thedrifter
08-04-09, 08:26 AM
Soldiering on
Fighting men and women have had many faces in American pop culture
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 3:13 AM
By Joe Blundo
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The GI in popular culture has never been an ordinary Joe.
Depending on the times, he might be a defender of democracy or a bumbler one step ahead of a menacing sergeant.
But he -- and sometimes she -- is always memorable.
This is a big week for one depiction of a GI. A new video game, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, was released today, and the movie of the same name will open Friday in theaters.
The original G.I. Joe was not an action figure. The name was a generic label for the World War II infantrymen depicted in the 1945 movie The Story of G.I. Joe. The movie was based on the writings of war correspondent Ernie Pyle.
Nearly two decades later, Hasbro unveiled G.I. Joe, the plaything.
When introduced in 1964, he was essentially a toy soldier with movable limbs and conventional enemies. By the mid-1970s, he had left behind his earthly opponents to fight space aliens and hellish beasts.
G.I. Joe now comprises a team of warriors who battle evil.
As for less-fanciful American soldiers, they've never been fixed figures in pop culture, either.
Here's a look at some portrayals.
jblundo@dispatch.com
Bill Mauldin cartoons
Mauldin fought in World War II and drew cartoons for the military newspaper Stars & Stripes -- and, later, newspaper syndicates. During the war, his recurring characters, Willie and Joe, became famous as battle-weary grunts who did their jobs but didn't glory in battle.
"I don't make the infantryman look noble, because he couldn't look noble even if he tried," Mauldin once said. "Their nobility and dignity come from the way they live unselfishly and risk their lives to help each other."
John Wayne
Wayne portrayed the quintessential rugged American hero in many war movies of the 1940s, '50s and '60s. They included Sands of Iwo Jima, The Longest Day and The Green Berets.
Berets, released in 1968 as opposition to the Vietnam War intensified, was criticized as pro-war propaganda. Wayne's character, Col. Mike Kirby, certainly doesn't waste time on niceties.
"Out here," he says, "due process is a bullet."
As equally pro-war was The Ballad of the Green Berets, a 1966 hit song by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler.
Beetle Bailey
In the syndicated comic strip that bears his name, Beetle has been an Army private since 1951 -- which ought to tell you something about his ambition (or lack thereof).
He's the original slacker.
Cartoonist Mort Walker originally called him Spider when the strip made its debut in 1950. When the renamed Beetle enlisted in the Army a year later, the strip's popularity rose.
He has been in the service ever since.
'Saving Private Ryan'
What is it really like to go from civilian contemplating the future to warrior facing death?
The horrors that soldiers faced in World War II are shown in increasingly graphic terms as the years pass. Such depictions might have peaked in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan, which opens with the D-Day landings at Normandy.
"The most wrenching, realistic combat movie ever filmed," said TV Guide when the magazine put the movie at the top of its list of 50 Greatest Movie Moments.
'Private Benjamin'
Goldie Hawn is the female GI in this 1980 comedy about a woman uniquely unsuited for military life. Somehow, she doesn't just endure -- she triumphs.
The plot later devolves into a romantic comedy that has almost nothing to do with military service, save for the fact that the self-confidence Private Benjamin gained in the Army might be what enables her to avoid a big mistake.
'M*A*S*H'
The TV series, based on a novel and movie of the same name, was a dark comedy. It centered on Army combat doctors and nurses, most of whom were fiercely dedicated but caustically anti-war.
The show was set during the Korean War but began airing in 1972, when the United States was still fighting in Vietnam.
'Generation Kill'
In this Iraq war miniseries that ran on HBO in 2008, the Marines are profane, irreverent and brave. They make no apologies for what they've come to do: Kill.
Civilians are often caught in the crossfire.
As in many depictions of the people who actually do the fighting in wars, the warriors are contemptuous of authority.
"See, the Marine Corps is like America's little pit bull," a warrior says in one episode. "They beat us, starve us, and once in a while they let us out to attack somebody."
Ellie
http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/aug/0804_lf_beetle_bailey_08-04-09_D1_9OELR8M.jpg
Beetle Bailey
http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/aug/M_A_S_H_2x_08-04-09_D1_LNEL2FT.jpg
Larry Linville, left, and Alan Alda of M*A*S*H
http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/aug/greenberetsJohnWayne_08-04-09_D1_6IEL1IO.jpg
John Wayne
Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe,
Fighting men and women have had many faces in American pop culture
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 3:13 AM
By Joe Blundo
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The GI in popular culture has never been an ordinary Joe.
