Full Metal Jacket is one of my favorite movie. I am not sure if it was the first movie I have ever watched but I cannot remember any movie I watched before it. I was around 10 years old, and I watched it in a movie theater. If I remember it correctly, there was a scene where the soldiers entered people’s houses and they inspected every corner. They even shot at the ceiling to make sure no one was hiding there. But, I cannot find a copy with that scene now. I also feel that in my copy now, the scene where the black soldier was shot in the foot was slightly edited. The one I have watched in the theater was more violent because of the blood that burst from the boot.
But, the scene that I always remember was the “get some” scene. It was the scene where Rafterman and Joker were riding a helicopter and the machine gunner was shooting Vietnamese farmers.
Here is my take on that scene:
On the surface, we see that Rafterman was gagging because he was experiencing motion sickness while the machine gunner was shooting farmers. However, the gagging was also showing the audience that he was repulsed by what the gunner was doing. Then the camera cuts to Joker. If we look at Joker’s face we can see that he was avoiding to look at the gunner’s direction. We see that he was avoiding the wind from the open door. However it was also showing the audience that Joker was repulsed by what the gunner was doing. We get that confirmation when Joker turned his head and we see the look on his face. Then, Joker asked the gunner if he shot women and children, the gunner says, “sometimes,” and Rafterman coughed as if to puke. The gunner said, “Ain’t war hell?” and laughed.
When I was attending IYAS, a national writing workshop organized by University of Saint La Salle, I asked a panelist regarding the use of symbols. He said that symbols should not be forced into the story. In the get some scene, the use of imagery was clearly not forced and we understand it immediately when we see it. Of course Full Metal Jacket used many other imagery and some of those needs some in depth analysis. The get some scene does not. It tells us that war is hell in less than three minutes in a way that is not forced and easy to comprehend.
But, the scene that I always remember was the “get some” scene. It was the scene where Rafterman and Joker were riding a helicopter and the machine gunner was shooting Vietnamese farmers.
Here is my take on that scene:
On the surface, we see that Rafterman was gagging because he was experiencing motion sickness while the machine gunner was shooting farmers. However, the gagging was also showing the audience that he was repulsed by what the gunner was doing. Then the camera cuts to Joker. If we look at Joker’s face we can see that he was avoiding to look at the gunner’s direction. We see that he was avoiding the wind from the open door. However it was also showing the audience that Joker was repulsed by what the gunner was doing. We get that confirmation when Joker turned his head and we see the look on his face. Then, Joker asked the gunner if he shot women and children, the gunner says, “sometimes,” and Rafterman coughed as if to puke. The gunner said, “Ain’t war hell?” and laughed.
When I was attending IYAS, a national writing workshop organized by University of Saint La Salle, I asked a panelist regarding the use of symbols. He said that symbols should not be forced into the story. In the get some scene, the use of imagery was clearly not forced and we understand it immediately when we see it. Of course Full Metal Jacket used many other imagery and some of those needs some in depth analysis. The get some scene does not. It tells us that war is hell in less than three minutes in a way that is not forced and easy to comprehend.
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