GI Joe: No longer a "Real American Hero."

Message

Eric W. · #1 Post by **Eric W.** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 2:12 pm

This is absurd political correctness, but I really am not surprised:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296054,00.html

Hopefully it'll be a good movie, but nevertheless my initial reaction to this was:

Paul MacLean · #2 Post by **Paul MacLean** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:33 pm

For some citizens of other countries — where sentiments against the Iraq war and the American government are strong — a U.S. soldier might not be the easiest character to get viewers to identify with.

Yeah, sure...I mean just compare the box-office figures of Black Hawk Down to Jarhead.

John Johnson · #3 Post by **John Johnson** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:41 pm

Guess the Captain America movie is a no-no then. lol

Paul MacLean · #4 Post by **Paul MacLean** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 7:48 pm

John Johnson wrote:Guess the Captain America movie is a no-no then. lol

I was thinking "Captain Northern Hemisphere" might be a better name...except that would be "hemispherist" toward those below below -- I'm sorry, I mean on the other side of -- the equator.

Eric W. · #5 Post by **Eric W.** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:45 pm

John Johnson wrote:Guess the Captain America movie is a no-no then. lol

Yeah, we'll call him Captain UN or something like that instead.

AndyDursin · #6 Post by **AndyDursin** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 12:43 pm

It's incredibly lame, and pathetic. They've basically gutted the entire CONCEPT of G.I.JOE and turned it into a broad, POLITICALLY CORRECTED version in the hopes of making it sell internationally.

Absolutely beyond comprehension at this point. The bottom line is that it's about money, though how much they're going to lose in this country will be interesting because of the negativity the movie's going to have surrounding it. Heck it's already being condemned all over the net.

Monterey Jack · #7 Post by **Monterey Jack** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 10:15 pm

I'm reminded of how in Superman Returns, we got a bastardized version of "Truth, justice...all that stuff".

romanD · #8 Post by **romanD** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:15 am

well, the difference is that BJD and JARHEAD are intelligent anti-warmovies, who criticize war and everything. GI JOE is some silly propaganda for american soldiers and if you guys think that is what the world outside of the US wants to see and agrees upon you should travel a bit more.

What the US created down there in the IRAQ is nothing to be proud of and and a movie about glorious us soldiers is certainly not what will be well received! So I can really understand the studio's concern with that.

AndyDursin · #9 Post by **AndyDursin** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 10:38 am

romanD wrote:well, the difference is that BJD and JARHEAD are intelligent anti-warmovies, who criticize war and everything. GI JOE is some silly propaganda for american soldiers and if you guys think that is what the world outside of the US wants to see and agrees upon you should travel a bit more.

So let me get this straight -- those are "intelligent" BECAUSE they're anti-war movies?

And also, because you live outside the U.S., you immediately know more than "we" do? Why should I care what YOU want to see -- that's supposed to trump what I would like to?

GI JOE is a FANTASY, it is an action movie, but it is also distinctly American at the same time. Watering it down and "reconceptualizing" it because of "sensitivities" is what is totally wrong with the world we're now living in.

What the US created down there in the IRAQ is nothing to be proud of and and a movie about glorious us soldiers is certainly not what will be well received!

Did you fight in Iraq? I know three people who have, one of whom is there right now, and I am proud of them, so I take offense to that statement.

Eric W. · #10 Post by **Eric W.** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 11:17 am

romanD wrote:well, the difference is that BJD and JARHEAD are intelligent anti-warmovies, who criticize war and everything. GI JOE is some silly propaganda for american soldiers and if you guys think that is what the world outside of the US wants to see and agrees upon you should travel a bit more.

What the US created down there in the IRAQ is nothing to be proud of and and a movie about glorious us soldiers is certainly not what will be well received! So I can really understand the studio's concern with that.

This is an incredibly ignorant and foolish post on a number of levels...even for you.

romanD · #11 Post by **romanD** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 12:52 pm

fellas, we shouldnt go into any political discussions here... let's talk happily about movies...

actually i wouldnt call BHD a particularly intelligent movie, but at least it was an anti-war movie and that's the only thing war movies should aspire to be... some try to but end up only as glorifications...

and i highly doubt that something called GI JOE will be a serious attempt at showing the kids the horrors of war.

I certainly didnt mean to insult any single soldier, but Im sure the general actions by the us military are in many cases a little questionable... dont you think? So Im happy to see that filmmakers like Brian DePalma take the topic seriously and apparently do a great job.

Sorry... but we Germans (and Im sure a lot of other countries) are a little bit sensitive when it comes to glorifying or justifying war... I even met once an American who was appalled by the fact that we didnt join the attack on Iraq... should I be sorry that we didnt want war? Especially we Germans have any rights there are not to go ever on war and it should always be understandable.

