Full Metal Jacket

Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is best known for its jarring, uncut perspective of the Vietnam war. Still underneath that whole aesthetic, there are many layers of orientalism. The movie opens with a scene that establishes the marine corps as one thing: American. The unbridled sense of patriotism the drill instructor is clear in the way he demeans and attacks people and cultures. Although intentional, the scene still has a lot of truth to it.

The movie focuses on exposing the masculine culture behind the vietnam war, but it comments on several other topics, one of which is orientalism. The film’s position is questionable though. It embraces the culture it critiques. Among the violence and grotesque scenes, there are moments where American brashness collide with orientalism. One of the most famous examples is the notorious “Me love you long time” scene.

I think it’s interesting that a film that seems so aware doesn’t know where to draw the line. Even if the film succeeds in showing the problems with American masculinity, it falls short of fighting other stereotypes (especially orientalism and femininity).