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The politics surrounding the production of the Full Metal Jacket Film are politics of war and conflict. Full Metal Jacket came into being at a period when there were increased conflicts and ideological tassels between nations, particularly communism, socialism, and capitalism. It was at a time when the Vietnam War between the Vietnam army and the US military was at its peak. The United States was fighting the Vietnamese military in a bid to stop the spread of socialism in the Southern Part of Vietnam.
The film Full Metal Jacket depicts the Vietnam War highlighting the inherent political instability.
The film captures some of the most traumatizing effects of the Vietnam War. The thousand-yard stare was a common term used by soldiers during the war. A soldier could only earn the thousand-yard stare after making a kill. The concept was intended to mask soldiers’ guilt associated with their inhuman acts. Being humane and compassionate was a source of ridicule from other soldiers.
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For instance, Sergeant Joker is forced to abandon his human nature (Kubrick, 1987). He is forced to kill a young sniper to earn a thousand-yard stare from the rest of the soldiers.
Such acts saw the American military come under attack from the media for the poor conduct among its soldiers. The soldiers were involved in hideous activities such as harassment of local civilians and mass murders. The traumatizing actions resulted in the development of post-traumatic stress disorder in some of the soldiers. The film is set in a nation where the culture of atrocity is prevalent. Soldiers from both sides of the war engaged in atrocious acts without feeling remorseful. Rather than fighting for the initial course of ending socialism, the American soldiers make the battleground a place to prove their mighty. The more the kill a person makes the higher the prestige.
The context behind the production of the Full metal jacket raises a lot of Rhetoric questions associated with the war. Below is a list of some of the Rhetoric questions on cultures likely to be associated with the Film.
There are many interesting aspects of the movie that remain unknown to most people. For example, the movie Full jacket is not only a movie about war but also showcass the influence of a conditioned environment on the behavior of the soldiers. It is also worth noting that the film is based on a novel and so many scenes present in the novel have been skipped in the movies. The movie has also had a great impact on pop culture. According to Bunch (2018), the Full Metal Jacket is the most influential movie out of all the Vietnam War movies. It had a great deal of influence on romanticizing brutality. The sadistic portrayal of Hartman serves as a de facto mechanism for recruiting marines. The movie borrowed the peace symbol “born to kill” from a short story written by hash ford while attending a community college after the war. While the film showcases the Vietnam battleground it was actually shot in London. Somehow the landscape in England managed to pass as Vietnam for most people who watched the film
The movie has more positive reviews with no critical reviews in existence. The positive reviews are an illustration that the movie was a success even in the eyes of major movie critics. For example, the film managed to receive a high rating from the Holy wood reporter who cited the move as “a logical culmination of insanity” (Holy wood reporter). In another positive review, Bynum affirms the film had a great impact on his military career. Kubrick's choice of war environment is a good resemblance to the actual battleground. Incorporation of the medical conditions of hurt soldiers further serves to bring out a clearer picture of the conditions that existed in the Vietnam Battlefields.
An article by Bunch applauds the film for showcasing the negative effects associated with the Vietnam War. The film is a clear representation of the dehumanization activities during the war. Atrocious military action needs to be discouraged since it results in far-reaching effects that affect both the soldiers and the civilians. The various positive reviews paint the film as an actual representation of the horrors associated with the Vietnam War. The film was a commercial success. It sold millions of videos that earned the production incredible revenues. The film has also had its share of influence on fashion. The film metal Jacket is very popular, and each manufacturer tries to have the jacket in stock. The commercial influence of the movie in terms of influencing other brands and its video sales constitute success from the commercial perspective
The production of the film starts with Rubric’s discovery of the novel The Short-Timers written by Gustav Hasford. The discovery of the book offers Kubrick a solution to his search for a story that could be adapted for the Vietnam War Film he was hoping to produce. Reading the book twice convinced Kubrick that it was a unique book and thus decided to commence its shooting. Later on, Kubrick was forced to contact Hasford requesting him to work alongside him and Herr in producing the film. The rationale for the move was that Hasford had a better understanding of the facts contained in the novel and would serve the purpose of offering clarifications when the need arose. A rigorous audition heralded the casting of the film. Kubrick first made a public cast search in Canada and the United States. The chosen character underwent a thorough training process which involved rehearsing lines almost twenty times.
Once the rehearsal was complete Kubrick was ready to start the process of filming in England. The major filming sites were becks ton Gasworks, millennium hills, and North folk Broads. Kubrick couldn't provide all the resources required all by himself. He sourced the help of notable personalities. For example, the M41 tanks were acquired from a Belgian Colonel who admired Kubrick’s ongoing Work. Full Metal Jacket managed to acquire wide release in 1987. Harrier films produced the film. The total cost of the whole production was seventeen million US dollars. It is important to note that the production of the film was full of challenges. For example, Emery got an accident during the production and broke half of his ribs. It took him almost four months before he could recover and get back to the production. Nonetheless, despite the financial and technical challenges, Kubrick managed to have the film all set by 1987.
The film portrayed the battlefield as a slaughtering ground where American troops lost most of their soldiers. Unknown snipers killed the commanders of the army. The film portrays the killing of the American commanders in the Vietnam Wars through the killing of Cowboy who is the commander of the army. Later on, Joker takes over. Frustrated by the killing of his earlier commanders he orders the search for the sniper. The sniper is a 13-year-old girl (Kubrick). The culture of killing is already deeply rooted in the soldiers who campaign for the killing of the girl. The soldier is aware of the human nature of Joker and thus coaxes him to kill her. Wanting to prove that he is one of them he shoots the girl. The act earns him the thousand-yard stare given to people who propagate the killings of the enemy. The incidences portrayed in the film are the actual incidence of what takes place on the Vietnam battlefields.
The soldiers in the battleground received support from the White House office. The white office was willing to ensure the desire of ending socialism came to fruition. However, there are instances when the soldiers had low resources. For example, when Cowboy embarks on tracing the snipers, he realizes that there are not enough tanks and is forced to withdraw (Kubrick). This is just but an example of some scenarios where the government failed in offering support to its army. This among other factors contributed to the failure to win the war which saw the return of the army back to its home country.
The media was campaigning against the war. The war was costing the country irreparable damage through mass killings and loss of property. The war also served to encourage the killing culture among soldiers. The impact of the dehumanizing activities on the battlefield affected not only the Vietnamese but also the American soldiers. Some of them developed a traumatic disorder that saw them killing each other. While Joker tries to dance himself from the dehumanizing acts, he is finally overwhelmed and falls prey to the killing acts (Kubrick). The movie portrays the Vietnam battleground brutality. This gives the public a chance to witness the effect of a conditioned environment on humans. The inhuman training at the boot camp played a crucial role in conditioning the solider to develop an atrocious culture that made them kill without any remorse. Rather than achieving the objective of fighting socialism the battleground became a place to prove might through savage killing acts. In the end, American objectives of joining the war were not met and the Vietnamese society incurred an unrepairable scar.
Analysis of Full Metal Jacket. (2022, May 27). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/analysis-of-full-metal-jacket-essay
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