GI Joe: Real American Heroes, or "Globally Integrated" Heroes?

[Timstuff]

Okay, one of the biggest points of contention surrounding this movie has been the fact that early on, Stephen Sommers and Paramount proudly declared that this version of GI Joe would be a non-offensive, "politically correct" re-imagining. "Globally Integrated Joint Operations Entity" was the newly christened acronym for "GI Joe," rather than simply being "General Infantry Joe" which has for ages been a slang term denoting an American soldier. Also, their headquarters had been moved from America to Brussles Belgium, which is the home of the European Union Headquarters. Since Americans tend to distrust international unions, it's no surprise that the implications of this were seen as offensive.

Naturally, there was a massive backlash from the fan community, it managed to get brought up by outraged callers on talk radio shows, and it became the subject for angry bloggers everywhere. People's faith is not restored much, either, when the early leaked script got out that described the various members of the GI Joe team as having foreign accents. It would have been one thing to have the GI Joes cooperating with newly-created foreign operative characters, but that was unfortunately not so. One example would have been Scarlett, who had an Aussie accent despite being quite thoroughly American in all previous versions-- and in Sigma 6, she even had a Texas accent. The "politically correct" re imagining of GI Joe was more than just having the American Joes cooperating with international allies, but an actual re-assignment of the characters' nationalism. Cue more fanboy outrage.

However, Paramount clearly realized that they had landed themselves in hot water, and along with Hasbro issued multiple damage-control statements. The Hasbro CEO promised that GI Joe would not be based in Brussles and was still American based, and stated clearly that the franchise's American identity would not be molested. However, the fact that the production got going so quickly has led many to question how much could have really changed since the initial controversy. Most of the actors playing the Joes are American (an exception being Ray Park, who is British, but his character does not speak), which would mean that if any of this garbage about nationality-reassignment were true, then the actors would have to be faking their accents-- which could possibly be more offensive to the international market than if they had simply been left as American special forces.

The actual practicality of making a politically-correct commando unit who is almost entirely played by American actors seems a little bit far fetched, to say the least. However, thanks to that initial scare there's still a large cloud of doubt hanging over this project, and whether or not Paramount will let it retain it's original identity. Is it possible to make a movie about American commandos fighting terrorists and still make lots of money? Yes. Does Hollywood have a good track record for positively portraying the armed services recently? Heck no, and given that every movie about the Iraq war in the last 4 years has been a commercial dud, it doesn't look like they care much about what audiences think of their military portrayals.

The fact that Paramount is a part of the Viacom corporation, makes it a little hard to believe that they are capable of making a GI Joe movie that is respectful to the franchise's origins. However, when you're spending $170 million on a movie, it's kind of important to make sure that the audience is on board. Hopefully, even the suits at Viacom are able to realize such basic economics, regardless of what agenda they may be pushing.

[CaptainAmerica]

I can accept it if they're an international team but I don't like the idea of them changing the nationalities of characters.

[mr. peasant]

The actual practicality of making a politically-correct commando unit who is almost entirely played by American actors seems a little bit far fetched, to say the least.

Actually, there are four characters being portrayed by foreign actors, namely those for Snake Eyes (Ray Park is Scottish), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is English), Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui is French) and Cover Girl (Karolina Kurkova is Czech). That's approximately half the team.

[Kokoryu1]

Actually, there are four characters being portrayed by foreign actors, namely those for Snake Eyes (Ray Park is Scottish), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is English), Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui is French) and Cover Girl (Karolina Kurkova is Czech). That's approximately half the team.

Let's not forget Brendan Frasier is Half Canadian! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!

[terry78]

Well, it did start in the UK technically. I know it's supposed to be "A Real American Hero", but I think that was more of a sign of the times when it was released here in the 1980's, that gung-ho, beat the commies type of deal. Nowadays if there was a global threat, we would have people from all walks of life from around the globe as part of the team. I can bet that one of the non-American members will clash with one of our "shoot first and ask questions later" types in the movie.

