TFW2005
Hisstank
Thundercats
TokuNation
Toyark
Home
News
G.I. Joe Movie
G.I. Joe Classified
G.I. Joe Vintage
Compatible Military Toys
G.I. Joe Comics
G.I. Joe Conventions
All News Categories
Photo Shoots
Database
G.I. Joe Database Index
G.I. Joe Classified
G.I. Joe 25th Anniversary
G.I. Joe Resolute
G.I. Joe Movie
G.I. Joe Pursuit of Cobra
G.I. Joe Renegades
G.I. Joe 30th Anniversary
G.I. Joe Retaliation
G.I. Joe Basic
G.I. Joe 50th Anniversary
G.I. Joe Con & Club
G.I. Joe FSS
Forum
Recent Posts Page
Characters
Snake Eyes
Cobra Commander
Destro
Baroness
Storm Shadow
Roadblock
Companies
Fun Pub
IDW
DeNA
Sideshow
Gentle Giant
Boss Fight
Ori Toy
Marauder
HissTank.com
>
HissTank.com - G.I. Joe
Integration
User Name
Remember Me?
Password
Rules
Register
Community
Today's Posts
Search
Community Links
Social Groups
Pictures & Albums
Members List
Search Forums
Show Threads
Show Posts
Advanced Search
Go to Page...
Thread
:
Should I be so bothered?
View Single Post
07-04-2021, 04:51 PM
CADPAT
Great White Northerner
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Canadian Imperium
Posts: 1,432
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hobbery
But after you alter enough descriptive elements and origin plot points, is it even Snake Eyes? They've pretty much re-written him from scratch. Whatever - that sucks for fans.
Pretty much. It's basically Disney Star Wars all over again.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Hobbery
What really bothers me is that they're giving him a name. I read in an article that they're gonna tell us his real name.
Isn't one of the great parts of the Snake Eyes character that he's a mystery? That he can sort of be anyone? That his name is forever "classified"?
Technically, Snake Eyes's real name should be Bob Light, as that was the Air Cav trooper who Larry Hama met in Vietnam and who apparently inspired the creation of the character in the first place.
However, while Snake Eyes's real name may be classified, his
identity
is not so obscure: much like Steve Rogers, his physical appearance is an example of the blond, blue-eyed, "All-American" (for lack of a better descriptor) visual archetype which used to be so prominent in popular culture, representing his status as an "everyman" character during his war service in Vietnam: a quiet, good-natured, innocent (see his habit of carrying his twin sister's picture in
lieu
of a girlfriend's) kid from the Midwest who had somehow wound up in a jungle on the other side of the world. Being Japanese-American, Hama could look these ideas with both an insider's and an outsider's perspective, which is how the relationship between Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow evolved, Hama (if memory serves) describing the two characters as representing his "American soul" and his "Japanese soul" respectively, two distinct and yet interlinked personalities, sometimes in conflict with each other but also bound together in a way that defies easy categorization.
On a larger scale, this also somewhat mirrors the historical relationship between Japan and the United States, which has been largely friendly, despite recurring tensions over one issue or another (and the rather glaring exception of WWII), and which has been the source of much cross-cultural exchange and pollination, up to and including the ninja craze of the 1980s that heavily informed the original "Real American Hero" mythos in the first place.
But you cast Henry Golding as Snake Eyes, instead of, say, Wyatt Russell, and you discard all of that history, nuance, tension, and resonance. All of it. What you're ultimately left with is more corporate sludge drained of everything that made it unique and interesting in order to (supposedly) appeal to the international market.
Last edited by CADPAT; 07-04-2021 at
04:54 PM
..
CADPAT
View Public Profile
Send a private message to CADPAT
Find More Posts by CADPAT
Sponsors
Recent Threads
G.I. Joe Classified Series Official Thread 2024!
Joefest 2024
Delta-17 o-ring line
O-Ring Returns to G.I. Joe
My Marauder Task Force Universe
1982-1994 ARAH Hauls
Marauder Task Force Super Thread
Best Figure of 2002 (RAHC Figures, part 2)
Super7 Ultimates (Could-be the Official) Thread
Classified Scarlett (Retro)
THE INITIATIVE Dio-Story
When was the last time there were commercials for...
Defiant fully vertical- design flaw?
Classified Recondo (Retro)
Best Figure of 2002 (Joe vs. Cobra, part 5)
Best Figure of 2002 (Joe vs. Cobra, Vehicle Drivers)
Best Figure of 2002 (Joe vs. Cobra, part 3)
G.I.Joe Classified Picture thread
Best Figure of 2002 (Joe vs. Cobra, part 2)
Best Figure of 2002 (Joe vs. Cobra, part 1)
Best Figure of 2002 (RAHC Figures, part 3)
Best Figure of 2002 (RAHC Figures, part 1)
I've started doing video reviews of GIJoe
Best Figure of 2002 (Joe vs. Cobra, part 7)
Best Figure of 2002 (Joe vs. Cobra, part 6)
Recent Off Topic Threads
2024 Toy Hauls
Hisstank Late Night thread...
Mondo getting The Real Ghostbusters animated 6.5"...
What song are you listening to?
G.I. Joe March Madness 2024 Championship Battle Armor...
Recent B/S/T Threads
WTB Marauder Task Force parts
2012 Shockwave HISS MISB
Flash77's B/S/T Lists joes & transformers
MagicWazard's B/S/T thread
looking for weapons and assorted pieces 25th Ann -50...
80s GI Joe Vehicles & Aircraft
Hellion42's BST list
Wtb 82-83 file cards or?.
Closet Cleanout...
Vintage Tomahawk for sale, 99% complete