I find it strange that apparently Americans dont seem to care about that within the last couple years the rest of the world doesnt like the US anymore as much as they did like 10 years ago. When I was in school everybody wanted to go on vacation to the US... and now? I hardly know anybody who goes there... which is sad, as it is a great country, with lots of things to see and do and people to meet.

And somehow it is ironic that the first foreign country some americans ever went to is the Iraq. Isn't that something to think about?

I dont say I know more about the war down there than you do, but I know that thousands of people died there since the start of it. And I hardly think that it is a success and anything heroic. And it all cost so much money... money which could have been used for so many more important things... that appalls me.

Again I certainly dont want to insult your friend, Andy... Im sure he does something very brave! Seriously! But it should be allowed to criticize the military actions by President Bush and to question why there should be a movie about the glory of war (ok, I may exaggerate there now)... the studios I guess did some research. But it may also be just because GI JOE is hardly known outside of the US, I think... I mainly know that from some old jump'n'run game...

Paul MacLean · #12 Post by **Paul MacLean** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:46 am

romanD wrote: When I was in school everybody wanted to go on vacation to the US... and now? I hardly know anybody who goes there... which is sad, as it is a great country, with lots of things to see and do and people to meet.

It is their loss. Their perception of America is unfortunately skewed, partly by the media, and partly by opportunistic blowhards like Michael Moore. I've been frequently appalled when in England to see how the BBC erroniously portrays the US, with selective reporting (that sometimes borders on fabrication).

And somehow it is ironic that the first foreign country some americans ever went to is the Iraq. Isn't that something to think about?

Well no, not if they never had the money to take an overseas trip before they enlisted.

Visiting foreign countries is not easy or cheap for Americans. It is easy in Europe, since European countries are small and continuous, and one can drive from one nation to the other in a matter of hours. The US is comperable in size to all of Europe, and is only continuous with two other nations, Canada and Mexico. Europe can can only be reached by air travel, which is expensive (and time-consuming -- for instance it takes around 15 hours to fly from Los Angeles to London).

I dont say I know more about the war down there than you do, but I know that thousands of people died there since the start of it. And I hardly think that it is a success and anything heroic.

You don't think the removal of Saddan Hussein is a success? Because the Iraqi people would disagree with you on that.

Eric W. · #13 Post by **Eric W.** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 12:03 pm

Paul MacLean wrote:
romanD wrote: When I was in school everybody wanted to go on vacation to the US... and now? I hardly know anybody who goes there... which is sad, as it is a great country, with lots of things to see and do and people to meet.
It is their loss. Their perception of America is unfortunately skewed, partly by the media, and partly by opportunistic blowhards like Michael Moore. I've been frequently appalled when in England to see how the BBC erroniously portrays the US, with selective reporting (that sometimes borders on fabrication).

And somehow it is ironic that the first foreign country some americans ever went to is the Iraq. Isn't that something to think about?
Well no, not if they never had the money to take an overseas trip before they enlisted.

Visiting foreign countries is not easy or cheap for Americans. It is easy in Europe, since European countries are small and continuous, and one can drive from one nation to the other in a matter of hours. The US is comperable in size to all of Europe, and is only continuous with two other nations, Canada and Mexico. Europe can can only be reached by air travel, which is expensive (and time-consuming -- for instance it takes around 15 hours to fly from Los Angeles to London).

I dont say I know more about the war down there than you do, but I know that thousands of people died there since the start of it. And I hardly think that it is a success and anything heroic.
You don't think the removal of Saddan Hussein is a success? Because the Iraqi people would disagree with you on that.

Thank you. Well said, friend!

Eric Paddon · #14 Post by **Eric Paddon** » Mon Sep 10, 2007 5:44 pm

It sickens me as we hit the sixth anniversary of 9/11, how anti-Americanism is more in vogue than it ever was in the latter decades of the Cold War. And how there is an instinctive distaste in our entertainment elites to celebrate patriotism, love of country or anything that hints at *celebrating* the greatness of America and its history and traditions. Instead, we see bending over backwards accomodation to Islamic groups, including those with long rap sheets of sympathy for terrorists, an increase of movies in which America is the villain, free publicity for crackpot advocates of theories about how Bush knew in advance of 9/11 etc. etc.

When I get told by a non-American, that I should be concerned about America's reputation being lower than it used to, my response is that my view of Europe and many other countries is lower than it ever could be, given how we now know how much so many Europeans whether George Galloway in England, or the Chirac government in France, were the biggest friends Saddam ever could have asked for in Western Europe, not to mention the increased accomodation being given to radical Muslims in Western Europe to show them greater deference in which Western Europe becomes a fertile breeding ground for them to potentially commit more acts of terror.