joe is attached to NATO, but so what? Firstly, NATO is the good guys, the kind of internationalism that we, as Americans, like, and there’s no mention of the UN (Which is the kind of internationalism that we don’t like). I mean, technically we could say that the USAF is “Attached to NATO” in a very broad sense, so what’s all the complaining about here?
@OllieJ – “Enough with the left-wing/right-wing bullsh*t name-calling. A majority of the people using terms likes socialist, communist, etc have no idea what the terms really mean.
And those town hall meetings where “old folks are just expressing their feelings” are highly organized corporate-initiated tactics to prevent any real dialogue and ensure that corporate fatcats continue to get their money.”
Ummm…ok. So you want others to stop calling names and throwing around terms but in the next paragraph you do just that? it’s so easy to throw around accusations without having any proof to back them up. Do you know for a fact that the people showing up to the town hall meetings are being organized by corporations to protect your so-called “fatcats”? And let’s just entertain your argument for a moment. Is there anything illegal about it? have they broken any laws? Are they out pooring bottles of Ensure on people as the walk in or leave to voice their protest? How about this – are they camped outside of President Obama house in Chicago with signs saying they want a meeting with him for over a year? Where was the outrage when Cindy did that to Bush a couple of years ago?
I happen to agree with Kofi on most of his points in this article (which is werid becasue we are from two different sides of the coin on most things). It’s just a movie and the people that are upset or so because they feel as if another piece of their childhood or nostalgia has been tampered with. I think Paramount and Sommer’s were merely making a business decision to make the movie attractive on an international scale.
And let’s look at this shall we, they blow up the Effiel Tower. Not the statue of liberty or the golden gate bridge. Not Mount Rushmore or any other American landmark. Most Hollywood films go for the American landmarks because they are recognizable (and maybe deep down they really want to see it destroyed? i kid, i kid).
BTW Kofi … i forgot my “I’m J/K smiley emoticon” at the end of my last post so here it is.
@ Republibot 3.0
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. The filmmakers weren’t stupid: they were going for the best of ALL worlds. They want U.S. Viewers to see a badass American kick-ass team (hence the current Kid Rock “American Badass” TV Spots); while Foreign audiences (READ: kids in other countries) still have room enough to be able to imagine themselves on that kick-ass team. It’s vaguery at its best for the sake of appealing to as many people as possible:
It’s the same thing [successful] politicians – whether on the left or right – do to stay in office or get in office: play all sides of the fence.
OllieJ, what kind of real dialogue works for you ? I love the irony, were talking about GI Joe a symbol of freedom and the American way and oh don’t talk about this or that.
I hate politics as well,,, what I hate even more are those that preach America values while at the same time strive to control them.
Unfortunately these days politics are involved in everything. I agree that this site shouldn’t be a forum for endless political discussion but some times its gonna pop up. I think that most people can think for themselves here. As you can see there are a lot of readers that don’t care what I’m talking about
and are commenting on other subjects related to GI Joe…
Now that being said I agree that its time to end the political discussion on this thread.
Lastly I hope that GI Joe tanks and is the biggest flop of the summer.
@790
I hate to disappoint you, man, but I REALLY don’t think it’s going to tank.
People have been enjoying it, and the irony is, after people have seen it, I think this whole thread is going to become entirely moot and people are going to be commenting at ALL OF US who have debated here like “Dudes get over it.”
LOL
Still, it as good bumping heads with you guys.
I’ll be seeing this movie first thing tomorrow
Kofi, I’m gonna predict,,,,,,
46mil overall weekend take.
Kofi Outlaw:
You said >>I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. The filmmakers weren’t stupid: they were going for the best of ALL worlds. They want U.S. Viewers to see a badass American kick-ass team (hence the current Kid Rock “American Badass” TV Spots); while Foreign audiences (READ: kids in other countries) still have room enough to be able to imagine themselves on that kick-ass team. It’s vaguery at its best for the sake of appealing to as many people as possible: <<
EXACTLY! Calling this movie “Unamerican” is like saying the new 2010 Cadillacs are unamerican because you don’t like the color schemes they come in. It’s ludicrous. It’s tilting at windmills, it’s finding conspiracies and agenda where a better, easier, more likely explanation is simply ineptitude, ignorance, and greed.
@790
I say $50 mil (it is a big vacation/moving weekend) and (this is the key) that number will experience only a MILD drop-off in week 2. Word of mouth will be that it’s “Fun” and people need that at the movies right now.
We’ll see. I might have to pay twice just to contribute to me winning this prediction.
Or word of mouth could be that its funny in a bad way.
Lol,,, I totally disagree that it will have a strong second weekend. But I’ve been wrong before.
Anyone else have any box office predictions ????
I predict it will be a good summer movie and have a number spot at the box office in some way shape or form as does just about every film. WOOT 10am SHOWING
LMAO @Gekkobear
Gastro-Intestinal Joe, that’s classic.
