The Destruction of Childhood -
We all grow up. That is a given fact of life. Yet deep in our hearts we hold on to certain memories of child hood. Things that warm us, things that keep our dreams alive in us, that give us that definite spark of . . . life.
The dreams of a child are the foundation of the world. It is what each of us bases our futures on, it is where we get the will to survive, it is what we retreat to when we must endure. Lazy days, when you live care free, where we first develop our views of the world. In our culture our icons are different then those of a more primitive one. In the wilds of Africa, they base their icons on great warriors or on animals and events in nature. We, thanks to our technology, have different icons. In the past, for my Father, it was the Cowboy; mythical, thirty feet tall, riding a giant horse across a silver screen, racing to set to right the wrongs of the world.
Somehow, those icons of that era have remained mostly intact. We have not seen the degradation of the Heroes of my Father. Roy Rogers is still “Singing in the Saddle” as he works against the forces of darkness. Red Ryder still races to the rescue, his rifle to hand, and let us not forget that John Wayne still stands as a proud American, undiluted by the passage of time or the writing of exposes.
Then we reach modern days. This is an age of broken dreams, when the creative pool of our icon machine seems to have been tapped out, to have been drained of any last vestige of originality. I’ve watched in silent horror as the dreams and icons of my childhood have been taken, twisted and perverted to some sick new uses, but the time has come to make a stand against such frivolous abuse of the icons which helped form my view of the world.
Perhaps you remember from a time not so long ago the childhood toy, G.I. Joe. Originally introduced in 1964 by Hasbro Toy Company (not so long before I was introduced to this world of harsh realities) it morphed over time until it became a vehicle of education for young boys in 1982. Yes by this time I was older, but my brother who was ten years younger then me, loved G.I. Joe. As such, I spent many hours watching the cartoons, began collecting the comic books, and played with the toys with him. We set up databases of “personnel info”, kept records of all the members of our teams, we let our imaginations run wild as we worked hand in hand to stop the forces of evil who had taken on the form of the despicable C.O.B.R.A.
G.I. Joe A Real AMERICAN Hero, teaching fundamental values to young boys who needed role models. During this time we had no John Wayne, gone was Roy Rogers, no one in the world was left to stand up as an icon of what was right, of what it meant to be an American, to take pride in your country and to believe in yourself. The Hollywood machine was churning out papier-mâché trash with a basis on operating outside the law, indicating and bringing about the understanding that at its heart, America was wrong or evil. The lesson was subtle, but it was there in shows such as Knight Rider, the A-team, and Airwulf.
Into this environment our heroes enter, upholding genuine values, and imparting moral bits of wisdom much in the way of a modern day Aesop. Fighting for what is right, no matter the odds, The More You Know, one person, or one team can make a difference in the world. Simple, moral ideas that America sadly lacked and no one bothered to look for when they wonder at the decline of Western Civilization. It is not the fact of violence in movies or television that is leading to the destruction of American Society and our youth; it is the lack of a worthwhile hero.
So, now here we are in the so called modern era. Hollywood has tapped its creative potential to the point an original idea cannot be bought for any amount of money, so they return to the shows of the 1970’s to 1980’s. Let’s bring them forward and revamp them they say! All well and good, but they can’t seem to leave well enough alone. They cannot take a story and present it as it was written and intended. They have to tinker with it; they have to give it more mass appeal; which brings us to my point.
In 2009 they intend to release a live action G.I. Joe. I was personally excited about this prospect, until I read up on the synopsis. G.I. Joe, the special branch of the American Armed Forces is no longer that. Oh no, now they are an international Terrorist Fighting Force, you see again we find out that Hollywood really does want to undermine the American ideal. Now they are a Real Brussels’ Hero. Based in Brussels? Then we go on and read more. The current plan is that Ripcord will be the new leader of the Joe’s. Ripcord? You mean that guy who made like a cameo once?
Gone is Duke, gone are Flint, or Hawk. Nope, you see we have signed Marlon Wayans to play Ripcord, so we have to highlight him, I mean seriously? How could we do less then that for the man who single handedly turned a semi-serious Dungeons and Dragons movie into a joke? Let’s make him key to the plot and the story!
It gets worse. COBRA will note be treated correctly either, as the writer was quoted as saying that if we saw COBRA Commander in a live film, we would laugh at him. Well thank you Mr. Writer for telling me I’m an idiot for liking the way it was. I could think of at least six ways to make Cobra Commander work as he was just off handedly without even putting out any effort.
So in summary now we have G.I. Joe, a Real Brussels Hero, fighting for the right of sprouts everywhere, led by the indomitable Ripcord. Oh my joy knows no bounds. Is it not bad enough they took and completely destroyed Underdog, now we have to take the last vestige of the end of my childhood and destroy that as well?
Is this a natural part of growing up? If so, why did we not see this happen to the Cowboys of old? I never saw John Wayne wearing a pink dress and dancing like a little teapot. All I’m asking for is some cultural icons that stand up for decent values, that show pride in their country, that are not the tools of leftist liberals, right fundamentalist, or any other nut group. I don’t want my children to be exposed to homo-sexual densification or to be subliminally taught to believe that America is really an evil overlord.
I’m proud to be an American. I want my G.I. Joe to be a Real AMERCIAN Hero. I want it to celebrate the men and women who have committed themselves to freeing the Iraqi people. I want it to celebrate the values we, as American’s hold dear to our hearts. That all men are created equal, that honest men have rights, that we can have the fruits of our labors . . . .
That the dream is not dead; America yet lives and the ideals laid down by our Founding Fathers are not antiquated or destroyed in this day and age of modern technology and Homeland Security. A world in which the Constitution is not a worthless piece of paper, but something that matters and should be held up as an ideal in a world of chaos, but a rock on which to build into the future.
Boycott this latest attempt at the erosion of our fundamental values and worth. You can bet I will be. That is all.