In Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket the journey of young men during the Vietnam War is shown through three different parts. These parts include basic training at Parris Island, time in Vietnam following Joker as a journalist, and time in the bush with a platoon. Parris Island shows the hardening of young recruits into Marines. Their drill sergeant beats them down and degrades them, forcing one soldier to lose control and become insane. Gomer Pile was an obese young man that was holding the class back at Paris Island. He was both emotionally and physically abused by his platoon members. He forced himself to become an excellent marksman and even began talking to his rifle, showing the insanity that could potentially overtake someone while in boot camp. One evening, Pile murders the drill sergeant and then commits suicide, which is significant to the mindset that could be seen in Vietnam. The negative atmosphere did not only start when they were in Vietnam, but also while they were in boot camp. When desperation leads to insanity, it was not uncommon for offers to be killed in order for a soldier to benefit himself or his platoon.
The second part of the film follows Joker as he is stationed in Vietnam working for the Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that reported on the war. Joker is told to write what the people want to hear about at home, including killings of the enemy and images of victory. In reality, Joker was not personally viewing any of the ideas that his editor wanted him to write about in the paper. He was told to only write two types of stories, which were the ones that won over the hearts and minds of the people and the ones that had combat action with American victory. Joker was told to not use the terms “search” and “destroy,” but instead to use “sweep” and “clear” in order to promote positive information about the war. The media was not supposed to discuss the negative implications or anything that would lead people to believe that the Americans should not be in Vietnam.
The third part of the film takes place while Joker is in the bush with a platoon. During this time they become under sniper fire. The leader of the troop chooses to leave a man behind who has been hit by the sniper in open land. The rest of the platoon disagrees with his decision and tries to save him. In the process, the leader of the platoon and another soldier die, displaying the insubordination that plagued the platoons during the war. The lack of control is the opposite of what was seen in the beginning of the film on Paris Island, which shows that the structure often broke down while in country. Joker learned firsthand the difference between what they wrote in the paper sitting in the rear compared to what really happens in the bush.
The Mickey Mouse song at the end of the movie serves to show the anarchy and lack of structure during the war. The playful song denotes the serious matter of the war, showing the United State’s ignorance to jungle warfare and guerilla fighting. The song plays as the soldiers are marching, as though they are their own club, as heard in the lyrics, taking over Vietnam rather than a military unit fighting against communism. The song also asks others to join in their fight, just as the Stars and Stripes rallies for people to support the war. In the song, it states that they play fair and work in harmony, which is ironic because harmony was nonexistent amongst the soldiers in war.
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In Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket the journey of young men during the Vietnam War is shown through three different parts. The first part of this film follows the soldiers as they are trained at Paris Island. The violent and grotesque language of the drill sergeant, Kilgore, shows the emotionally and physically abuse of the platoon members. Kilgore’s name is representative of the war itself and of the United States during the war. The name implies death and horrible tragedies the soldiers will see while in country. The language is used to turn the soldiers into killing machines. This is shown through Gommer Pile, a soldier who goes crazy who kills himself and Kilgore. Throughout the entire film language is used as a tool to mold the soldiers and to demonstrate the different themes of the war.
ReplyDeleteThe second part of the film follows Joker as he is stationed in Vietnam working for the Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that reported on the war. Joker is told to write what the people want to hear about at home, including killings of the enemy and images of victory. In reality, Joker was not personally viewing any of the ideas that his editor wanted him to write about in the paper. He was told to only write two types of stories, which were the ones that won over the hearts and minds of the people and the ones that had combat action with American victory. Joker was told to not use the terms “search” and “destroy,” but instead to use “sweep” and “clear” in order to promote positive information about the war. The media was not supposed to discuss the negative implications of the war or anything that would lead people to believe that the Americans should not be in Vietnam.
The third part of the film takes place while Joker is in the bush with a platoon. During this time the troop becomes under sniper fire. The leader of the troop chooses to leave a man behind who has been hit by the sniper in open land. The rest of the platoon disagrees with the leader’s decision and tries to save the man who has been shot. In the process, the leader of the platoon and another soldier die, displaying the insubordination that plagued the platoons during the war. The lack of control is the opposite of what was seen in the beginning of the film on Paris Island, which means the structure broke down while in country. Joker learned firsthand the difference between what was written in the paper sitting in the rear compared to what really happens in the bush. This section of the film shows the evolution of joker. He begins to learn what the war is really about and how different it is for those in the frontlines compared to those in the rear.
The Mickey Mouse song at the end of the movie serves to show the anarchy and lack of structure during the war. The playful song denotes the serious matter of the war, showing the United State’s ignorance to jungle warfare and guerilla fighting. The song plays as the soldiers are marching, as though they are in their own club, as heard in the lyrics, taking over Vietnam rather than a military unit fighting against communism. The song also asks others to join in their fight, just as the Stars and Stripes rallies for people to support the war. In the song, it states that they play fair and work in harmony, which is ironic because harmony was nonexistent amongst the soldiers in war. The language in the song is meant to add emphasis to Kubrick’s idea’s at the war. The happy nature of the song shows the irony of the war. The war was portrayed to be no more than a game. The soldiers make it seem as though it is summer camp, which Kubrick shows through the song. Vietnam was the first television war, giving perspective to the American People.