Institutionalized brutality

Rating: 8/10 (1 June 2017)

This movie has two parts: Part one is basic training, and part two is war. Although, set in during the Vietnam Era, this movie is not about the Vietnam War. It is about the dehumanizing effect of institutionalized brutality. The instrument through which the brutality is inflicted is Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, played by R. Lee Ermey who delivers one of the great performances in cinema history. Sgt. Hartman is the epitome of the sadistic authority figure who represents a culture that repudiates principles of consensus and democracy in favor of instilling the urge to kill on command through the use of terror. In Sgt. Hartman's universe, the purpose of the military is not only to produce killers, but to produce killers who want to kill. The results are poor. Instead of producing well motivated soldiers who can operate effectively as a unit, Hartman's brutal methods produces grotesque caricatures of soldiers who lack any real motivation or purpose to do anything accept act out. That is, instead of being motivated, they are demoralized. Indeed, Hartman himself is killed by one of his own recruits. Ironically, he becomes a victim of his own brutality. There is a general understanding that the Vietnam War was bad for the United States and had a hugely corrupting influence on the military and more broadly on American society in general. This movie further reinforces this understanding. Sergeant Hartman is a truly bizarre character. He is a caricature of a soldier, yet he must be taken seriously. His destructiveness cannot be ignored. He is an agent of destruction. His anger is real. He is the voice of the angry American.