FMJ: A Rhetoric of Protest

Like many of you, I was deeply moved by Full Metal Jacket. I found its depiction of the tragedies of war to be truly shocking and heart-wrenching. The death of Gomer Pyle was sad, however, I cannot honestly say that it came as a surprise. From the very beginning, it was apparent that he had some sort of learning or mental disorder. In "real life", a person of that nature would never even get past an initial military screening, let alone pass basic training. Once he got beaten by his very comrades and cried the next day during physical training, it was apparent that he had reached the breaking point and things would be very different for him from that point onward. I advise all of you to remember that this is a work of fiction. Just because Kubrick made this film (and I view him as an exemplary writer and director), does not make this the Bible of military activities. This movie acts as a protest to war and violence in general and should only be viewed as such. The movie also seems to have two distinct halves. The first, seems to deal with life at boot camp and depicts this through black comedy. I found this to be the more enjoyable portion of the movie. Just to let you all know though, I am undergoing basic training right now and it is no where near as morally and mentally degrading as found in this film. As a work of anti-war propaganda, the augmentation of the strenuous nature of boot camp serves to further motivate the audience into a feeling of direct opposition toward the military. The second portion of the film deals more directly with the real horror of direct combat and battle and the dehumanizing effect it has upon both soldiers and the civilians involved. In contrast to Deepti, I feel that the killing of the Vietnamese sniper at the end, demonstrates the greatest humanity shown throughout the whole film. Instead of a lack of sympathy and human decency that no other soldier is willing to demonstrate, Joker makes the incredibly tough decision to end her life rather than to "leave her to the rats". This was an act of mercy and one of the few moments of understanding demonstrated throughout the film. Without revealing too much of what I intend to write about, the soldiers must also revert to a childlike mindset. Without this, they could not handle the horror perpetually around them and most likely would break down, just as Pyle did. Those are my thoughts. Feel free to respond however you so desire.