G.I. Joe - New York's Savior

INT. HARLEM COMMUNITY CENTER – NIGHT

Rain taps the windows. New York hums outside. G.I. JOE—battle-worn, alert—stands with BARACK OBAMA, JAY-Z, and ALICIA KEYS. The city feels like it’s holding its breath.

OBAMA
You grew up watching us, Joe. Movies, music, the whole American signal blasting north.
So tell me—what does that make you?

G.I. JOE
(smiles thinly)
Canadian.

Jay-Z raises an eyebrow.

JAY-Z
That’s it? All that Marvel, CNN, hip-hop, cowboy myths—and you’re still saying Canadian?

G.I. JOE
Yeah. With an American media accent.
I learned the language of the empire, not the citizenship.

ALICIA KEYS
That in-between space… it gives you a wider view. You hear the noise and the silence.

OBAMA
Soft power teaches the stories. Hard choices test who you are.
Tonight’s one of those tests.

A map of NYC flickers on a screen. A red circle pulses.

JAY-Z
Word is Bin Laden’s people think New York’s just a symbol.
They forget it’s a neighborhood.

G.I. JOE
Symbols matter. That’s why he’s here.
That’s why I am too.

ALICIA KEYS
You’re not chasing him for revenge, are you?

G.I. JOE
No.
I’m stopping a story from ending the wrong way.

OBAMA
You see the trick, then.
Empires export myths like Rome exported roads. You learned the map—but you didn’t swear loyalty to it.

G.I. JOE
Canada teaches you how to absorb without surrendering.
You watch the giant, you don’t become it.

Jay-Z nods, thoughtful.

JAY-Z
That’s knowing the code.

ALICIA KEYS
That’s being from everywhere.

Sirens wail in the distance. The red circle tightens.

OBAMA
Go.
Bring the city back from the brink.

G.I. JOE
(heading for the door)
I’m North American. I’m hybrid.
And tonight, I’m New York.

He disappears into the rain as the city roars—alive, defiant, unfinished.