Masculinity in Movies: Full Metal Jacket Essay

Jarhead follows the journey of Anthony Swofford during his service in Middle East. Throughout his journey, Swofford presents a unique perspective on a variety of issues that indirectly affect American life and the “war” on terrorism. Some of the issues touched on include the mental stability and mentality of American soldiers, the influence of politics in the presentation of war, and the construction of a marine. Through these themes, along with the unique perspectives offered by the characters in the film, the audience is able to gain insight into the corruption and lies that are “war”. This insight ultimately helps the audience analyze the text deeper and enables them to draw the similarities in current events and dissect what they

This research looks at the association of masculinity with violence, racism, power and the objectification of women, which has been around since early civilization. This study also shows how these concepts are still evident today in the media. Masculinity in the media is portrayed as muscular, violent, angry, aggressive, dominant, and warrior like. The rhetoric in media, as it relates to masculinity, has influenced the amount of violence in the world.

     During their battles the squad sees that survival is not something that is taught but a matter of pure chance. They see their allies shooting allies. Their close friends in the war are killed and they must face the reality that getting out alive is luck. The goal of killing the enemy turns into just trying to stay alive yourself. And when their time is done they are faced with mourning for those who fell and bitter sweet relief that it is over.

In the third and forth section, the author tries to prove how the basic training is harsher on the men from the middle class background. Most of the veterans retell Appy that their sergeant asserts absolute control of their lives (Appy 87). For many marines and soldiers the boot camps are physical demanding and psychologically manipulating. Most men enjoy the second part of the basic training, but before they know they were filled with aggression and violence ready to kill. Due to the lack of education working-class youth in the military were placed in combat positions. In contrast, soldiers from better socioeconomic backgrounds were assigned in non-combat positions. Most of the soldiers were blinded from the conflict behind the war. Most don’t understand what they were about to face in the war or background information about Vietnam.

In the film, The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan, The Joker, one of Batman's most dangerous enemies whose aim is too push Batman to his ultimate limits, to break his personal rules and strict moral code. This, being the Jokers only reason to live, he has no fear of death and pain. The Joker is characterised as a calculating and logical criminal, a rebel with minimal empathy or moral and a nemesis who commits purposeless crime. Together these characteristics are developed through specific and appropriate use of technical aspects, such as, camera movement, camera angles, props and dialogue. Together these techniques create a character who is an extraordinary to watch, as he causes chaos in Gotham City, all to get

Tim O'Brien gives readers a greater understanding of underlying motivations of soldiers who fought in the Vietnam war in his short story "The Things They Carried." He shows the bond the soldiers share and how that bond helps to hide their fear in order to maintain an honorable reputation. He also depicts the soldiers’ common fear of showing weakness and the ways they hide that fear from the other men in order to avoid being judged. He shows how the men of Alpha Company have the principles of masculinity drilled into their minds, and therefore believe that their reputations hinge upon their manliness. In Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” the author uses the brotherhood of the soldiers and the fear of weakness as motivators for the soldiers’ obsession with reputation.

In his novel, Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut describes the experiences of Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist, during his time in World War II. Through illustrating Billy Pilgrim’s constant struggle to fit in with his peers during the war, Vonnegut proposes the question—Must males adopt masculine characteristics in order to receive respect from others? By juxtaposing the negative criticisms towards the young, effeminate Billy Pilgrim during his youth with the positive responses received by both the manly, adult Billy Pilgrim and the masculine soldiers, Vonnegut asserts that a man’s masculinity determines his societal ranking and acquisition of respect. Through relaying the experience of a youthful Billy Pilgrim who was often criticized by

The author experienced the culture shock all new recruits receive during their initial basic training. James’s physical conditioning prior to enlisting into the Army proved to be a valuable asset, due to the physically demanding rigors associated with military training. The author’s physical presence and life experiences equated to admiration from the younger recruits. Affectionate memories were made teaching the younger recruits exercises and submission holds during down time from training. It was at this point in the author’s life that he knew he wanted a profession in which he could help others. Upon completion of Basic Training, and Advanced Individual training, James saw his parents again, whom he had not seen in several years. The author was pleased to see his ever loving mother who was radiating in pride of her son’s life journey thus far. The author’s father stated that it was about time his son had done something worth meaning. During James’s adolescence this comment may have

Ricks conveys the story of the diverse men in platoon 3086 through his use of the stylistic tool of foreshadowing to give the reader hints at the future events in the Marine’s lives. This tool is used mainly in the beginning one-third of the book during the recruits’ time at boot camp. This type of foreshadowing allows the reader to see into the recruits lives and connect with them, making the reader feel as though he is in the story. The first use of this foreshadowing is used at the very beginning of boot camp. The audience is told of the recruits’ shock and confusion, but that the real feeling of shock will not come until three days later (Ricks 29). This is preparing the reader for an awful surprise the recruits will receive in the near future. However, Ricks’ most effective foreshadowing occurs much later in the book while describing a few specific recruits’ lack of a future in the marines. Ricks describes them saying they “… feel transformed,” right before boot camp. (Ricks 207). He then goes on to say that these recruits “… will be out of the Corps within a year” (Ricks 207). This causes a feeling of sadness in the reader because they have been cheering for these recruits, only to find out that they will end up failing when boot camp is

