Deepti: Full Metal Jacket

Full Metal Jacket was definitely an interesting movie. I probably wouldn't go as far as to say that I liked it, because I generally don't like these kind of movies, but I do believe that it gave a pretty accurate idea of what the war was like for the soldiers. It took me a while to get used to the cussing (which happened after every five seconds) and the in-your-face reality of training camp but I think the brutality and "vulgarity" was necessary because that's how training camps and war are like. It's obvious that Kubrick had no intention of diluting the violent and torturous nature of the war. He wanted the audience to get a realistic idea of what soldiers went through. The sergeant in this movie reminded me a lot of Patton, in his opening speech. It seems like the way to motivate the young marines was to insult them as much as possible so as to instill so much anger and frustration inside, that they would want to fight all the time. The way the soldiers were treated was horrific.

The one scene that shocked me is the scene where Pyle shoots the sergeant and then himself. I didn't know what to make of it because the whole sequence was so unexpected. I found myself feeling sorry for Pyle, more than anyone else. His situation really moved me and I think at the end of the movie, his was the only character I felt any kind of sympathy towards. He's the only one who seemed more like a regular human being, compared to others who just ended up being killing machines.

Another scene, was the last scene where the sniper was shot and all the soldiers stood around her as she said her last prayers before she died. The way she said "Shoot me" sent shivers down my spine. It was probably the best way to convey the brutality and absolute inhumanity of war, where humans lose a sense of right and wrong, ethics and morals, and even life and death. The scene where the soldier in the helicopter is shooting random people, simply assuming them to be Vietcongs, shows that life doesn't hold much meaning for these soliders anymore. And that's the way they've been trained to be.