Full Metal Jacket

Can someone acknowledge their capacity for violence without being consumed by it?  Stanley Kubrick never fails to amaze me. He perfectly separates how soldiers are made in the first half of the film, then what those soldiers are forced to become in the second - carrying psychological tolls that gradually unfold until all that’s left is either a murderer, or a diligent soldier. Is one really more disturbing than the other? This film explores the dehumanizing process that shapes ordinary men into instruments of war, instead of focusing on combat and false patriotism, which vastly differentiates it from other war films during that era. The ending of Full Metal Jacket shows the Joker’s final act to illustrate Jung’s concept of the shadow ; the idea he initially acknowledges about humanity’s dual nature through his peace badge and “BORN TO KILL” helmet. However, the ending forces him to confront the violent side of his own psyche. It ultimately forces him to view the Jungian theory as a lived reality instead of an abstract idea.