“THE HIDDEN HAND”
An in-depth analysis of
Stanley Kubrick’s
FULL METAL JACKET
© by Rob Ager June 2008
9) The illusive enemy
With the exception of Rambo style action films, most movies about the Vietnam war, such as Platoon or Apocalypse Now, depict the NVA as a shadowy force who show themselves sparingly. In FMJ however, the enemy are visually almost non-existent. The only time they have a significant onscreen presence is during the Tet offensive battle, but even here they are seen as distant silhouetted figures who are gunned down before we can see their faces.
In the aftermath of this battle, the silhouettes of chained NVA prisoners are led across our field of vision, but again, no faces.
Later, when Crazy Earl guns down two NVA after the Lusthog raid on an occupied building, the enemy are yet again depicted as dark and distant figures. So what’s the message of all this?
Interviews with co-writer Michael Herr, revealed that the concept of Carl Jung’s the shadow was always a core aspect of FMJ’s story structure. In this respect the vague depiction of NVA as distant silhouettes is a metaphor that the Lusthog squad are unknowingly fighting parts of themselves, such as the infantile and the feminine, which were deeply repressed during training.
In the script are several additional clues as to this subliminal theme of the enemy as one’s own shadow.
Talk about spelling it out. The NVA soldiers in FMJ are are a symbolic mirror of the Marines suppressed identities.
Two pieces of dialogue during the Lusthog interviews also hint of this paradigm.
Here the term “shooting” may have been a pun for the camera equipment that is seen intruding from the right of the screen, as in: “we’re filming the wrong gooks”.
Incidentally, the notion of combat shooting and photo shooting as interchangeable activities is a core concept of Rafterman's character: "I'm here to take combat photos, but if the shit gets too thick I'll go to the rifle". He shoots photos of both prostitutes and it is also he who shoots the sniper.
The concept of the shadow also applies to the marines relationship with their former identities as Parris Island recruits. In the script Joker narrates that 100 recruits graduated the training program, and in the first Vietnam scene he describes that 100 marines are sat in the freedom Hill PX watching a John Wayne movie.
The mass grave scene also offers a visual association to the Marines former identities. The lime covered (ie. white) dead bodies are laid out symmetrically like the Parris island recruits in their bunks who wore white shirts and shorts. This metaphor is spelled out explicitly by the Colonel: “We are here to help the Vietnamese because inside every gook is an American trying to get out”. As well as being a statement of imperialist ideology, the Colonel is slyly referring to Jung’s concept of the shadow. It is in this very same conversation that Joker explains: “I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man … the Jungian thing sir”.
In terms of the NVA as symbolic shadows, there are only two visual exceptions. We get a very good look at the sniper, but as we have already identified, she represents the feminine aspects of the Marines former selves. This is simply a variation on the shadow metaphor, as was the destruction of the infant during training.
The other exception is the dead NVA soldier who Crazy Earl introduces. This is an odd scene. The dead soldier is presented as if he is one of the Lusthogs. Earl also calls him his “bro”, which is highly significant in that Hartman told his graduating recruits: “Every marine is your brother”. In the script Earl tells his buddies that he wants the dead soldier to marry his sister. Of course this mirrors Hartman’s comment to Joker: “Hell I like you. You can come on over and fuck my sister” and jokers comment to Cowboy: “I wanna slip my tube steak into your sister”.
An incredibly subtle hint that this dead soldier is a symbol of shared identity between the Lusthogs and the NVA, is that the body very slightly shifts position between shots. Pay particular attention to the body’s right arm. Of course this could be just a continuity error, but the fact that Rafterman is taking photos of the body as the soundtrack plays the lyric “watch me now, watch me now” suggests otherwise. Kubrick seems to be intentionally drawing our attention to the body’s altered position. And here is another sly clue . In the bottom right of the screen is Earl's helmet. Faintly scrawled on it is the word "BOO".
This living-dead NVA soldier brings us nicely to the next subliminal theme in FMJ.