G.I. Jane: an indulgently butch army film

G.I. Jane
QueerFilmReview.com
Ridley Scott

As Lieutenant O’Neil, glistening with sweat, curls her lower body towards her feet locked above her, she reveals bulging muscles and a relentless attitude. Her freshly shaved head reinforces her fierce attitude, making this body building scene from Ridley Scott’s film, GI Jane, indulgently butch. It elucidates the film’s core tension: one woman’s battle to be treated the same as her male counterparts in a training program for most elite division of the armed forces, the US Marines.

Lieutenant O’Neil, played by Demi Moore fully clad in battle gear, sculpting her physique, and manhandling guns are all are sexy, but underneath these training episodes is a startling and cruel reality about the limited role of women in the armed forces. As the political wheels of Washington spin, people sometimes forget, or try to ignore, the painful and intense homophobia and misogyny that radiates from the core of the armed forces. By the same token, people are insensitive to the horrors men experience in war. Women are treated sensitively and men’s feelings are dismissed, but the story of GI JANE shows gender nuances in a binary, military system.

The script of GI JANE is Queer as it challenges the boundaries of women’s gender roles, but stylistically the direction fuses a feminine glamour with a masculine, rough edge. The lighting is glossy and smooth but the editing is choppy and bold: this Queer style grabs the viewer’s attention, forcing them to respect and understand what Lieutenant O’Neil most undergo to be the first female Marine.

O’Neil is constantly held to a double standard because her sex implies that she is innately weaker. A moment of triumph for Lieutenant O’Neil is during her battle with her Master Chief John James Urgayle, played by Viggo Mortesen. During a simulation, Lieutenant O’Neil’s squad was taken hostage and she fights hand-to-hand combat with the Master Chief. As blood sprays from Lieutenant O’Neil’s soft, feminine face the Master Chief’s fellow instructors judge him for hurting a woman. But the Master Chief beats O’Neil because he’s fighting her as a soldier: they are equals. Lieutenant O’Neil not only takes the punches and survives, but she hammers back, kicking the Master Chief while her arms are hand cuffed behind her back. She screams, “suck my dick”, letting her butch side shine. It’s a moment when a woman taking on the male gender role is celebrated and it’s not only cinematically exciting but also profoundly moving.

– Reviewed by T. Nova