SSC Film Studies

Full Metal Jacket (Dehumanisation)

Intro (hair cutting scene)

“Goodbye my sweetheart, hello Vietnam” the song indicates the dehumanisation of the soldiers, and that they are no longer individuals, they are being made in to soldiers for Vietnam. They need dehumanisation to survive in a war habitat. They get their hair cut taking away even more of their humanity, making them one single unit.

Hartman (drill sergeant scene)  

Hartman calls them maggots repeatedly, removes humanity. “You are not even human fucking beings.” “All equally worthless.” Starts to rename everyone. Joker steps out of line, shows individuality, gets punished for it physically and verbally; Hartman also reinforces the removal of his humanity by stating that he has his name, “I have your name.” constant insults. Pyle is a little simple, so he has a dopey grin on his face and can’t remove it, Hartman doesn’t even like the aspects of Pyle’s face, something that Pyle can’t change, but Hartman makes him try; When Pyle fails to do so, he physically abuses him until it changes.

Pyle (soap beating scene & suicide scene)

Even the people who step in line get it engrained in to themselves that anyone else who steps out of line must be beaten in to submission. Before the dehumanisation of the every soldier, they would never of thought to beat Pyle, only when they themselves were getting punished for something that wasn’t their fault were they then forced to do dark things that a normal human being would never do, but they have been changed mentally. Pyle is changed mentally the most, as after the soap scene, he is physically beaten in to submission and finally falls in line, but he loses more of his humanity than anyone else due to severe bullying and mental damage, he becomes psychotic, and becomes determined to kill, and gets great with a rifle, (talking about Lee Harvey Oswald) “shows what one motivated marine and his rifle can do,” gives Pyle the motivation to kill Hartman. The scene in which he kills Hartman, he shot in a very dark light, and has a very sinister look on his face showing the overuse of dehumanization, and who he was doesn’t even exist anymore and he is not something else; he has lost his touch with humanity. Once his mission is complete he kills himself.