Full Metal Jacket is in fact a documentary on the futility of war directed by Stanley Kubrick, my favorite director. Poor innocent people, especially teenagers are instructed to turn their ‘grins’ into grim faces. The platoon is actually a killing machines factory led by a sanctimonious lieutenant whose coaching is so problematic that even Joker could teach the fat boy more effectively to climb up the obstacle and pass it at more ease.
The instructor’s brutality reminded me of the film, Whiplash. The lieutenant viciously punished the whole platoon for the imperfection of only one of the soldiers, raising Cain in the squad. All the legion turned against the gauche and inexperienced private instead of helping him to get along with the troop. The soldiers are drilled into believing that a day without blood is like a day without sunshine, which caused so much controversy and conflict in the innocuous adolescents.
For example, Joker was wearing a helmet on which it was written: “born to kill” and a peace making badge on his uniform. That’s such a big paradox! Almost at the end of the movie, using violence and bloodthirstiness is vividly portrayed by the resourceful director. It’s also ironic to see that all the soldiers’ training and coaching are in fact inefficient to deal with one single female sniper who killed and badly injured many of them in the battlefield.