...And Knowing Is Half the Battle

Ah, yes. GI Joe. It was recently the most anticipated movie. Like Transformers, it was extremely adorned with a lot of special effects and advanced computer animation. But I'm not here to talk about the film. I'm want to focus more on the cartoon series of GI Joe.

I've been a big fan of the series ever since I was a kid. I watched every episode and even collected action figures and toys. Even though the cartoon gave a clear message of violence by revolving the plot around the war of good and evil, it still redeemed itself as a show worth watching. This is because at the end of every episode, the GI Joe heroes would deliver brief public service announcements and lessons beneficial to their young viewers. It's too bad that I didn't learn much from them because every time I saw this portion, I knew that the credits would soon start rolling afterwards so I tend to turn off the TV or change channels.

On the case of violence, I guess the GI Joe series back then was not as violent compared to the shows we see today. Have you seen anyone bleeding profusely or actually dying a gory death in any episode? It's a shame that networks today are too and don't uphold the same values as their counterparts in the past did.

Anyway, with that aside, the GI Joe cartoon series made it to the 10 Life Lesson from Cartoon Characters of Beliefnet. Here is the article below by Paul Asay. [Read Full Article]

"G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" actually never aired on Saturday morning. Indeed, syndicated shows like "Joe" spelled the end of cartoon-centric Saturday morning TV as we knew it. But while the time slot was different, the vibe was still the same. These soldiers were all about teaching lessons, all right: teaching America's enemies a lesson in respect. Yo, Joe!

But for a show based on a series of action figures, "G.I. Joe" did have some redeeming qualities. After each episode, soldiers would offer a brief public service lesson for its young viewers—what to do if you get lost, what to do if your house is on fire—most of which would invariably end with the tagline, "And knowing is half the battle."

And you thought this show was all about selling toys.