MP
2008-04-22 14:05:34 UTC
"Full Metal Jacket" ends with Joker's narration superimposed over the
Marine group's Mickey Mouse Chant.
Joker's narration:
"We have NAILED our names in the pages of history, enough for today.
We HUMP down to the perfume river to set in for the night. My thoughts
drift back to ERECT NIPPLE WET DREAMS about Mary Jane ROTTENCROTCH and
the great homecoming FUCK FANTASY. I am so happy that I am alive and
in one piece. In short, I am in a world of shit, yes. But I am alive.
And I am not afraid."
Marine group (chorus omitted):
"We play fair and we work hard and we're in harmony."
"Forever let us hold our banner high"
"boys and girls from far and near you're welcome as can be"
"Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?"
"Who is marching coast to coast and far across the sea?"
"Come along and sing our song and join our family."
"Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?"
The interesting thing about Joker's narration is the emphasis on sex
and shit. Full Metal Jacket has repeated sex and shit motiffs, and
here in the coda, Kubrick brings these cycles to a nice close.
Joker, an intelligent and cynical young man, has sacrificed his
identity and individuality. Having killed his Shadow, the last
remnants of his infantile and femine self, he's transformed from a
reporter to a "cold hard grunt". He's shifted from an outside
observer, to an internal member of the hive mind. He is a member of
the Micky Mouse Club. A slave to ideology. A mere pawn on a chessboard
run by unseen masters.
But then why is he "happy to be alive?" and why is he "not afraid?"
How brainwashed is Joker? Is he aware that he has metaphorically
commited suicide, or is his comment ironic? Is he still joking? Is he
in fact dead and painfully afraid?
Also, what do his "fuck fantasies" mean? There's obviously an
evolution taking place. Joker has evolved from Child to Adolescent to
Impotent (gun jamming) Adult. Has he now reached Maturity? Is his
"fucking" symbollic of his transformation into rapist and
conquistador?
The "Micky Mouse" song has been mocked by many critics of the film.
They read it superficially, saying that "war makes boys out of men" or
that the soldiers are like "infants playing with guns".
I've always thought the chant was far more powerful. It's dark,
mysterious and devilishly ironic, with it's "micky mouse" metaphors
clearly alluding to "The Shining's" notion of conquest and bloody
history. Micky mouse is also a pretty recognisable symbol of
Americana.
So to me, the song is about American Imperialism rolling across the
world. These men hold their banner up high, urging everyone to join
their family as they bring "peace" and "freedom" to all. They pretend
to play fair and live in harmony, marching from coast to coast, all
the while blissfully unaware of who exactly runs their club and why
exactly they're fighting. Like Dr Bill in Eyes Wide Shut, they're
deluded.
With it's urban warfare and lack of jungles, the film seems far more
modern than any other Vietnam film. It alludes to Afghanistan and both
gulf wars, it's urban streets and rubble strewn landscape making war
seem more like a capitalist game (Joker: "it's just business") than a
natural fight for survival.
One more question. Animal mother's line, "you think we fight for
freedom? If I'm going to get my balls blown off for a word, my word is
poontang", do you think it's symbollic? That this psycho marine fights
not for ideology but for pussy. That he's been conditioned to think of
war and sex as one. To rape is to own? Has his gun displaced his
penis? If so, is this what military indoctrination is trying to
achieve with these young men?
Marine group's Mickey Mouse Chant.
Joker's narration:
"We have NAILED our names in the pages of history, enough for today.
We HUMP down to the perfume river to set in for the night. My thoughts
drift back to ERECT NIPPLE WET DREAMS about Mary Jane ROTTENCROTCH and
the great homecoming FUCK FANTASY. I am so happy that I am alive and
in one piece. In short, I am in a world of shit, yes. But I am alive.
And I am not afraid."
Marine group (chorus omitted):
"We play fair and we work hard and we're in harmony."
"Forever let us hold our banner high"
"boys and girls from far and near you're welcome as can be"
"Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?"
"Who is marching coast to coast and far across the sea?"
"Come along and sing our song and join our family."
"Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?"
The interesting thing about Joker's narration is the emphasis on sex
and shit. Full Metal Jacket has repeated sex and shit motiffs, and
here in the coda, Kubrick brings these cycles to a nice close.
Joker, an intelligent and cynical young man, has sacrificed his
identity and individuality. Having killed his Shadow, the last
remnants of his infantile and femine self, he's transformed from a
reporter to a "cold hard grunt". He's shifted from an outside
observer, to an internal member of the hive mind. He is a member of
the Micky Mouse Club. A slave to ideology. A mere pawn on a chessboard
run by unseen masters.
But then why is he "happy to be alive?" and why is he "not afraid?"
How brainwashed is Joker? Is he aware that he has metaphorically
commited suicide, or is his comment ironic? Is he still joking? Is he
in fact dead and painfully afraid?
Also, what do his "fuck fantasies" mean? There's obviously an
evolution taking place. Joker has evolved from Child to Adolescent to
Impotent (gun jamming) Adult. Has he now reached Maturity? Is his
"fucking" symbollic of his transformation into rapist and
conquistador?
The "Micky Mouse" song has been mocked by many critics of the film.
They read it superficially, saying that "war makes boys out of men" or
that the soldiers are like "infants playing with guns".
I've always thought the chant was far more powerful. It's dark,
mysterious and devilishly ironic, with it's "micky mouse" metaphors
clearly alluding to "The Shining's" notion of conquest and bloody
history. Micky mouse is also a pretty recognisable symbol of
Americana.
So to me, the song is about American Imperialism rolling across the
world. These men hold their banner up high, urging everyone to join
their family as they bring "peace" and "freedom" to all. They pretend
to play fair and live in harmony, marching from coast to coast, all
the while blissfully unaware of who exactly runs their club and why
exactly they're fighting. Like Dr Bill in Eyes Wide Shut, they're
deluded.
With it's urban warfare and lack of jungles, the film seems far more
modern than any other Vietnam film. It alludes to Afghanistan and both
gulf wars, it's urban streets and rubble strewn landscape making war
seem more like a capitalist game (Joker: "it's just business") than a
natural fight for survival.
One more question. Animal mother's line, "you think we fight for
freedom? If I'm going to get my balls blown off for a word, my word is
poontang", do you think it's symbollic? That this psycho marine fights
not for ideology but for pussy. That he's been conditioned to think of
war and sex as one. To rape is to own? Has his gun displaced his
penis? If so, is this what military indoctrination is trying to
achieve with these young men?