Malini_Samtani FMJ

Full Metal Jacket is a film about how war messes with peoples minds. The first part of the movie is a depiction of the training the marines undergo before being sent to the war in Vietnam. During training the marines are insulted, degraded and brainwashed that they are worthless. They are under so much pressure that they crack. It is drilled into their heads that they are born to kill and that their rifles are their only friend. In many scenes in the movie the sergeant who trains the marines brainwashes them to believe they are weapons and that they will give up their lives for the marines. Private Pyle, who is a slightly slow and overweight, has a hard time keeping up with the orders of the sergeant. Therefore, he is the constant target of Sergeant Hartman's insults. Sergeant Hartman eventually stops punishing Private Pyle for his acts and starts punishing all his fellow teammembers for his mistakes. This is a far worse punishment for Private Pyle because he turns the entire group of marines against Private Pyle and even Pyle's friend and 'mentor', a man going by Joker, succumbs under the pressure from the entire group and betrays Pyle. After this incident Private Pyle becomes so bitter and hard and begins to realize the power he has through his rifle. After successfully passing through the marine training, he shoots his sergeant with his rifle and then puts a bullet into his own mouth.

This scene ends the first part about creating 'killing machines' and the second part depicts Joker after graduating from the marines not as a fighter but as a reporter. Throughout the second part of the movie he continues to say that he wants to kill and that he has been trained to kill.
As a journalist, Joker wants to report the truth but the head of the team of reporters tells him to change his story to portray the Americans as the good and the Vietnamese soldiers as the 'evil'
The second part of the movie really shows the lives and the lifestyles of the soldiers when they are not fighting. Prostitutes seem to be a big part of their entertainment since they do not have contact with other females. This part of the film depicts the crudeness of the soldiers through their language, mentality and actions. For example, the way the soldiers negotiate with the prostitutes and the way the soldier drags the prostitute inside after she accepts.

The third part of the movie is a contrast in the way Joker feels about fighting in the war as he finally has a chance to go and fight on the field, he does not want to anymore. After actually being attacked by the Vietnamese by means of bombs and snipers he is horrified and even says ' I don't think I'm ready for this' but has no choice. In the last battle in the movie they are being attacked by Vietnamese with snipers and do not know from which side they are being attacked making it extremely difficult to retaliate or even protect themselves. In this battle, one of the Americans get hit on the field while the rest of the team is hiding behind a wall for protection. This scene really portrays a dilemma because their teammate is being shot over and over again but the soldier in command cannot let anyone go to rescue him because he says they will take every team member like that one by one. When one person finally goes to rescue him, the Vietnamese soldiers take him as down well. Finally the Americans find the Vietnamese soldier who killed three of their men including the leader and she turns out to be a woman. They shoot her down but she does not die and two of the American soldiers argue, one saying they should leave her their to rot and the other wanting to help her. The girl is shaking from the pain from the gunshot wound and asks the men to kill her. This is a traumatic moment for Joker but he finally shoots her out of mercy.


I think that in some ways the movie is trying to portray that even though the men have been brainwashed to kill there is some emotion left. Just as we see with Joker, throughout the movie he is desperate to kill but when that moment finally arrives he cannot take it. The mickey mouse song is significant to the ending of the movie. There are two lines in the lyrics that we can interpret, the first :"Boys and girls from far and near you're welcome as can be" refers to the recruitment and harsh training of the marines going to Vietnam. The second :" Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?", I think this line may indicate the marines or the makers of the film questioning the government for contributing to so much suffering.