Depending on the times, he might be a defender of democracy or a bumbler one step ahead of a menacing sergeant.
But he -- and sometimes she -- is always memorable.
This is a big week for one depiction of a GI. A new video game, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, was released today, and the movie of the same name will open Friday in theaters.
The original G.I. Joe was not an action figure. The name was a generic label for the World War II infantrymen depicted in the 1945 movie The Story of G.I. Joe. The movie was based on the writings of war correspondent Ernie Pyle.
Nearly two decades later, Hasbro unveiled G.I. Joe, the plaything.
When introduced in 1964, he was essentially a toy soldier with movable limbs and conventional enemies. By the mid-1970s, he had left behind his earthly opponents to fight space aliens and hellish beasts.
G.I. Joe now comprises a team of warriors who battle evil.
As for less-fanciful American soldiers, they've never been fixed figures in pop culture, either.
Here's a look at some portrayals.
jblundo@dispatch.com
Bill Mauldin cartoons
Mauldin fought in World War II and drew cartoons for the military newspaper Stars & Stripes -- and, later, newspaper syndicates. During the war, his recurring characters, Willie and Joe, became famous as battle-weary grunts who did their jobs but didn't glory in battle.
"I don't make the infantryman look noble, because he couldn't look noble even if he tried," Mauldin once said. "Their nobility and dignity come from the way they live unselfishly and risk their lives to help each other."
John Wayne
Wayne portrayed the quintessential rugged American hero in many war movies of the 1940s, '50s and '60s. They included Sands of Iwo Jima, The Longest Day and The Green Berets.
Berets, released in 1968 as opposition to the Vietnam War intensified, was criticized as pro-war propaganda. Wayne's character, Col. Mike Kirby, certainly doesn't waste time on niceties.
"Out here," he says, "due process is a bullet."
As equally pro-war was The Ballad of the Green Berets, a 1966 hit song by Staff Sgt. Barry Sadler.
Beetle Bailey
In the syndicated comic strip that bears his name, Beetle has been an Army private since 1951 -- which ought to tell you something about his ambition (or lack thereof).
He's the original slacker.
Cartoonist Mort Walker originally called him Spider when the strip made its debut in 1950. When the renamed Beetle enlisted in the Army a year later, the strip's popularity rose.
He has been in the service ever since.
'Saving Private Ryan'
What is it really like to go from civilian contemplating the future to warrior facing death?
The horrors that soldiers faced in World War II are shown in increasingly graphic terms as the years pass. Such depictions might have peaked in the 1998 film Saving Private Ryan, which opens with the D-Day landings at Normandy.
"The most wrenching, realistic combat movie ever filmed," said TV Guide when the magazine put the movie at the top of its list of 50 Greatest Movie Moments.
'Private Benjamin'
Goldie Hawn is the female GI in this 1980 comedy about a woman uniquely unsuited for military life. Somehow, she doesn't just endure -- she triumphs.
The plot later devolves into a romantic comedy that has almost nothing to do with military service, save for the fact that the self-confidence Private Benjamin gained in the Army might be what enables her to avoid a big mistake.
'M*A*S*H'
The TV series, based on a novel and movie of the same name, was a dark comedy. It centered on Army combat doctors and nurses, most of whom were fiercely dedicated but caustically anti-war.
The show was set during the Korean War but began airing in 1972, when the United States was still fighting in Vietnam.
'Generation Kill'
In this Iraq war miniseries that ran on HBO in 2008, the Marines are profane, irreverent and brave. They make no apologies for what they've come to do: Kill.
Civilians are often caught in the crossfire.
As in many depictions of the people who actually do the fighting in wars, the warriors are contemptuous of authority.
"See, the Marine Corps is like America's little pit bull," a warrior says in one episode. "They beat us, starve us, and once in a while they let us out to attack somebody."
Ellie
http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/aug/0804_lf_beetle_bailey_08-04-09_D1_9OELR8M.jpg
Beetle Bailey
http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/aug/M_A_S_H_2x_08-04-09_D1_LNEL2FT.jpg
Larry Linville, left, and Alan Alda of M*A*S*H
http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/aug/greenberetsJohnWayne_08-04-09_D1_6IEL1IO.jpg
John Wayne
Bill Mauldin's Willie and Joe,