[S.A.A.D]

Rant on:To be honest,what is the big deal if what G.I.Joe stood for changed??
Generally,when people talk about it,they don't blurt out G.I.Joe which is followed by what it actually stands for. So I don't see the big deal here,and also this is one of the dumbest controversies over a movie that is also based on a comic book ever IMO in spite of me not being a huge G.I. Joe fan. Hey,at lest the movie is called G.I.Joe.
It's also a matter of people who live in the U.S.A being annoyingly patriotic once more,
would it kill them if their country wasn't always in the spotlight??? Ugh,I can't stand this excessive patriotic U.S.A crap anymore. Rant:end of rant

[Franklin Richards]

Actually, there are four characters being portrayed by foreign actors, namely those for Snake Eyes (Ray Park is Scottish), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is English), Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui is French) and Cover Girl (Karolina Kurkova is Czech). That's approximately half the team.


How many of those people have american citizenship and live in Hollywood?


:thing: :doom: :thing:

[CaptainAmerica]

So I don't see the big deal here,and also this is one of the dumbest controversies over a movie that is also based on a comic book ever IMO

I agree. It seems like a lot of the people making a big deal about it aren't even G.I. Joe fans. I remember reading this thing on Fox News about the movie and it said "No longer will G.I. Joe be an American soldier but instead be an international team." But G.I. Joe has been a team since the 70's, maybe not an international one, but a team nonetheless, but the article's language made it seem like the author didn't know that.

[mr. peasant]

How many of those people have american citizenship and live in Hollywood?


:thing: :doom: :thing:

I reckon not many. I mean, Craig Ferguson's been in the U.S. for ages and he's only recently become a citizen. Most of the non-American cast members are likely to be on a work visa (or PRs at best but even then, I doubt many are).

[Heretic]

I grew up loving GI Joe: A Real American Hero...and I'm actually quite peeved that it's now Globally Integrated Joe.

And the reports I read were that the Joe's were based in The Pit...and never bothered to address where The Pit might be located.

[Pink Ranger]

GI Joe has gone through dozens of changes since it began. This is just another change, and in some ways it makes more sense. A lot of the international missions they did in the cartoons wouldn't make sense in a live action movie (as if China or Romania would gladly let the U.S. army run around willy nilly on their missions).

[Timstuff]

I think a lot of people are missing one of my bigger points, or I just did a crappy job expressing it: I'm not as upset that GI Joe will not have patriotic overtones as I am that the characters' national identities will be changed, since where a character comes from is part of what defines them. How would people feel if in Spider-Man, Sam Raimi decided to make Spider-Man be British and sling webs around London? Or how about Batman, for that matter? What if Captain America had to become "Captain U.N." in order for his movie to get made? (heck, that's probably why his movie hasn't been made)

I don't think it's too much to ask for the characters to still be American, since they always were in the comics. If it's okay to make Scarlett be Australian, then why can't Superman be, too? I think that Paramount was so completely terrified that a movie about American commandos would be seen as politically incorrect, that they decided to make it as politically correct as possible. I can understand if they wanted to make GI Joe be NATO sanctioned be a cooperative effort, but I don't think that justifies them mucking around with the characters' national identities.

[mr. peasant]

I think a lot of people are missing one of my bigger points, or I just did a crappy job expressing it: I'm not as upset that GI Joe will not have patriotic overtones as I am that the characters' national identities will be changed, since where a character comes from is part of what defines them. How would people feel if in Spider-Man, Sam Raimi decided to make Spider-Man be British and sling webs around London? Or how about Batman, for that matter? What if Captain America had to become "Captain U.N." in order for his movie to get made? (heck, that's probably why his movie hasn't been made)

I don't think it's too much to ask for the characters to still be American, since they always were in the comics. If it's okay to make Scarlett be Australian, then why can't Superman be, too? I think that Paramount was so completely terrified that a movie about American commandos would be seen as politically incorrect, that they decided to make it as politically correct as possible. I can understand if they wanted to make GI Joe be NATO sanctioned be a cooperative effort, but I don't think that justifies them mucking around with the characters' national identities.

The examples you gave aren't quite fair. In the cases of Superman, Spider-Man and Batman, their backgrounds are a major influence on their personalities and the places a major part of the setting. For instance, Superman's Clark Kent alter ego is your stereotypical corn-fed farmboy new to the city while Peter Parker is your average New Yorker. For these instances, then yes. Changing their nationality or where they come from would be a bad move.