During patrol duty, their squad takes out a Vietnamese man and they all agree he was one of the enemies. Upon later inspection however, Perry discovers that not only was the man that they killed was innocent, but their company commander marked the situation for killing three enemy soldiers instead of only one. Throughout the days there are many horrific situations that involve confusion and death. With a different company, Perry and his squad encounters what they think are the Vietcong. After the attack, the squad comes to realize there was a miscommunication, and that they just attacked another squad of American soldiers. He meets back up with his squad later on to “pacify” a nearby village and convince the residents that “the Americans aren’t the bad guys”. A few days after the pacification mission, the same village was attacked by Vietcong because the villagers got help and supplies from the Americans. To retaliate, Richie’s squad set up to ambush the Vietcong in the village. His comrades were fairly close by, but not able to communicate during the ambush. After hours of waiting, the squad hears gunfire and shoots aimlessly in the general direction of the enemy. The aftermath of the ambush resulted in the loss of their honorable and tactful leader Lieutenant Caroll. Distraught over the death of the bravest soldier in the squad, Perry begins to question the purpose of the war and his role in it. He wonders if the war is really about freedom and what

In the introduction, Krulak shows how a single conversation with a Gunnery Sergeant reflects how the Marine Corps came about its reputation. After posing a question, Krulak expected a deep answer involving the Corps’ rich history and a thorough explanation, but was simply answered with “Well, lieutenant,” the sergeant said, “they started right out telling everybody how great they were. Pretty soon they got to believing it themselves,” (Krulak 34). The Marines have been busy ever since proving the truth of

Jackson Katz is an antiviolence educator who wants to see a more honest portrayal of men and boys in our society. In the video Tough Guise, he talks about the crisis in masculinity, and how the media has created a link between violence and man hood. Katz describes men and boys as being “boxed in.” They are expected to be strong, tough, and independent, but they cannot be weak or vulnerable in any way. They are stuck in a box where they are very limited in the ways they can express themselves. He also talks about minorities and why they put on the “tough guise.” His explanation is that even men who do not have money have the ability to be “manly,” and look tough. The “tough guise” is a way for men and boys to gain respect in our society no matter their race, religion, economical background, etc. Katz believes the solution to the crisis in masculinity is for it to be socially accepted that compassion, health, and vulnerability are all apart of being a man. It will take more than physical courage to reject the strong link that

In the article, Bros Before Hos by Kimmel he discusses how the most important thing to a man is their masculinity and how it is defined. They define their manhood by three key concepts: the culture of entitlement, silence, and protection. This also consists of a collection of attitudes, traits, and values that contribute to what it means to be a man. This is called “The Bro Code.” In this essay I will be explaining the concept of “The Bro Code” and how it relates to the film Crazy, Stupid Love on many levels, and how the main male characters in Crazy, Stupid Love show their matrix of masculinity. Furthermore, I am going to be explaining how Bros Before Hos relates to the film Crazy, Stupid Love, and how it explains masculinity and what a man

In “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien uses male gender roles and masculinity as additional devices in telling a fictionalized war story. Throughout “The Things They Carried”, each of the characters is putting up a facade that highlights their hyper masculine traits based on male gender roles and social norms. Therefore, masculinity influences all of the soldiers in one way or another. Some traits even become synonymous with particular characters. Each one being a different representation of what gender roles they are to follow or not, even in a setting of war. By using male gender roles and masculinity in telling this fictionalized war story, their actions and ways of speaking are“performative actions” that either enforce their masculinity or takes away it.

The 2005 film, Jarhead focuses on the life of the protagonist Marine, Anthony Swafford. The viewer watches as Swofford endures the vicious training to be a US Marine, which eventually leads to his deployment in Kuwait in to fight the 1990 Gulf War. Undoubtedly, many aspects of the film link back to Gender, however for the purpose of this critical review, I will be focusing on the way in masculinity in Jarhead serves to highlight key ideas about hierarchy and freedom. Although broadly defined, I have interpreted ‘masculinity’ as men being expected to behave with particular characteristics, such as being strong, heroic, protective, and rational. This review will argue that through the focus on Gender, particularly masculinity, Jarhead provides a critique of the military’s dependence on masculinity as a means of shaping the ‘worth’ of men, an aspect which often leads to emotional and mentally isolation and entrapment, as well as raising questions about the masculinity of the state. Moreover, Jarhead criticises how the repression of aggressive masculinity, as fuelled and promoted military training, can have consequences, as the men do not have an outlet for this aggressive masculinity, for example, combat.