Full Metal Jacket

:For the type of ammunition, see Full metal jacket bullet.

Theme

The movie is a satire on the Vietnam war and the soldiers involved in the war. The main themes of the movie is the irony of war, and how weapons are now less important in a war than words and ideas. This theme is crystalized first by the drill instructor, whose words hit as hard as his fists, and later in the scenes with the Pvt. Joker's editor for "Stars and Stripes" and in the scene with the colonel where the colonel asks if Pvt. Joker is on "our side" and is waiting for "this peace craze to blow over."

Related Topics:
Satire - Vietnam war - Irony

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Although often said to contain two distinct parts, the film actually contains three. The first part is the training of new US Marine Corps recruits, culminating with the deaths of the drill instructor and Pvt. "Pyle". The second part of the movie establishes Joker's role as a war reporter, working behind the lines during the Tet Offensive of 1968. In the third section, the focus shifts to a patrol searching through the bombed out city of Hue to root out a sniper. The sections are bookended by scenes of bargaining with prostitutes, and each section ends with shocking violence.

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Irony runs rampant throughout the film. In the first section of the movie, the recruit training is supposed to train soldiers who protect the interests of the country and the military, but eventually it results in the death of the senior drill instructor. The initially innocent and naive Pvt. Leonard Lawrence (nicknamed Gomer Pyle) ended up as a killer, exactly as the drill instructor wanted. The murder of the senior drill instructor is ironic because his success in converting Pvt. Gomer Pyle into a killer results in his own death. The drill instructor's speech about famous assassins, provides more irony. Although each of his examples was a motivated Marine, each ultimately ended up insane and killing innocent people. Near the beginning of the second part of the movie, Pvt. Joker is told an irony laced joke about "how to kill women and children." The final irony is that the product of the US marine recruit training, killers, are wiped out one by one by a small school girl who snipes them from a damaged building.

Related Topics:
Recruit training - Drill instructor - Assassins

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The movie also examines the irony of providing freedom for the Vietnamese people by taking away the freedom of the American people, and the allegation made by some of the soldiers that the Vietnamese don't seem to want their freedom.

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There are also several references to religion. In one of the scenes the senior drill instructor asks Pvt. Joker whether he believes in the Virgin Mary. Pvt. Joker replies that he does not, and the senior drill instructor, offended, strikes the Private, and asks him again, getting the same reply. After repeated blows, the instructor asks Pvt. Joker if he is deliberately trying to anger the instructor by reiterating his answer, and Joker replies that he believes the Drill Instructor will beat him harder if he reverses his position in the face of the abuse. The instructor then promotes Pvt. Joker to squad leader.

Related Topics:
Religion - Virgin Mary

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