Scarlett/Snake-Eyes/Ripcord love triangle?

[TheVileOne]

Which once again is stupid.

 

[ShadowHunter]

On a pre release interview, Stephen Sommers actually stated that it was "too hard" to show a romantic relationship where one party is mute and you can't see their eyes. I wonder if he actually bothered to watch his movie. Some of the interactions between Snake Eyes and Scarlett were far more caring and intimate than any high school pick up lines Wayans could spew out at her. The whole concept of a Snake Eyes/Scarlett relationship being "too hard" just says to me that Sommers is either too lazy to actually bother, or simply lacks the ability.

He also said that in his opinion, if you nailed down the character of Snake Eyes, you nailed down a G.I.Joe movie. I don't know that I agree with that completely, but even if that is the case, Sommers sadly failed to nail down Snake Eyes. He made him a masked combat machine. He could have just as easily been another nano viper or a robot. What makes Snake Eyes such a compelling character is his humanity. And the simple fact it, Scarlett is a huge part of that humanity. He has lost everything but her, but his feelings toward her and his sense of duty and honor keep him going. If you take Scarlett out of that equation, Snake Eyes looses a great deal of what makes him a fan favorite.

Honestly, I have no idea why they even bothered with "Ripcord" in this movie. They revamped a C list character that really had no strong presence in either the comic or the cartoon in order to shoehorn slapstick "comic relief" down our throats. From what I saw, the character served absolutely no purpose in the movie, other than being annoying and bombarding us with sophomoric attempts at comedy. All I can say on it is if they insisted on using Wayans, I am very glad they did not give him the roll of Stalker. It would have been an insult to the character in every way.

 

[Timstuff]

They need to just sit down and watch some movies about people in relationships where one person has a disability. And in Snake Eyes' case it should be relatively easy, since he is only silent and not deaf. And on top of that, he's silent by choice rather than physically (or so Storm Shadow at believes, but even so in the comics his vocal chords aren't permanently shot).

Basically, it's quite likely that we'll see Snake Eyes' face in one of the sequels and hear him speak, so really this idea that he's too difficult to write a relationship around is ballz. So he wears a mask? He can take it off for Scarlett. So he doesn't talk? That means he's an excellent listener, and it makes it all the more relevant if he actually does speak (especially if it's because of Scarlett). There are a great many places they can go with it, and the fact that Snake Eyes is a mute ninja who hides his face is why it is such an interesting love story. Scarlett and Ripcord are basically like two flirty teenagers, whereas with Snake Eyes and Scarlett, it's something much deeper than just words, and that's why people like it so much.

Maybe Sommers' goal here is to start up some "shipping wars?" That would be an awfully cruel game to play, but in many fandoms it's one of the more potent fuels that keeps them going. The promise of more Scarlett / Snake Eyes in the sequel and increased triangle tension would definitely get the fandom buzzing about it, especially if some of the newer fans who fancy Scarlett / Ripcord start butting heads with the Scarlett / Snake Eyes fans. It might be annoying for a while, but it'd certainly keep things lively.

I just hope Duke doesn't throw his hat in the ring like in the cartoon. I mean, he already gets to achieve what countless Joes have only dreamed of by tapping Baroness, so if he gets mixed up with Scarlett too he's just being greedy.

 

[lespaul59]

Do any of you guys think it'll be more meaningfull since they held off on giving us a lot of SE and Scarlett?

 

[ShadowHunter]

I think that IF they do bring it back around to Snake Eyes/Scarlett, and IF they actually put some effort into it, it has the potential to be stronger because of the Ripcord stuff in the first movie. Now, whether or not Sommers and company will actually bother doing this instead of just sticking with the cheap, easy, and fan alienating concept they have going, we will just have to wait and see.

 

[TheVileOne]

IF IF IF.

There's been nothing to suggest they are going in the direction of Snake Eyes/Scarlett other than fan speculation.

 

[ShadowHunter]

No, you are absolutely right. There is nothing to suggest that Sommers will put forth any effort to bring back one of the core stories of G.I. Joe's 25 plus year history. Most likely, he will just continue to take the easy way out and not worry about staying true to the story. But we can still hope.

 

[Timstuff]

Why speculate on anything more from the original mythos if you're just going to assume they'd dump something as important as Snake Eyes and Scarlett's story? A lot of people didn't expect to see Energon or the Matrix of Leadership in Transformers 2, but they were there all the same. They're going to draw at least some stuff from the original when writing the next one, so why not Scarlett and Snake Eyes' relationship? Everyone in the audience both fan and non-fan alike agrees that Snake Eyes was awesome and would surely love to see more of him, and that would be a logical way to give him some actual character development.

 

[ShadowHunter]

Timstuff, I truly truly do hope you are right. I have been following G.I.Joe since I bought issue 1 of the Marvel comic in the grocery store when I was seven years old, and Snake Eyes/Scarlett has always been one of the core parts of G.I.Joe to me. I have little faith that Sommers and company will actually care about making it right, but that won't stop me from crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

 

[Timstuff]

Something else to remember is that both GI Joe and Transformers were written just before the writers' strike. With GI Joe it's not quite as apparent since its story is a lot more focused, however there may have been aspects of the story that would have been fleshed out more if they had been allowed to make more revisions prior to and during production. An earlier draft actually did have a strong focus on Scarlett / Snake Eyes, however it also had a lot of dumb stuff like Rex being a GI Joe for much of the movie, but then he joins Destro who turns him into a super soldier named "Cobra."

It's possible if the writers had more time that the script would have evolved further from what we ultimately got, but I'm still happy with the end result. I'm pretty sure that without the inhibition of a strike-induced deadline, the writers will be able to deliver a script that delves further into the mythos while staying coherent to what was laid down in Rise of Cobra.

 

[lespaul59]

After my second viewing of ROC yesterday I gotta say I don't think there was that much a relationship developed to the point where it can't be explained away with ease. I know they probaly want it to come off a little more than it does or well maybe more than some of us see it as.

 

[TheVileOne]

There's nothing in the movie to suggest that there's this romantic love between Snake Eyes and Scarlett. There's a couple beats that imply friendship but that's it. Ripcord pretty much openly flirts and hits on Scarlett in front of Snake Eyes and Snake Eyes shows pretty much no reaction or care to it at all. Or when Ripcord is kissed by Scarlett. There's nothing in the way of Scarlett pursuing a relationship with Ripcord except her stupid YOU CAN'T SHOW EMOTIONS ********. Geez, how the hell was she conceived?

 

[The Guard]

Hey, at least they weren't bonding over condensed milk.

 

[TheVileOne]

Well, Rachel sucked and was a character that was mandated by the studio.

And they killed her off so good riddance.

Just goes to show you.

 

[jamesjuhn]

I've always liked Snake Eyes best out of all characters in GI Joe, and at first I didn't really like her, but over time I really got fond of the whole Snake Eyes - Scarlett relationship (I'm actually really enjoying reading the IDW's new series, including the origins which goes deeper into their love story). I felt a bit disappointed with the film choosing Scarlett-Ripcord relationship. I hope they fix this if they do make a sequel.