GI Joe - A Real European Hero???

[ArmorOfGod]

http://www.lvrj.com/opinion/10849526.html
Sigh....
Fifty years of a story line and an American icon flushed down the toilet just to make a buck.

 

[jks9199]

GI Joe's backstory has undergone more than one change over the years, and according to multiple sources I just turned up, the Mitchell Paige GI Joe figure was and is part of a special series honoring Medal of Honor recipients from each service.

GI Joe did start out as a soldier figure, but, for example, in the 1970s, when I was growing up... the military aspect was downplayed, and the GI Joe Adventure Team was the theme behind the toy.

Later still, in the late 80s or so, they brought out the more current version, with Cobra Commander, and the literally dozens of different figures, each with their own backstory and history. (Off the top of my head, I don't recall this version really being definitely linked to the US government.)

So... this new movie idea isn't that bad. Yeah, I'd like to see them leave GI Joe based in the US, promoting the American Way, and so on... but movie producers also have to plan global marketing, too.

 

[Steel Tiger]

This is a little sad but not unexpected. I too grew up in the seventies with GI Joe and his adventures. He always looked like a soldier however. The later versions have already strayed a long way from the original and I don't think that it will ever go back.

Hasbro will give the go ahead to this film because it is a multinational and is more interested in profit than maintaining cultural icons.

The saddest thing, from a cultural point of view, is that the curious phrase GI Joe is going to be redefined for future generations and it may lose its unusual cultural origin. GI, while actually meaning Government Issue, has come to mean a soldier from the United States. In the now and the future nobody wants to, or will want to, open a book so they will get their information from the easiest source - film, internet, advertising.

Let's just hope he keeps his genuine kung fu grip!

 

[Andy Moynihan]

What?

****in' WHAT!!?!?!?!!!


*tries to comprehend this*

*fails*

The****am I still wearing this uniform for? Defend WHAT??!?!!


Hollywood must die.

 

[JadecloudAlchemist]

Isn't G.I. Joe's motto " A real American hero"?

 

[grydth]

There have been any number of threads about how martial arts are being debased, disrupted, dishonored and repackaged for profit.... so we are surprised the same is being done to a toy?? Hey, and if it runs down America expressly or impliedly, that's just another plus!

 

[stone_dragone]

*shakes head, moves on, doesn't plan to see movie*

 

[Andrew Green]

GI, while actually meaning Government Issue, has come to mean a soldier from the United States.

Galvanized Iron
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_(military)

And to the original post, I did some quick poking around. I was neve much for GI Joe's, but I didn't remember all of them being overwhelmingly American in there imagery.

The GI Joe toyline has had international representation since the 1966: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.I._Joe#Historical_overview

The "A Real American Hero" thing was from a particular line of the toys, where as some other lines where not identifiably American in the same way, Or where a mixture of American / European.

So it really doesn't look like that much of a stretch, depending on what part of the toys history you are looking at.

 

[Steel Tiger]

Galvanized Iron

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GI_(military)

That is very interesting. Didn't know that. It gives GI Joe a something of a new perspective.