Change Your Perspective, Improve Your Response: the Lesson of G.I. Jane

With all the recent fervor over the confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Oscars® over a comment made about Jada Pinkett Smith, there’s one character I have yet to see explored in the aftermath: G.I. Jane.

Several years ago, when I was building my business as a speaker, author, and consultant, I had the most remarkable “side hustle” one could imagine. I was a movie reviewer, syndicated to about 80 television newscasts in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Each week, I’d offer my opinion on the latest film releases — and back in August 1997, my review was about a Ridley Scott-directed movie that starred Demi Moore, entitled “G.I. Jane.”

While I haven’t been able to locate the exact text of my review, I still remember I gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of five. I also recall that my sentiments about the movie precisely aligned with those of my friend, the late Roger Ebert. He wrote:

“She (G.I. Jane) just wants to prove a woman can survive Navy SEAL training so rigorous that 60 percent of the men don’t make it.”

“Jordan O’Neil (G.I. Jane’s name in the film — Demi Moore’s character)…