But in the case of G.I. Joe, it's different. Outside from it saying so on their filecards (and in some cases, over-the-top and borderline insulting caricatures), most of the characters aren't nearly as influenced by where they come from. For instance, making Snake Eyes French or African doesn't change him quite as much as long as his past remains largely unchanged. For him, his personality isn't quite nearly as tied to where he comes from as some of the non-Joe examples you cited.

[Pink Ranger]

I think a lot of people are missing one of my bigger points, or I just did a crappy job expressing it: I'm not as upset that GI Joe will not have patriotic overtones as I am that the characters' national identities will be changed, since where a character comes from is part of what defines them. How would people feel if in Spider-Man, Sam Raimi decided to make Spider-Man be British and sling webs around London? Or how about Batman, for that matter? What if Captain America had to become "Captain U.N." in order for his movie to get made? (heck, that's probably why his movie hasn't been made)


I respect your point. However, the contemporary GI Joe itself was an marked deviation from the original character. If we're not allowed to change the characters from the original, then the movie might as well be about just one guy with a beard named Joe Colton who changes into different outfits periodically throughout the movie.

[Mantis Rapture]

What a lot of american fans need to realise is, is that outside of the states they where known as 'G.I. Joe - International Hero' - for the toys at least. (I seem to remember them being known as Action Force aswell in a comic annual i had as a kid)

And you've got to realise they're making this film for the global market, it's the only way they'll make a profit, and the idea of some all american team policing the world aint gonna go down too well in the international territories - why do you think the Captain America film aint any nearer to getting made?

[Heretic]

I dont get it...are you implying that there is some sort of anti-US military sentiment out there????

But of course in other countrues it was called International Hero...because America is international to them. Makes sense to me.

[Nathan Petrelli]

rofl @ Captain U.N, I could see that happening

[mr. peasant]

I dont get it...are you implying that there is some sort of anti-US military sentiment out there????

It's not so much an anti-US military sentiment but rather people are fed up whenever the US (mainly its politicians are guilty of this though) takes matters into its own hands and spearhead interventions without (or at least with very little) international support. And having a movie with purely American forces traipsing around the world, fighting terrorists in foreign soil without the consent, support or involvement of said countries is precisely what probably the popular perception won't like (especially since it would make said countries look weak and disinterested in fighting terrorism).

[fixer79]

I wanted to reply that some members of the Joe team were born in other parts of the world 'cos I vividly remembered reading on the filecard of my Airtight action figure that he was born in München, Germany...

I wanted to double check on YoJoe.com and apparently, on the filecard on the site, Airtight is said to be born in New Haven, Connecticut...

Turns out that on the American filecards, all Joes are born in the US, whereas on the European ones, the Joes have received a much richer palette of places of origin, making them more believable...

Quick Kick, for example, is born in Los Angeles on the US card and in China on the European card. Also, his name is changed from the American MacArthur Ito to Lee Ho Ito.

Dial Tone is born in Eugene, Oregon on he US card and in Milan, Italy on the European card. Again the name is changed, from Jack Morelli to Luciano Morelli.

Hawk, on the other hand is born in Denver, Colorado on both US and Euro cards.

In my opinion it'd be the coolest to have Joes from all over the globe but based in the US. Some, like Hawk, Duke, Flint or Gung Ho should, of course, remain American.

Just my two cents ;)

[Pink Ranger]

Quick Kick, for example, is born in Los Angeles on the US card and in China on the European card. Also, his name is changed from the American MacArthur Ito to Lee Ho Ito.


I had no idea. Thanks for the tip, quite enlightening, although I wonder if the Filecard writers kind of mixed up their nationalities there.

One of the things I admire most about Larry Hama is he wrote characters from different multicultural backgrounds, who were also just Americans, plain and simple. Seeing what Hasbro did to Quick Kick and other "ethnic" Joes pretty much explains why whenever I've gone to Europe people always ask me "where are you REALLY from?".

[Kokoryu1]

I wanted to reply that some members of the Joe team were born in other parts of the world 'cos I vividly remembered reading on the filecard of my Airtight action figure that he was born in München, Germany...

I wanted to double check on YoJoe.com and apparently, on the filecard on the site, Airtight is said to be born in New Haven, Connecticut...

