"G. I. Jane"
                             A Film Review by
                           Linda Lopez McAlister
                           on "The Women's Show"
                          WMNF-FM 88.5, Tampa, FL
                              August 23, 1997

     Ridley Scott directed _Alien_ and he directed _Thelma and Louise_, so
when a new picture of his with a female hero opens (and reviewers are throw-
ing around the F(eminist) word in their reviews), what's a self-respe
cting feminist movie reviewer to do but head for the nearest megaplex on
opening day to catch _G.I. Jane_. Big mistake. Big disappointment.

    It starts off promisingly enough with Anne Bancroft doing a magnificent
turn as a Senator from Texas (think of an elegant cross between Pat
hroeder and Ann Richards), chair of an Armed Forces subcommittee, who's
putting the thumb screws on a candidate for Secretary of Defense concerning
sexual harassment in the Navy. Her deal: they implement a plan for the
gradual opening up of all military assignments to both men and women. The
plan involves a few preliminary test cases where selected women are given
the opportunity to train for the military's most demanding combat pos-
itions.

      Enter Lt. Jordan O'Neil (Demi Moore) who works in Navy intelligence=
tracking Navy SEALS demolition teams by computer, but who aspires to get= out
of the control room and into the water. Because she's intelligent, fit  ,
straight, and will look good on the cover of _Newsweek_, the Senator se lects
her as the first woman accepted into the super macho, gung ho, SEALS
training. Jordan, in familiar "post-feminist" style, takes pains to an  nounce
that she's not trying to prove any political point, she's just there as  an
individual. She gets exactly the kind of horrendous treatment you'd ex  pect
from the commanding officer on down to her fellow trainees and the Mas  ter
Chief in charge of their training. This film's idea of feminism is that  women
can do exactly the same things that men can do and that there should b  e no
acknowledgement of differences between the sexes. So Jordan demands th  at she
sleep in the same barracks as the men an= d that no lower standards be set for
her. What she gets, of course, are higher standards set for her because she,
unlike the men, has to deal with constant harassment, sabotage from other
trainees, and the special cold, calculating resentment of the Master Chief
(Viggo Mortensen). He claims that the brutality he deals out is meant to
emulate the conditions SEALS may encounter in combat situations, but,
especially in Jordan's case, it seems so unnecessarily egregious that it is
he that seems out of control as he rapes her with a gun barrel (or
something) to show her what the enemy will do to her. Her response to him
after she gives it back to him in kind with a massive kick in the groin is
something I can't say on the radio, but it completes her transformation to
"one of the guys."

      Then the film sets about turning the woman Senator from Texas into the
villain of the piece while condoning the criminal behavior of the SEALS
trainers as a perfectly acceptable part of the training. Of course Jordan
will win. She will go to Washington and face down the Senator, she will be a
heroic leader when a training mission to the Mediterranean turns into a real
mission in Libya. She will get her SEALS insignia when 60% of the men have
dropped by the wayside. The Master Chief will show her respect. She will go
back to D.C. and still have her man waiting for her.  Nothing could be more
formulaic Hollywood nor more pseudo feminist.

    Moore's acting is minimal.  There is no character development at all
You never know who Jordan O'Neal is, where she came from, what motivates
her, or how she feels except when she's feeling pain (she grimaces) or
anger (she clenches her jaw).  That's not surprising because she's not a
person she's a stick figure of a female hero born full blown from the
brains of some male Hollywood types out to make big bucks with a summer
action movie that may sucker some women to buy tickes as well  So,
unless you particularly like to see Demi Moore doing contortionist cali-
sthenics or have a taste for really horrendous brutality dished out to both
men and women, give this one a wide berth.

For the WMNF Women's Show this is Linda Lopez McAlister on Women and Film.

Linda Lopez McAlister is professor of women's studies at the Univ. of South
Florida, Tampa.>=0D =0D Copyright 1997. All rights reserved. Please do not

All rights reserved.  Please do not
copy or reproduce this review without permission of the author:
mcaliste@chuma.cas.usf.edu.