Brutally Sexist & the Training Unrealistic!
Wanted to watch a movie about women's rights and being treated equally to men- but GI Jane fails miserably. In fact, instead of a story of a courageous woman respected by her male peers, its about a gal with big breasts who is flirted with and abused during her weeks training to be a Navy Seal.
Demi Moore is a woman already part of the army, or marines. Something like that. She is summoned into the Senator's office (Anne Bancroft), who says she has to join the Seals so women can get fair treatment in the Navy. But even with such a high position by her side, Moore isn't treated nicely at all.
Viggo Mortensen, who's never been sexier, treats her like dirt beneath his feet. When she requests to talk to him, he slams the door in her face. Now I don't know about you- but if the SENATOR has appointment me to train with your group, wouldn't you show me a little more respect? He should have been fired. Why Moore never phoned up Bancroft after he did that is beyond me.
The training is unrealistic. After hours of spending time outside, they are forced to then eat food from garbage cans (unsanitary), and write why they want to be in the army. Listening to opera music? Then they fall asleep for a few minutes, then have to go back out the same night. No human being can endure that much physical stress- even if you look like Rambo. In fact, the Navy would be violating health codes by forcing the guys (and a gal) to do all this round the clock nonsense without a solid 8 hours of sleep. There's a bell you can ring when you feel you can't take it and want to go home. I would have rang the moment we got to base.
It gets worse. Demi Moore goes through some "extra" training that has the crew go on a fake mission. There's a scene where the Lt. and some other dude take turns torturing each soldier. When it's Moore's turns, she's hit repeatedly, punched, and almost raped. This would be illegal in the real world. Prison time for all involved. This is not how we train our men.
GI Jane wants to be about the first female Navy Seal officer, but it fails. It fails because instead of showing us Moore as a person being treated like a man- it shows guys mocking her, making sexual advances, and so on. When she arrives to the barbershop to get her head shaved, no one is there. Figures. No one cares enough to keep this story going. I zoned out after that.
FINAL GRADE: D for Disappointing