Turns out that on the American filecards, all Joes are born in the US, whereas on the European ones, the Joes have received a much richer palette of places of origin, making them more believable...

Quick Kick, for example, is born in Los Angeles on the US card and in China on the European card. Also, his name is changed from the American MacArthur Ito to Lee Ho Ito.

Dial Tone is born in Eugene, Oregon on he US card and in Milan, Italy on the European card. Again the name is changed, from Jack Morelli to Luciano Morelli.

Hawk, on the other hand is born in Denver, Colorado on both US and Euro cards.

In my opinion it'd be the coolest to have Joes from all over the globe but based in the US. Some, like Hawk, Duke, Flint or Gung Ho should, of course, remain American.

Just my two cents ;)

Cool! Now it makes a little more sense. Thanks for the info.

[Timstuff]

I wanted to reply that some members of the Joe team were born in other parts of the world 'cos I vividly remembered reading on the filecard of my Airtight action figure that he was born in München, Germany...

I wanted to double check on YoJoe.com and apparently, on the filecard on the site, Airtight is said to be born in New Haven, Connecticut...

Turns out that on the American filecards, all Joes are born in the US, whereas on the European ones, the Joes have received a much richer palette of places of origin, making them more believable...

Quick Kick, for example, is born in Los Angeles on the US card and in China on the European card. Also, his name is changed from the American MacArthur Ito to Lee Ho Ito.

Dial Tone is born in Eugene, Oregon on he US card and in Milan, Italy on the European card. Again the name is changed, from Jack Morelli to Luciano Morelli.

Hawk, on the other hand is born in Denver, Colorado on both US and Euro cards.

In my opinion it'd be the coolest to have Joes from all over the globe but based in the US. Some, like Hawk, Duke, Flint or Gung Ho should, of course, remain American.

Just my two cents ;)

Hmm... Thanks for the history lesson! I guess this makes it a bit more palatable to see some of the Joes being from outside the US.

[gimmen64]

"Globally Integrated Joint Operations Entity" makes far more sense in today's world. Cobra is a terrorist group and like most of the terrorist groups today, they don't have a central base, since they have operations in secret around the world. Its no longer country vs. country but countries vs. terrorist groups.

[CaptainAmerica]

"Globally Integrated Joint Operations Entity" makes far more sense in today's world. Cobra is a terrorist group and like most of the terrorist groups today, they don't have a central base, since they have operations in secret around the world. Its no longer country vs. country but countries vs. terrorist groups.

I agree, but they can do that without changing the nationalities of established characters.

[Kokoryu1]

Glad to see someone else agrees!

[mr. peasant]

I agree, but they can do that without changing the nationalities of established characters.

Actually, they can't quite. The way I see it, the filmmakers only had four options with the characters:

1. Stick with the original nationalities and feature a purely American team
2. Stick with the original nationalities and feature third stringers unrecognized by almost everyone
3. Create new, original characters for the movie from varied nationalities
4. Change the nationalities of established characters.

For marketing reasons, Paramount decided Option 1 wouldn't work. Options 2 and 3 would undoubtedly raise even more complaints than already present people's favorites aren't appearing in the movie. Furthermore, they defeat the whole point of adapting the G.I. Joe brand since the recognizable characters aren't there to attract viewers. Plus, Hasbro's bound to raise a fuss both, for creating more characters they have to license as well as not using their flagship characters which they want to market as toys. That simply leaves Option 4.

[Pink Ranger]

I don't have a serious problem with changing the nationalities of the characters, but in their zeal to be more global and inclusive, this move might actually be even less "p.c." than if they left everybody American.

One distinctive theme of Larry Hama's design of the GI Joe characters was that they were multicultural, but still all Americans nonetheless. He purposely designed GI Joe to include multiple representatives, some which diverted from popular stereotypes, from every ethnicity as well, such as Asians (Quick Kick, Tunnel Rat, Torpedo, Jinx), Latinos (Zap, Shipwreck), Native Americans (Airborne, Spirit) and African Americans (Doc, Roadblock, Stalker). As an Asian-American man himself, I would have to believe his own personal perspective played a role in this.

This was, and still is, a very groundbreaking concept, because the general perception of the United States, especially in Europe and Asia, is that the entire United States is made up of just good-looking white people and the occasional "streetwise" black guy.

