Today at Slate, Adrian Chen assembles a video exploring the ludicrous lack of death in the animated series G.I. Joe, which, you'll remember, is being turned into a live action movie this year. It seems that no one died in the show's first main conflict.The first war between G.I. Joe and Cobra (1985-86), as documented in the G.I. Joeanimated series, was the most violent conflict in history never to result in a single casualty. Through a combination of terrible aim, superhuman jumping ability, and impossibly reliable parachutes, every combatant escaped even the most dire of situations without so much as the angle of his beret askew.Granted, the show celebrated a sort of blithely romantic hawkishness. Still, it would seem that, during the Cold War, an animated series about heroism in battle would have been an excellent vehicle for teaching children about the realities of war. Considering that death is a pretty central component of battle, and given that the show's creators made quite an effort to conclude each episode with a (wonderfully parodied) morality lesson, you'd think that it'd be more than able to broach the topic of death. But, then again, as with anything truly educational, it was Sesame Street that did it best.Via Kottke.
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