G.I. Jane
Reviewed by: Tim Emmerich
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Very Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
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| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Action Adventure |
| Length: | 125 min. |
| Year of Release: | 1997 |
| USA Release: |
| Featuring | Demi Moore, Viggo Mortensen, Anne Bancroft, Jason Beghe |
| Director |
Ridley Scott |
| Producer | |
| Distributor | Hollywood/Caravan Pictures |
“G.I. Jane”—is it destined to be a new recruitment film for the military? Considerable time is spent stressing the harsh training requirements for the elite Navy SEALs in “G.I. Jane.” Surprisingly, SEAL recruits are treated to very realistic, actual situations and consequences. Now, some powerful people want to create another battle—a battle of the sexes.
A tough female Senator DeHaven (Anne Bancroft) is pushing the military to accept females in ALL possible military positions. In contemporary society, women are already now accepted into combat situations and previously all-male military academies—why not the Navy SEALs? Senator DeHaven is pushing just for that, and she uses her political clout as a committee member that will approve the next secretary of defense to accomplish this goal. Here is where Lieutenant Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore) marches in. O'Neil is recruited as the test case to see if she can pass the SEAL training, of which there is a 60% drop-out rate among the men who attempt it.
Twist after turn are added to this battle as the seemingly SEAL training graduate pushes through the crossfire to succeed her goal. However, it seems that she is the only one who wants her to succeed. An unbelievable development occurs where the trainees get to participate in an actual mission… I wonder how often that really gets to happen??
Christians, be warned. As can be expected from a film of this genre, there are over two dozen obscenities, naturally dealing with lewd sex-related topics. Granted, the military is the military—which means there will be plenty of crude sexual references. But it distracts more than adds to the film. And another expectation is that there will be plenty of Demi. While not as much as was expected, and brief that they were, Demi is seen with her full-backside in the shower, and she does wear lots of revealing attire throughout the movie. As can also be expected, Demi is muscle-toned to the hilt in “G.I. Jane.” She still hasn’t made many films without relying on her physique to draw attention.
Unless you are considering military service, avoid this film. If you are anticipating service in the military, the storyline may be beneficial in convining you that being a Christian in the military can be a hard road… though not impossible. Many strong Christians can be found serving in this nation’s armed forces. To them, we salute. To “G.I. Jane,” we don’t.
“G.I. Jane” will unfortunately send women the wrong message about the military, and give the hard working women of the armed forces a bad name. Like “Top Gun”, many young women will see this film and want to sign up, unaware of the true sacrifice which the military demands. As Christians, we are better off skipping this propaganda film.
A few hours with the SEALs I know would give a script writer enough material to make an awe-inspiring realistic film. After seeing “G.I. Jane,” which was already a slap in the face of our brave Navy SEALs, I wondered how many would believe that the training depicted in the film was true to life.
If people believe this is true, it gives our military a bad name. One movie critic wrote of surprize at some of the scenes given the Navy’s assistance with the film. The Navy’s Special Warfare Group did not want to participate in the making of this film because it is so far fetched for a woman to be accepted into the SEALs. It wasn’t until after Ms. Moore petitioned in Washington, D.C. that the Navy Special Warfare Group cooperated, and then only under orders…