My fear is that if they internationalize GI Joe, then all these ethnic minority Americans will suddenly have their American identities disappear. Because you just know that they're not going to internationalize characters like Duke, Scarlet, Flint, etc. No, Quick Kick is going to be from Japan or China, because "that's where all people that look like that come from," Zap is going to be from Mexico, because "we all know that no Latino person can be born in the United States."

In an effort to become more inclusive, more "p.c.", I have this sneaking fear that they will in fact further cement stereotypes, and violate one of the central themes of Larry Hama's creation.

[mr. peasant]

I will agree on that. One of my personal faves was Tunnel Rat (though all his media incarnations were horrible though) on the grounds that he was Asian and was neither a kung fu master or a math/science whiz.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the movie decided to widen the scope so that G.I. Joe would take place around the world, spanning various countries (not all of which are being occupied by the U.S.). In such a circumstance, it does essentially force their hand in deciding whether the characters should be exclusively from one country (namely the U.S.) or from various countries, with it leaning towards the latter.

[Kokoryu1]

This was, and still is, a very groundbreaking concept, because the general perception of the United States, especially in Europe and Asia, is that the entire United States is made up of just good-looking white people and the occasional "streetwise" black guy. <<<<<:grin: LMAO!!!!



I will agree on that. One of my personal faves was Tunnel Rat (though all his media incarnations were horrible though) on the grounds that he was Asian and was neither a kung fu master or a math/science whiz.

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the movie decided to widen the scope so that G.I. Joe would take place around the world, spanning various countries (not all of which are being occupied by the U.S.). In such a circumstance, it does essentially force their hand in deciding whether the characters should be exclusively from one country (namely the U.S.) or from various countries, with it leaning towards the latter.

I have to agree with you Mr. Peasant on this one. I had the opportunity to read a script for the movie dated 12/7/07, so I assumed it was fairly recent (hell I assumed it was the script!), Snake eyes is french and Hawk was supposed to be British. :grin: In case you didn't know Lee Nicky / Tunnel Rat was based on Larry Hama Himself!:grin:

[batman strikes]

I have a feeling though they changed Hawk back to American seeing as how they cast Dennis Quaid in the role. I have no idea about Snake Eyes though.

[Kokoryu1]

I have a feeling though they changed Hawk back to American seeing as how they cast Dennis Quaid in the role. I have no idea about Snake Eyes though.
Maybe not. Don Cheadle faked an accent in Hotel Rwanda and The Oceans eleven movies. With this p.o.s Movie I wouldn't be surprised.

[Mantis Rapture]

''This was, and still is, a very groundbreaking concept, because the general perception of the United States, especially in Europe and Asia, is that the entire United States is made up of just good-looking white people...''

HAHAHA....sorry but that really made me laugh, i think most europeans know america is massivly culturely diverse, just like Britain, France, Holland...

Anyway...i think the nationalities of the group members are the least of our worries regarding this film. I'd love express myself more on this subject, but this post has took me 15 mins to write with my ps3 joypad, i'd be here all night!

[Metal Spidey]

"Globally Integrated Joint Operations Entity" makes far more sense in today's world. Cobra is a terrorist group and like most of the terrorist groups today, they don't have a central base, since they have operations in secret around the world. Its no longer country vs. country but countries vs. terrorist groups.

What if Cobra isn't interested with the rest of the world? You're making Cobra out to be a cookie cutter terrorist group.

I think it would be best to stay American heroes rather than Global.

[mr. peasant]

It's an equality of scale issue here. For instance, if Cobra was exclusively operating within the U.S. (or U.S. held territories), then yes, G.I. Joe ought likewise be an exclusively American group. Now if Cobra was to be an international terrorist group, operating at a global scale, it only makes sense that G.I. Joe ought to be an international organization consisting of members from various nationalities with international jurisdiction.

[Heretic]

I would prefer for Cobra to be a homegrown group. The idea of sleeper cell Fred agents striking at American targets actually makes more sense than what they are doing in this movie, and audiences have a;ready learned that such things are possible. That idea also lends well to the concept of Joe being a small group that has to go in and neutralize targets. In sequels that small group would actually be sneaking in to the countries they enter without the knowledge or sanction of that countrys leaders. Thats how I always explained it to myself anyway...