Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket opens with the recruits having their heads shaved before they go off to boot camp. Seeing the faces of the young men while having their heads shaved, I felt like I was watching their identity being slowly taken away with each chunk of hair that fell to the ground. Although all new recruits reporting to boot camp in any branch of the military go through this ritualistic shaving of their heads, it is the first step to breaking down an individual. This opening scene suggests a theme of “anti-war" and loss of self-identity. 

Gunnery Sergeant Hartman’s opening speech further proves this point of loss of identity, when he says to the recruits, “Here you are all equally worthless…”

Another theme worth mentioning, that gives an in depth look at Joker’s character, is the idea of the “duality of man.” The scene where Joker is asked by a colonel why he wears a peace sign button on his vest and a helmet that says, “Born to kill,” Joker says, “I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man…”  

Pogue Colonel: Marine, what is that button on your body armor?

Private Joker: A peace symbol, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Where'd you get it?

Private Joker: I don't remember, sir.

Pogue Colonel: What is that you've got written on your helmet?

Private Joker: "Born to Kill,” sir.

Pogue Colonel: You write "Born to Kill" on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?

Private Joker: No, sir.

Pogue Colonel: You'd better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant shit on you.

Private Joker: Yes, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you'll be standing tall before the man.

Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.

Pogue Colonel: The what?

Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Whose side are you on, son?

Private Joker: Our side, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Don't you love your country?

Private Joker: Yes, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Then how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?

Private Joker: Yes, sir.

Pogue Colonel: Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.

Private Joker: Aye-aye, sir.

Looking at Joker’s character throughout the film, he is very much struggling with the duality within himself; his want for peace vs. his want to serve his country.

The idea of duality is portrayed in the way the film was made. Vincent Canby, in his article about Full Metal Jacket, in the New York Times Review, he says, “Full Metal Jacket is divided into two parts, which at first seem so different in tone, look and method that they could have been made by two different directors working with two different cameramen from two different screenplays. Only the actors are the same. Part of the way in which the movie works, and involves the audience, is in its demand that the audience make the sudden leap to the seemingly (but far from) conventional battle scenes in Vietnam, which conclude the film, from its flashily brilliant first half, set in the Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, S.C.”

The first half of the film follows the recruits through boot camp under the commanding thumb of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The lighting and cinematography throughout this half of the film is bright, crisp, orderly, and everything is in complete focus. This half ends when Pvt. Pyle shoots Sergeant Hartman and then himself in the bathroom of the barracks. The last image we see is freshly-spilled, crimson blood splatters and pools on the white tile as Pvt. Joker looks in horror. (Please start video below at 2:08).

Then we are immersed in the Vietnam War. The shots are not as crisp as before, and everything is confusing and chaotic. Fire, death, and rubble make up the landscape and surround the characters. The visuals of the second half of the film are quite jarring in comparison to first.

City of Hue

Even though these two parts of the film felt vastly different, it isn't until the end that everything is tied together. In the city of Hue, having just shot down the sniper, the platoon finds that the sniper was a young Vietnamese girl. She is mortally wounded, Animal Mother suggests that they just leave her and go on their way, while Joker refuses to leave her there (he is again battling with his “duality”). The girl whispers over and over again begging them to shoot her. Joker is forced to choose between his own ideals and the ideals that were instilled in him at boot camp. Joker pulls out his pistol and administers the kill shot.

"Shoot me"

After this, the film ends with Joker saying, “My thoughts drift back to erect nipple wet dreams about Mary Jane Rottencrotch and the Great Homecoming Fuck Fantasy. I am so happy that I am alive, in one piece and short. I’m in a world of shit… yes. But I am alive. And I am not afraid.” Ultimately, he made the choice (I believe) that he could live with.

Overall, the movie was beautifully written, well-acted, and shot in such a way that I couldn't look away from all the horribly grotesque images. By showing the viewers how Joker deals with his internal struggle, it gave a poignant look into what life may have been like for those young men who were enlisted to fight in the Vietnam War.

Works Referenced:

Canby, Vincent. "Full Metal Jacket (1987) Film: Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket,' on Vietnam." Rev. of Full Metal Jacket. The New York Times June-July 1987: n. pag. The New York Times. Web. 6 Oct. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9B0DE6DB133BF935A15755C0A961948260>.

"Full Metal Jacket - Opening Scene." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwMPZR3sS2o>.

"Full Metal Jacket Monologue." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2M4ilVaAmI>.

"Full Metal Jacket Private Pyle Part 3 of 3." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hkNuykz2RE>.

"Hell Yeah, Kubrick Films! - Private Joker and the Sniper in  Full Metal Jacket..." Hell Yeah, Kubrick Films! - Private Joker and the Sniper in  Full Metal Jacket... N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://hell-yeah-kubrick.tumblr.com/post/7080162096/private-joker-and-the-sniper-in-full-metal-jacket>.

"Hollywood Elsewhere." Hollywood Elsewhere. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://www.hollywood-elsewhere.com/2008/08/get-some/>.

"Quotes from Full Metal Jacket." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 07 Oct. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093058/trivia?tab=qt&ref_=tt_trv_qu>.