Blog 5 S.S

The film “Full Metal Jacket” by Stanley Kubrick is organized into 3 different parts with each revealing an important story about the war. Each part separately tells a different story however when combined it tells a unified story about the Vietnam War.
The first part of the film takes place at a Marines Training facility. This is where the Soldiers receive basic training. The soldiers are put through rigorous obstacles to tests their physical capabilities. The Soldiers are not only prepared psychically but also mentally. Sergeant Hartman repeatedly asks the soldiers whether “they are killers?” Or whether they “they love their rifles”. The men are trained to act and behave like killers. This was clearly evident in the situation with Private “Pyle”. Pyle is an innocent kid but often lacks motivation. Hartman often punishes Pyle and the rest of the soldiers for Pyle’s mishaps. Hartman asks Private “Joker” to motivate and train Pyle. Pyle slowly starts picking up the slack and becomes an excellent shooter and excels at training. Pyle become so involved that it overtakes him mentally. With all the emotions bottled inside Pyle decides that he is in fact a killer. Pyle kills Sergeant Hartman and then shoots himself with his own rifle. The first part of the film shows the innocence in the boys who are now soldiers. Many young men drafted to Vietnam were not mentally ready to face an atrocity such war. The fact that they were drafted meant that they had to be prepared physically and emotionally.
The film suddenly shifts directions while showing no emotions towards the tragedy that took place at training. The second part of the film begins at a base in Vietnam. This is where we meet Private Joker as writer for the Stars and Stripes newspaper. Stars and Stripes’s editor Sergeant Lockhart asks the writers to spice up their articles by using specific language. Lockhart implies that Joker needs to show that the Americans are winning the war by showing blood and death of the Vietnamese. Lockhart also admits that the war is unpopular amongst Americans therefore the newspaper will help win people over. This is evident that there is a disconnect between different the ranks and positions in the war. Lockhart admits that he does not want to be on the front lines fighting. The soldiers who are on the front lines are watching their best friends and brothers getting killed while a newspaper editor is more concerned about dressing up the killings to win support.
The final part of film takes place in combat. Private Joker and Private Hasterman are sent on a mission to write a story about the war. While on the mission Joker reunites with Private “Cowboy” from the first platoon and Joker and Hasterman decide to go on a mission with the first platoon. During the mission with the first platoon, Joker witnesses his first combat death. 8-ball and the medic both get shot by the sniper. The men set out to find and kill the sniper meanwhile Cowboy is also shot and get killed. When faced with the decision to kill the sniper we discover that the sniper is in fact a woman. Hasterman shoots her while Joker does not find the courage. Although these young men were soldiers they often had to make tough decisions to kill other individuals. This scene showed Jokers innocence as a young man. Although he was soldier he still did not have the courage to take someone life away. Joker eventually has to kill her to take her out of her misery.
The final scene in the film shows the men walking after the battle singing the Mickey Mouse Club song. This song implies that war takes everyone innocence away because if you do not kill your enemy he or she will kill you. These young men were often forced to make fierce decisions to take the enemy’s life away. After witnessing so much at a young age these boys were transformed into men. The director brilliantly joins 3 different segments of the film together to create a powerful film.