society now as completely brainwashed. Kubrick depicts the longstanding tradition of the US Marines as a kind of cult where everyone is uniformly behaved and not one thought is individual. Even Joker, who has an image of originality in the film, eventually gives in to the group. First in the scene where he is cajoled in to hitting Pyle with the soap, and second when he struggles with himself, but ultimately conforms by killing the Vietnamese sniper at the encouragement of his peers. In the beginning of Full Metal Jacket, the head shaving, which has been a part of military orientation for ages, is symbolic of the men leaving behind their personalities and individuality in order to be accepted into a group. The music playing in this scene further emphasizes the loss with the repeated “goodbye,” and the new prefabricated self-image with “hello Vietnam.” Eisenhart further describes this military brainwashing as “a certain ‘blank look’ in his eyes signifying the achievement of psychological control.” (29) One can easily see the parallel between military uniformity, and everyday civilian life. Even such an accepted institution as education is really an attempt at creating identical model citizens. For example, in high school, a student is rewarded for complying with the rules, joining clubs, participating in class and doing well (according to an appointed figure) academically. However a student is severely punished for failing, or being antisocial and even further excommunicated from the society. Another method society uses to force conformity upon people is the consumerism ideology in America. Money is taught to people from birth to be one of the most important aspects of life, through the media, personal accounts and just about everything. One eventually believes that they must have a lot of money in order to have an enjoyable, successful life. To get money, one conforms to be t...
