“THE HIDDEN HAND”
An in-depth analysis of
Stanley Kubrick’s
FULL METAL JACKET
© by Rob Ager June 2008
20) Final thoughts
I initially began writing this article with the assumption that FMJ was conceptually simple compared to Kubrick's other work ... how wrong I was! It is as complex and sophisticated as anything else produced by Kubrick. So if you have managed to read this entire analysis then I applaud your patience and determination.
There are many contentions made in this review about FMJ's symbolism that I am only partially convinced of and some of those contentions I admit are mere guess work. However, I hope that you can appreciate the spirit of exploration with which I have conducted my research. Unravelling a Kubrick film requires an imaginative approach of free association followed by meticulous cross-referencing. Kubrick offers many false choices with which we can easily miss the core messages of his creations and those false choices have to be analysed and discarded systematically. The surface narratives of all Kubrick's films since, and including, 2001: A Space Odyssey have been deceptive illusions. Those popular narratives were basically cover stories designed to protect Kubrick's own reputation and hence secure his lucrative contracts with the studios. Perhaps he knew that it would take decades for audiences to even scratch the surface of his film's deeper meanings, but the fact that he devoted his life to creating these intricate works shows that he believed we could unravel them.
Confiding in friends, crew and even family members was a luxury that Kubrick appears to have resisted. His discipline in this respect demonstrates his single-minded sense of purpose. He made films like he played chess - with skill, patience, cunning and absolute secrecy of his true intentions.
Maybe we can unlock some of that Kubrickian intellect in ourselves through our own disciplined study of these films. It will be a long time before Kubrick's artistry is surpassed or even matched and so his thought provoking influence will continue to resonate among us for generations to come.