The Disjunctive Corollary Of Organized Chaos In Full Metal Jacket

3 Pages 671 Words

To concentrate on a cinematic work is to be absorbed by it in that one is consumed by its context; the conscious perspective to internalize representations of reality is shifted to that of the eyes and ears of the camera. However, to be distracted by a cinematic work is to have these aforementioned abilities to rationalize overruled by emotion, thus superceding logical processes that would normally project unto a conscious that what is being represented through a camera is merely a representation. It is through this ability to “distract” a conscious from its grounded perspective in reality that allows representations of reality to hold an emotional weight equal to reality, and it is this principle which Stanley Kubrick harnesses in the second half of Full Metal Jacket to draw upon its viewers to experience the chaotic, terrifying, and impulsive nature of war.

Unlike the first half of the film, in which the viewer is exposed to an organized and carefully crafted representation of marine training, Kubrick thrusts his viewers into the midst of battle. The actions of the characters in this segment are defiant and highly unpredictable, a sign that while one can train for any possibility they can’t anticipate when or how they will occur. Visually graphic scenes of human injury ensue in which soldiers’ logic is distracted by emotion because of harm done to one soldier; lower ranked officers defy their superiors orders to disengage in battle as the squad attempts to fight a sniper instead of waiting for backup. They ultimately subject themselves to more jeopardy by pursuing the sniper as they are distracted by the need to protect one at the expense of adding risk to all. The stability seen in the first half of the movie is non-existant, i.e., the camera never enters an enclosed Vietnamese building in Vietnam; the characters are shown only outdoors or in partially destroyed buildings; when one character enters a fully construc...