“THE HIDDEN HAND”
An in-depth analysis of
Stanley Kubrick’s
FULL METAL JACKET
© by Rob Ager June 2008
7) God’s will
Religion is another integral part of the brainwashing process in FMJ. Time and time again Hartman equates military duty as being the will of the Lord:
The repetition of ritualistic slogans and verses makes it’s most literal connection to religion when the troops prepare for sleep. Hartman tells them to pray and when they do we hear a barrage of military slogans: “This is my rifle. There are many like it, but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend …” the fact that Pyle repeats this passage as his suicide prayer demonstrates how completely religious and military doctrine have become entangled in his mind.
In the script, religious verses are symbolically force fed to the recruits because in the mess hall they are made to say grace from plastic cards that are described as looking “like plastic menus”.
These religious indoctrinations also influence the troops once they’re in Vietnam. The Colonel to joker: “Son, all I ask of my men is that they obey my words the way they would the word of god”. Marines talk about the thousand yard stare as a spiritual experience: “It’s like you’re really seeing beyond”, a black member of the lusthog squad has a Christian cross on the front of his helmet and Crazy Earl speaks the Latin motto of the Marines “Semper Fi”, which translates as “Always faithfull”. And a very strange manifestation of religion can be seen when Joker does his lame karate kick impression in the first Vietnam scene. Next to him is a painting of what appears to be Jesus looking up in his direction.
Going back to the training scenes, it’s interesting that Hartman decides to ask Joker if he believes in the virgin Mary, which results in a battle of wills. But what’s more interesting is that he then promotes Joker to squad leader, even though he has just confessed to atheism.
In fact, as we shall see later, the religious element of FMJ is flipped completely on its head as the film progresses.