Full Metal Jacket (Philosophical Films)

FULL METAL JACKET (1987)

PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES: Ethics, Personal Identity, Free Will, Philosophy of History

CHARACTERS: Private Joker (Matthew Modine), Animal Mother (Adam Baldwin), Private Gomer Pyle (Vincent D'Onofrio), Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (R. Lee Ermey), Rafterman (Kevyn Major Howard), Private Cowboy (Arliss Howard)

OTHER FILMS BY DIRECTOR STANLEY KUBRICK: Eyes Wide Shut (1999), The
Shining (1980), A Clockwork Orange (1971), Spartacus (1960)

SYNOPSIS: Full Metal Jacket follows a group of aspiring young men as they endure the trials of basic training in their quest to become Marines and, ultimately, soldiers in the Vietnam War. In the first half of the film, Privates Joker and Pyle struggle through the mentally and physically tiring stresses which are intensified by the strict guidance of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. The second half of the film is set in Da Nang, Vietnam near the time of the Tet Offensive. Privates Joker and Rafterman go out into the field to get a firsthand account of the bloodshed and atrocities of war.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. At the beginning of the film, Private Pyle appears to have a pleasant disposition as evidenced by his inability to quit grinning. After suffering the effects of basic training, he eventually becomes homicidal and suicidal. Is Private Pyle's demise a consequence of his training or poor decisions?

2. After Gunnery Sergeant Hartman finds a jelly doughnut in Private Pyle's footlocker, he tells the platoon concerning Private Pyle's failures, "I have failed because you have not helped me. You people have not given Private Pyle the proper motivation." Who is responsible for Private Pyle's deficiencies in his training?

3. At the end of basic training, Joker notes in narration, "The Marine Corps does not want robots. The Marine Corps wants killers. The Marine Corps wants to build indestructible men, men without fear." Are the goals of the Marine Corps as stated by Joker achievable?

4. Concerning Lee Harvey Oswald and mass murderer Charles Whitman, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman states, "Those individuals showed what one motivated Marine and his rifle can do." Do you think Kubrick had a purpose for using these names in such a positive light?

5. In the tragic scene in the bathroom, Private Pyle responds to Joker that, "I am in a world of shit." What do you think Private Pyle's last straw was that put him in such a world?

6. At the beginning of the second part of the film, Rafterman says to Joker, "You know what really pisses me off about these people? We're supposed to be helping them and they shit all over us every chance they get." Joker replies by saying, "Don't take it too hard, Rafterman. It's just business." By saying "just business", what is Joker implying about a soldier's observations about the war?

7. In the newspaper staff meeting, Joker's superior officer reviews all the proposed articles to make sure all of the stories have the desired effect on its readers. Does the given spin of these articles preserve the truth?

8. In the second half of the film, Joker and Rafterman take a helicopter ride, so they can get some "trigger time." On the ride, the door gunner starts to shoot at unarmed Vietnamese villagers. Soon after, Joker asks, "How can you shoot women and children?" and the door gunner replies, "Easy! Ya just don't lead 'em so much! Ain't war hell?" In a time of war, is it ever morally permissible to kill women and children?

9. When Joker is asked by the colonel about his peace symbol and the words "Born to Kill" on his helmet, he replies, "I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man" or "The Jungian thing." What is Joker's point?

10. While a film crew is taking a video of the platoon, Crazy Earl says, "I'll be General Custer", and then Rafterman asks, "Well, who'll be the Indians?" Animal Mother states, "Hey, we'll let the Gooks play the Indians." Is there any parallels between the Vietnam War and the Battle of Little Bighorn?

11. In the sniper scene at the end of the film, the platoon argues as to whether they should try and save Private Eightball. What would a person say if they had a utilitarian ethical stance as opposed to a deontological ethical stance?

12. When Joker and Rafterman first meet Cowboy's platoon, Joker and Animal Mother have a confrontation. Afterwards, Private Eightball tells Joker, "Now you may not believe it, but under fire Animal Mother is one of the finest human beings in the world. All he needs is someone to throw hand grenades at him the rest of his life." Animal Mother appears to be the ideal soldier. When the first part of this film is taken into consideration, do you believe Animal Mother is a necessary product of being well trained?

13. Do you think Animal Mother's training has any affect on his moral responsibility as an ideal soldier?

14. At the end of the movie, Joker kills the child sniper. Now, one could see how the door gunner might have tried to justify killing women and children. If women and children are the enemy, how should a soldier proceed amidst the struggle to "win" the war?

Author: James DeFreece