Sunday, September 1, 2019
Full Metal Jacket (1987) Essay
The Film: Pro-War or Anti-War? A question as to the war sentiments of this film can be most accurately answered through an analysis of Private Joker. As his nickname suggests, the young marine is glib; using his sharp wit, average John Wayne interpretations, sense of irony and his readily apparent above-average intelligence to keep himself detached from the training and the Vietnam War. It is as if he knows the futility of his actions, covers the meaninglessness of it all by going through the motions and yet uses his humor as a defense mechanism. His message is clear: It means nothing to me but I do it anyway. Hence, in answer to the question of whether the film is pro or anti war, I would have to say neither. It does acknowledge both sides of story. Its general message is not to preach, merely to tell a story or a situation like it is. An illustration of this is how Private Joker wears a hat with the message ‘Born to Kill’ on it and at the same time sports a peace sign on his marine uniform.  In fact Private Joker himself put a name to the vacuum of opinion he (or man in general) is in: the duality of man. This philosophical concept, while very Jung-ishly technical is another way (at least in the film’s context) of putting confusion and hypocrisy. It speaks of an inner battle being waged inside a man’s soul; not necessarily about good or evil, right or wrong†¦but more about belief. What is exactly that you believe in? Another illustration of this so-called duality is seen during the hazing of Gomer Pyle. Once again the inner battle of Private Joker can be used as an anchor of this concept. Initially, he hesitated in throwing the poor man a blow with his makeshift weapon. In the end, however, he did land a few good hits. The inner struggle can be seen later on when Joker covers his ears to drown our Pyle’s cries. If Joker had been fully comfortable from the beginning with the physical hazing, I doubt that he would have bothered to cover his ears. This just goes to show how one’s soul gets racked when one does something that half of him disapproves of. Portrayal of War What sets the film apart from other war movies is that it has a lot less drama. There are no heart-wrenching one-liners. It painted the circumstances of the war without the usual dramatic coatings that tug at one’s tear ducts. On the other hand, it did not paint war either as fiercely brutal. Like what I mentioned earlier, war was painted it like it was. In that sense, one can say that the portrayal of war in this film is realistic. It must be said however that if one has not experienced war first-hand, one can never really know what it is like. And even with that, each war is different. Hence, all I can offer is my perception of the war that was portrayed in the film. War, with its shallow characteristics were equally portrayed along with the intricacies that usually accompany loss, brotherhood, bloodshed and self-realization. One the one hand, Kubrick masterfully conveyed the message that war, from a soldier’s perspective, is merely about the survival, detached from the political machinations that caused it in the first place. Justifiable War            In my opinion, the film does not touch upon issues of morality. It makes no judgment calls. What it does is bring all the ingredients of war into the mix and calls for the viewers to come up with their own conclusion. There is, at least in my view, no hard and fast message about the justifiability of war that can be easily gleaned from this film. Therefore, in answer to this question of whether or not the film viewed war as justifiable, one must look into each character. If one pegs the answer to the character of Animal Mother, war is justifiableâ€â€as long as one is the victor. His character is of the opinion that war is the ultimate means to display one’s superior strength. On the other hand, the character of Eightball pointed out that the Americans were in Vietnam to help the locals. He was very miffed about the fact that the supposed beneficiaries of their aid were very ungrateful of it. Therefore, through this perspective, it can be said that war can be justified if the cause is rooted in good intentions. Relationships among the characters            Like all war movies, the concept of brotherhood plays a central role. The ties of brotherhood were bound by the most powerful forces on earth: hardship, pain, loss and bloodshed. It is amusing to note however, that even in the midst of war there were competitions being waged on the same side. Although some of the competitions were outright obvious (i.e. Animal Mother and his Alpha-Male swagger towards Private Joker), others were less evident. This highlighted one more characteristic of war. While it is essentially about winning over the enemy, it is also about besting the rest of your team.            There is also the idea that one person is responsible for the next one. Like most other responsibilities in life, this may not be a great gift but it must still be done. Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful) says it all. It speaks of a responsibility one man to another no matter the cost. The burden is not always welcomed, like with Private Joker and Rafterman, but it is always there. The enemy            From the viewing of the film, I walked away with two concepts of the ‘Enemy’.  During their training days, I was of the conclusion that the enemy (as a general concept) was on some level respected. This can be seen in the Marine’s Prayer when they recite that a line about shooting straight and narrow against the enemy. The general idea is that while the enemy might be good, a Marine is always better. However, there is still a begrudging respect accorded. This respect to the potential abilities of the enemy is obvious from how hard the Marines train for combat. Nothing is left to chance.            However, during the war portions of the movie, I got the feeling that the soldiers overly relied on the idea that American Marines are the best that they underestimated the enemy. It was amazing how they still displayed shock over the Tet Offensive. It was of course masterful on the part of the Vietnamese fighters to lull the Americans into the false sense of security. However, the Americans should have known better. They completely underestimated their opponents and paid handsomely for the mistake. Reinforcing stereotypes            In my opinion, the film mainly reinforces the stereotypes of machismo and women.            The stereotypes of the macho man, valued only for his brute strength is to a certain extent unavoidableâ€â€Full Metal Jacket is a war movie after all. The stereotype of the soldier is reinforced as well: the image of an un-thinking, un-feeling killing machine that does not weigh any moral or ethical issues, believing only the sanctity of the command.            The role of women is viewed through a narrow lens as well. There are only 2 women that make an appearance in the film: a prostitute and a sniper. The idea of Ann Margret, although she never made an appearance, can also be considered as a third role of women. The obvious implications of these three roles are far-reaching and will take more than 10 pages to fully discuss in detail. However, it is quite obvious that the film also reflects the belief of the times that women, despite the many advances for the cause, could be viewed as either a prostitute, a treacherous killer or an object of sexual desire. Meaning to the wartime experience            The first half of the film shows the harsh indoctrination of boys into angry, killing Marines. The severe methods employed by the group’s drill sergeant left no room for innocence and self-assurance to survive. These marines, although it was their training that hardened them, one can say that it was the war that wizened, matured them. This can be clearly seen as we see how the central character (the narrator of sorts), Private Joker progresses during the film.
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