GI Jane (feat. Hilary Matfess)

Unclear and Present Danger

Jamelle Bouie

Tv & Film, Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 660 Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2026

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On this week's episode of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John were joined by Hilary Matfess of the University of Denver to discuss G.I. Jane, the 1997 military drama directed by Ridley Scott and starring Demi Moore and Viggo Mortenson. The discussion for this film revolves around the evolving role of women in the military, post-Cold War anxieties about American military readiness, the gender politics of the film, and what the movie might signify today, in the present.

Matfess is the author of a new book, "Putting Women in their Place: Gender Power and World Politics," which is available wherever books are sold.

For our next episode we are heading into 1998 with U.S. Marshals, the somewhat forgotten sequel to The Fugitive, starring Wesley Snipes and Tommy Lee Jones.

And don't forget our Patreon, where we cover the films of the Cold War and do a regular politics show. You can find that at patreon.com/unclearpod.

Our producer is Connor Lynch and our artwork is by Rachel Eck.

Transcript

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0:00.0	You have volunteered for the most intensive military training known to men.
0:07.0	60% of you will not pass this corps.
0:14.0	Go!
0:16.0	No woman's gonna last a week.
0:23.6	Defense boys already called.
0:28.6	They want a private meeting with you.
0:30.6	I have to pick in with these guys when you've got me set up as an outsider?
0:46.7	When I want your opinion, I'll give it to you.
0:50.8	Did that take you off?
0:52.2	Yes, ma'am, it did.
0:53.1	Go, get your arm.
0:54.1	Cut her loose! Let her go! Why don't you quit, O'Neill? Treat me the same, no better, no worse. Damn, that girl is good. There's a lot of people who don't want to see you finish. I'm gonna go through with this. I thought you ring out in two weeks. Bing bang, it's over? I never expected you to do so damn well. Gene, hi, Jane. Why don't they just get it over with, call her Joan of Arc?
1:13.6	Tell me you didn't sell me out.
1:15.6	It was never going to happen anyway.
1:17.6	I'm not playing game, Senator.
1:22.6	Watch this....... Hello and welcome to unclear and present danger, the podcast about the political and military thrillers of the 1990s and what they say about the politics of that decade.
1:57.9	I'm Jamel Bowie. I'm a columnist for the New York Times opinion section.
2:06.8	I'm John Gans. I'm a columnist for the nation. I write the substack newsletter on popular front,
2:13.4	and I'm the author of When the Clock Broke, Conman, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the early 1990s, which is now out in paperback and you can find it at any bookstore near you.
2:18.7	Nailed it.
2:20.0	Yeah.
2:20.2	It's kind of the first time I've gotten that all out in a while without stumbling over it.
	...

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