The Dual Nature of Human in Full Metal Jacket

Duality

Full Metal Jacket is a dramatic war film set during the Vietnam War, directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film opens with potential soldiers getting their heads shaved in preparation for training on Parris Island. The privates are introduced to Drill Instructor Hartman, who starts off by yelling and insulting all of his recruits. Nicknames are given - we are introduced to Private “Gomer Pyle”, Private “Cowboy”, and Private “Joker”. They go through boot camp, with marching, reciting rifle routine, and going through obstacles. Joker is promoted to squad leader while Pyle struggles, so Joker is told to mentor him. Joker tries to help, but Pyle physically cannot do a lot of the obstacles. Hartman finds a jelly donut in Pyle’s lockbox and decides, from then on, to punish the squad for Pyle’s blunders instead of Pyle himself. The squad has had enough and Private Pyle is attacked with bars of soap in his sleep. As Pyle starts talking to his rifle and completely throws himself into the training, Joker suspects that Pyle is going a little bit crazy. Hartman becomes more and more impressed by the transformed Pyle, and Pyle graduates with Cowboy to the infantry. Joker is promoted to military journalism. On the last day of the island, Joker finds a nearly-insane Private Pyle caressing his rifle. He loads it and wakes up the whole squad reciting the mottos he had learned during his time in boot camp. Drill Instructor Hartman tries to get him to stop, but Pyle kills him in front of Joker and shoots himself. A few years later, Joker is in Vietnam working with a newspaper. Joker, Rafterman and crew hear explosions during the night and find a small skirmish that they come out victorious in. His squad leader decides to send Rafterman and Joker to the city of Phu Bai. There, he finds Cowboy and his squad. He is asked about his helmet and his peace sign, and he references the duality of man. As the war rages on, Joker, Cowboy, and the squad send off. Their squad is slowly picked off, with the squad leader getting killed first. Cowboy is placed into command. As the squad wanders about, Cowboy orders another member to scout the area. The doc goes with him, and they are both injured by a sniper. Cowboy prepares to pull the squad out of the dangerous area, but Animal Mother ignores him and goes to save his squad. Alerted to their location, the squad moves toward the sniper, but Cowboy and the doc are killed as they go. Animal Mother takes control. They move out, and Joker is the one to find the sniper. He sneaks up on the sniper (a teenage girl) but his rifle jams as he goes for the shot. The girl, alerted to Joker’s presence, shoots at him, but Rafterman shoots the sniper nearly dead. The crew converges on their location and the sniper begs for death. Joker, reluctant, decides to give her mercy and kills her. He leaves the battlefield, ecstatic to be alive.

Full Metal Jacket boasts a fitting cast for each of the characters. Joker portrayed by Matthew Modine fit really well as the hero for our story. As Modine narrates over the story as Joker, the characterization of Joker really plays out. It culminates in the end, as you see Joker get that “thousand yard stare”, but he’s also just happy to be alive, reinforcing the “duality of man” he referenced earlier. Vincent D’Onofrio as Private Gomer Pyle was phenomenal, as well as R. Lee Ermey as the Drill Instructor Hartman and Adam Baldwin as the reckless Animal Mother. D’Onofrio displayed the dehumanizing of Private Pyle perfectly, and you could see it in the look in his eyes. R. Lee Ermey’s previous experience as a drill instructor came in handy portraying the realities of the drill instructor in the film. The only major role that felt replaceable was Arliss Howard as Cowboy, and that was only because he didn’t have the biggest characterization in his arc.

The most enjoyable part of Full Metal Jacket was the excellent direction and message it holds. Stanley Kubrick always delivers with solid camerawork and iconic moments Kubrick will always be remembered for. Full Metal Jacket, along with Kubrick’s other works, have always been known for their solidity in the technical aspects of filming a movie, like cinematography or unique techniques. However, in Full Metal Jacket, this comes with a representation of gritty realism in wartime and memorable one-liners (“me love you long time”, “duality of man”) that couldn’t have been possible without Stanley’s direction. However, the less-than-stellar part of the film was that it seemed to slump in the middle. After the shock of Pyle’s suicide and loss of R. Lee Ermey’s character, the section with Joker before the encounter with the sniper felt like it was just dragging on.

The theme of Full Metal Jacket is reinforced multiple times throughout. The film focuses on the dehumanization that men go through during a time of grit and war. We can see examples of this from the very beginning of the film. Soldiers have their heads shaved, are insulted as a whole, and forced to memorize creeds and mottos, drilling into their minds that they are not individuals, but rather part of the large. well-oiled machine that is the Marine Corps. The character arc of Private Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence shows this most appropriately. Leonard starts off the film as a childish man who can’t stop grinning as the sergeant rifles off insults, but as he continues to mess up, he is assaulted by his fellow privates and forced in stressful situations by his drill instructor. He becomes a better and better soldier, but begins to lose his sanity in the process. As they graduate from their lowly times in boot camp, Leonard is fully integrated into the Marine machine. Detached from his actions, he kills Hartman and himself, losing the last bit of humanity he had. We see this again as Joker goes through the battle in Vietnam. Joker doesn’t truly desire to kill anyone. He holds true to this, despite ruthless killers like the aptly-named Animal Mother call themselves his comrades. At the end of the film, Joker who retain his humanity. His first kill is one of mercy, on the young girl that killed his comrades, after she begs for death and his squad members tell him to “leave the gook for the rats”. This young girl is seen as less than human by his squad members, when she could’ve been one of their daughters. Joker is happy he makes it out alive and doesn’t lose hold of himself like the others around him. His previous quote about the “duality of man” culminates in the moment he shoots the sniper - he finally is the “first kid on his block to get a confirmed kill”, but he does it in a moment of peace and mercy.

Full Metal Jacket is one of the more meaningful war movies out there. The message behind it can apply to most any mature viewer. That said, if cursing or vulgarity completely turns you off to something, then this movie isn’t for you. The grit and unfiltered realism portrayed in Full Metal Jacket garnered an R rating, and for good reason. Foul language is around every corner in this film, and brutal depictions of violence follow not far behind. As war movies aren’t everyone's cup of tea, it is understandable why one wouldn’t go see this film. However, the message behind Full Metal Jacket and how iconic it is warrant at least one watch. Philosophers and soldiers never fit together better.