Blog 6 DRS

Full Metal Jacket depicts a soldier's wartime experience through Vietnam; from military training to the war front. The film is broken into three main segments, the first beginning at Parris Island, a marine training ground in South Carolina. Upon arrival, the new recruits are required to have their heads shaved and are designated a uniform. They quickly experience the brutal mental and physical abuse doled out by Drill-Sergeant Hartman, whose goal is to break down the boys and mold them into a unit of desensitized killing machines.

This segment of the movie introduces the protagonist Joker, who rises through the ranks to become squad leader. Joker is charged with the improvement of private Pyle, an out of shape and almost infantile recruit who becomes a liability for the entire platoon. Pyle eventually becomes a model soldier, but, by graduation day, and after a constant barrage of hazing and abuse, suffers a mental breakdown and kills both himself and Hartman. This segment introduces the "loss of innocence" theme, as is witnessed through Pyle's descent from childlike innocence into insanity. It also introduces the notion of random death and brutality in wartime, as is witnessed through Pyle's merciless killing of Hartman and Pyle's contemplation of shooting Joker.

The second segment reveals Joker in his new role as a reporter for Stars and Stripes in Danang, Vietnam, at around the time of the Tet Offensive in 1968. He has a fairly cushy position, charged with spinning stories of Vietnam to depict acts of heroism or grandeur. He has not yet been exposed to the warfront, but expresses a desire to be "put in the shit". The soldiers spending time there exaggerate their wartime experiences, and one soldier makes the comment that you could tell if a soldier had been in the shit if they have the "thousand yard stare", which is held only by those soldiers that have experienced the mindnumbing cruelty of war firsthand. He is soon assigned to do an investigative piece near Hue, which inevitably sucks him into the war.

The third segment deals with Joker's exposure to combat experience. Joker meets up with his old buddy Cowboy and meets the colorful members of his platoon--most notably Animal Mother, who believes in winning this war by any means necessary. Joker and Cowboy share a strong bond, representing the comradery many soldiers share. One of the first scenes shows soldiers messing with the dead body of a Vietnamese soldier, propping it up and declaring it 'the guest of honor.' This presents the use of gruesome humor as a sort of coping mechanism to deal with the harshness of war. Eventually on a botched mission, Cowboy, 8-Ball, and Doc are killed by an enemy sniper, and the decision to kill the sniper (who turns out to be a young girl) falls to joker, who shoots her out of mercy. Upon the killing, Joker is seen staring off into the distance with "the thousand yard" stare, signifying the turning point in his loss of innocence, as well as the abandonment of his boyhood.

The final scene is brilliant, depicting a number of soldiers marching amid burning ruins and singing the Mickey Mouse club song. Kubrick contrasts the chaotic reality of war with childhood memories and innocence. By singing the song in unison, the soldiers share a sense of unity as they all attempt to relive a happier, more peaceful time in their lives.

Taken together, the film portrays the life of an American soldier in Vietnam, and the struggles they face both internally and externally. Through their experiences in training and in country, the soldiers are transformed from boys into desensitized killing machines. The film itself portrays the war as a violent, chaotic, and confusing quagmire, which required constant media spinning in the futile attempt of its justification.