A Real Eurabian Zero?

Some time ago, one of the major Hollywood studios stated that a live-action movie version of the beloved 1980s cartoon series G.I. Joe was in production. In the cartoon series, G.I. Joe was an elite American special forces unit dedicated to stamping out a ruthless terrorist organization named Cobra Command, led by such villains as the Cobra Commander and Destro, among others. Looking back, it was a bit cheesy, but the members of G.I. Joe were portrayed as American heroes and the show made it clear who the good guys were and who the villains were.

However, according to news reports, the cinematic version of the elite anti-terrorist unit isn’t even going to be American. Instead, it will be known as G.I.J.O.E. – short for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity – and located in Brussels, of all places. Yep, can’t go portraying American troops as heroes – not exclusively anyway. After all, Hollywood wouldn’t want to offend potential moviegoers outside the US and besides, “everyone” knows that the United States is the true source of evil in the entire world – Noam Chomsky says so!

Now it is entirely possible that I may be jumping the gun here. The movie isn’t scheduled to be released until 2009 and there always is the chance that it could turn out to be a great film, but the news thus far is not encouraging. And come to think of it, how could a movie set in Brussels not feature Jean-Claude Van Damme? That’s just wrong.

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Speaking of cartoons from a quarter-century ago, this post by Bane reminded me of one of my all-time favorite Japanese anime series: Star Blazers (known in Japan as Space Battleship Yamato). Although it was only hinted at in the English-language version distributed in the US, the starship in which the series takes place is in fact the resurrected World War II-era Imperial Japanese warship Yamato, which was the largest naval battle cruiser ever constructed.

Despite its overwhelming size and armaments, the ship saw little action during the war because the very nature of naval warfare had changed by the 1940s. By that time, aircraft carriers were the most potent naval vessels around while battleships were being used primarily to provide cover fire for beach landings. And in fact, it was American carrier-based torpedo bombers that sunk the Yamato off of Okinawa in April 1945.

The story of the Yamato being resurrected, refitted as a starship, and saving the human race two centuries from now has always been an inspiring one to me. I am not sure that making a cinematic version of the cartoon series would be something to hope for, though. There are just too many ways that the studios and their script-writers could screw it up.

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On a personal note, I am finally finished with giving and grading final exams and am looking forward to a couple of months off. One thing I plan to do with my free time is to catch up on some non-fiction reading I’ve been neglecting, such as While Europe Slept by Bruce Bawer, Menace in Europe by Claire Berlinski, and The Irrational Atheist by Vox Day. During the academic year, I find myself drawn more to fiction – probably because it allows me to forget the unpleasant realities of everyday life and escape to imaginative alternate realities. In any case, I do plan on using my newfound freedom productively.