MP
2008-12-01 23:03:21 UTC
In the second act of the film, the marines hammer a building called
Leyna with fire. After a pause, some enemy soldiers dart out like
ants, four of which are gunned down by Crazy Earl. Kubrick sexualises
Crazy Earl’s kills. Not only does Animal Mother have a cigarette in
his helmet and Crazy Earl a pipe in his, but the “kills” take place
before a giant “Cotab cigarettes” poster.
So what we have here are a bunch of guys symbolically raping Leyna
(the Female Other), and then lighting a smoke after sex.
Of course sex and violence are linked thorughout the film. It's
Hartman's job to merge the two. But Kubrick links them in some pretty
obscure scenes as well. For example, during Joker and Rafterman's
“trigger time” conversation a group of soldiers can be seen in the
background playing basketball. Later, when Payback mentions “the
thousand yard stare” another marine mentions “rape” and “basketball”
immediately afterwards. This echoes an earlier juxtaposition, when
Cowboy and Joker had “hard ons” and talked about "fucking sisters"
whilst thinking about Pyle and his rifle. We see the marine persona
developing here. Erections have been replaced with rape, talking to
rifles with the murderous acquisition of the thousand yard stare.
All these clues merge in the final scene, where Joker gains the
thousand yard stare after firing his gun and raping the sniper. The
killing itself is filmed like a sex scene, the sniper on her back,
begging her man to "shoot me, shoot me!" (fuck me, fuck me).
Interestingly, a filmed but omitted scene had Animal Mother then
cutting off the sniper's head and playing football with it. The theme
of sex, sport and violence is thus completed.
The film contains numerous references to sports. Marines are told to
“jump on the team for the big win”, they speak of “batting orders”,
“playing a little ball for Notre Dame”, are told about “hardballs”,
“golf balls”, make jokes about basketball, are named Touchdown and
Eightball, and wear football helmets whilst beating one another in
boot camp.
The film is thus preoccupied with “ball games”. Before you can get
your balls blown off for your country, you must first master the
sports ball. As such, the film treats the military as an obscene
extension of traditional masculinization processes.
Here's another detail. Lockhart (himself a cowardly clone of Hartman)
tells Joker that they run 2 basic stories: “Grunts who give half their
pay to buy gooks toothbrushes and deodorants- winning of hearts and
minds. And combat action that results in a kill- Winning the War.”
Here Kubrick links the notion of “toothbrushes” and “deodorant” with
“hearts and minds”. Later, when the marines siege a ruined city, they
sweep and clear a building which features a large Hynos toothpaste
poster (itself a giant Head). Similarly, during the sniper
confrontation, toothpaste and deodorant advertisements litter the
walls behind the marines.
Toothbrushes and deodorant are two products which “clean” and
“sanitize” the human body. Full Metal Jacket sees war as a form of
physical, geographic and ideological purification. The marine must be
psychologically cleaned out before he can sweep and clear terrain for
the implementation of a more sexy, lean and beautiful ideology.
The long steadicam shot that tracks the marines as they "sweep and
clear the Hynos toothpaste Head" is thus another one of those
Kubrician Star Gate shots, where Joker's Head is flushed out and his
shit wired together.
The catalyst of this change is Joker travelling throught he moon door
and merging with Cowboy, his intellectual/warrior self, in the
previous scene. This scene itself takes place after a conversation
with a general who told him to wire his shit together.
Leyna with fire. After a pause, some enemy soldiers dart out like
ants, four of which are gunned down by Crazy Earl. Kubrick sexualises
Crazy Earl’s kills. Not only does Animal Mother have a cigarette in
his helmet and Crazy Earl a pipe in his, but the “kills” take place
before a giant “Cotab cigarettes” poster.
So what we have here are a bunch of guys symbolically raping Leyna
(the Female Other), and then lighting a smoke after sex.
Of course sex and violence are linked thorughout the film. It's
Hartman's job to merge the two. But Kubrick links them in some pretty
obscure scenes as well. For example, during Joker and Rafterman's
“trigger time” conversation a group of soldiers can be seen in the
background playing basketball. Later, when Payback mentions “the
thousand yard stare” another marine mentions “rape” and “basketball”
immediately afterwards. This echoes an earlier juxtaposition, when
Cowboy and Joker had “hard ons” and talked about "fucking sisters"
whilst thinking about Pyle and his rifle. We see the marine persona
developing here. Erections have been replaced with rape, talking to
rifles with the murderous acquisition of the thousand yard stare.
All these clues merge in the final scene, where Joker gains the
thousand yard stare after firing his gun and raping the sniper. The
killing itself is filmed like a sex scene, the sniper on her back,
begging her man to "shoot me, shoot me!" (fuck me, fuck me).
Interestingly, a filmed but omitted scene had Animal Mother then
cutting off the sniper's head and playing football with it. The theme
of sex, sport and violence is thus completed.
The film contains numerous references to sports. Marines are told to
“jump on the team for the big win”, they speak of “batting orders”,
“playing a little ball for Notre Dame”, are told about “hardballs”,
“golf balls”, make jokes about basketball, are named Touchdown and
Eightball, and wear football helmets whilst beating one another in
boot camp.
The film is thus preoccupied with “ball games”. Before you can get
your balls blown off for your country, you must first master the
sports ball. As such, the film treats the military as an obscene
extension of traditional masculinization processes.
Here's another detail. Lockhart (himself a cowardly clone of Hartman)
tells Joker that they run 2 basic stories: “Grunts who give half their
pay to buy gooks toothbrushes and deodorants- winning of hearts and
minds. And combat action that results in a kill- Winning the War.”
Here Kubrick links the notion of “toothbrushes” and “deodorant” with
“hearts and minds”. Later, when the marines siege a ruined city, they
sweep and clear a building which features a large Hynos toothpaste
poster (itself a giant Head). Similarly, during the sniper
confrontation, toothpaste and deodorant advertisements litter the
walls behind the marines.
Toothbrushes and deodorant are two products which “clean” and
“sanitize” the human body. Full Metal Jacket sees war as a form of
physical, geographic and ideological purification. The marine must be
psychologically cleaned out before he can sweep and clear terrain for
the implementation of a more sexy, lean and beautiful ideology.
The long steadicam shot that tracks the marines as they "sweep and
clear the Hynos toothpaste Head" is thus another one of those
Kubrician Star Gate shots, where Joker's Head is flushed out and his
shit wired together.
The catalyst of this change is Joker travelling throught he moon door
and merging with Cowboy, his intellectual/warrior self, in the
previous scene. This scene itself takes place after a conversation
with a general who told him to wire his shit together.