@OllieJ
“Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity”
LMFAO!!!! Oh man, if only that was just a big joke it would have made you the funniest guy on this thread, and I thought it was until I read your other responses and realized you might actually be serious. Man, that’s what this movie is calling it?? LMAO, what a freakin joke…
@Lord Garth
Did you hear about when our Treasury Secretary made a speech at a Chinese University the students literally, and in front of his face, laughed at him??? LMAO. I’m glad we are taken so seriously now… At least before they were afraid of us bombing the crap out of them for laughing at us, I’d rather it be that way, lol.
It’s funny that G.I. Joe was marketed as “A real American hero” in the states, but the rest of the world got “G.I. Joe: International Hero”. Those crazy marketing whores…
Having said that, I get what he’s saying. What’s the point of calling it G.I. Joe in they’re not, you know, G.I.s? That is, American General Infantry.
>>What’s the point of calling it G.I. Joe in they’re not, you know, G.I.s? That is, American General Infantry.<<
It’s a code name for “America’s elite special mission force.” Military code names frequently have nothing to do with, and are deliberately misleading. “Operation Marketgarden” had nothing to do with markets or gardens. “The Manhattan Project” was in Chicago. Chicago was from Chicago, but Cheap Trick were from Rockford, Y’know, that kind of thing.
Its just a name brand they’re using to market the film to the original fans Republibot 3.0
^
“America’s real elite special forces don’t go by a cool name and they don’t wear insignia on they’re uniforms”
I thought GI stood for Government Issue? lol
@790
Im sure they have some name they have some name they go buy as special forces are compromised of various smaller special forces specific to the Branch…. AF has TAC-P and PJs, Navy Seals, Rangers, Human Shield- MArines ( yeh I cracked the marine joke, and yes I served so Im entitled)
I think you may be talking specifically about the more Black Ops groups in which case they would still have a name even a generic one for identity purposes for themselves at least.
True, It depends on the mission, but the real top level stuff that employs advanced nano-tech weapons and tactics like this GI Joe group, would fall under black ops or Delta Force.
@ 790
yep, or Sector 7 LOL j/k
The Effiel Tower has had it coming for awhile now.
If you are a Marine SIN187UM, you know what’s up,,,
I am an 80’s kid and I was raised on GI-Joe and Transformers but I absolutely have no problem with them making it an international team as a matter of fact even so there were international members on the team during the 80’s. The problem I have with it is that even though they wanted to make it “more realistic” and “internationally friendly”, NO ONE should be dressed in ALL black except for Snake-Eyes and The Baroness. I say that because what made the characters sooo cool was partially their SIGNATURE uniforms. Each character had a distinctive costume which was a huge part of their character aside from what their specialty or skill was,how they talked and acted. They should have found a way to keep their original uniforms without making it campy which I’m sure can be done. These characters have lost about 85% of their individuality which made them so interesting in the first place just by making them all dressed in black. Not to mention Destro without his trademark Mask?!! What the hell were they thinking,well maybe he’ll were the mask somewhere in the middle or end of the movie but he should have had it on from the beginning,that is 95% of Destro thrown away because of that. So modernization is good but don’t go overboard to point of making a whole new set of characters,taking away their essence, trademark looks and story while just stamping a famous name on it just to make it sell.(because Transformers did well) I hope this movie flops harder than fat man with heart disease eating a grease sandwhich.
I am an 80’s kid and I was raised on GI-Joe and Transformers but I absolutely have no problem with them making it an international team as a matter of fact even so there were international members on the team during the 80’s. The problem I have with it is that even though they wanted to make it “more realistic” and “internationally friendly”, NO ONE should be dressed in ALL black except for Snake-Eyes and The Baroness. I say that because what made the characters sooo cool was partially their SIGNATURE uniforms. Each character had a distinctive costume which was a huge part of their character aside from what their specialty or skill was,how they talked and acted. They should have found a way to keep their original uniforms without making it campy which I’m sure can be done. These characters have lost about 85% of their individuality which made them so interesting in the first place just by making them all dressed in black. Not to mention Destro without his trademark Mask?!! What the hell were they thinking,well maybe he’ll were the mask somewhere in the middle or end of the movie but he should have had it on from the beginning,that is 95% of Destro thrown away because of that. So modernization is good but don’t go overboard to point of making a whole new set of characters,taking away their essence, trademark looks and story while just stamping a famous name on it just to make it sell.(because Transformers did well) I hope this movie flops harder than fat man with heart disease eating a fried pork grease sandwhich.
@ 790
Bro, you owe me a Coca-Cola: G.I. Joe: $57 million.
@ Kofi:
Yeah, I was completely wrong on that as well. Weekend gross + international gross comes to something like a hundred million. Which is just as well, since I ended up liking the movie (to my surprise) and would like to see a sequel anyway.
Of course my problem is that instead of lasers… I hated the cartoon and only read the comic book which had realistic small arms and I see this ‘accelerator suit’ crap as the unrealistic thing… and the bulk of this as too much of an homage o the cartoons’ style and scope.
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