Full Metal Jacket and Platoon

Compared to Full Metal Jacket, Platoon was a lot more intense for me. Not only the action, but what each character was facing mentally during the war. It went straight to the Vietnam, rather than going through the training, showing opposing choices of the two directors. Obviously, Kubrick, thought this stage of a soldier in Vietnam was very important and contributed to his story.

What stood out the most in Platoon is how the war itself affected the soldiers. For some of them, Vietnam was home. Bunny claimed to have liked it there, saying he could do whatever he wanted and nobody told him what to do. The violence didn't affect him, as he had no remorse for the civilian who got his head cracked open by his gun. However, other soldiers just wanted to go back to the "world," using this word to separate their home from Vietnam. They didn't want to go into a battle, in fear that they would be killed before being sent home. The contrast between these types of soldiers was interesting.

What Platoon also showed that Full Metal Jacket did not, was how the war drove some soldiers against each other. When Barnes had that girl in his arms with gun held to her head and Grodin showed his disagreement with a fight, some controversy was brought up. However, it is interesting to observe the situation with the little girl at the end of Full Metal Jacket and compare it to this one. When Joker killed the little girl, there was a lot less commotion as someone referred to him as "hard core." In the Platoon scene, Grodin stopped Barnes from shooting the girl, but can still be looked at as similar to Joker who killed the girl. While all the other soldiers were so used to violence, this situation did not faze them. However, Grodin and Joker were two characters that saw things the others didn't. Joker saw that it was wrong to let the girl just lay and rot on the ground, contrary to his soldiers and stepped up by doing something brave by shooting here, the same as Grodin.

What I learned in class - 1/22/08

Today in class, I really got a firm grasp on the definition of the word rhetoric. Before, I understood and related the word only to the concept of writing. However, to my surprise and delight, it is much more and specific to that.
Along with that, the analysis of the scene we made from the movie Blue Velvet was very informative. Although I have made analysis’s of other scenes before, this particular one was great as we spoke about it as a class, which really helped with understanding what was going on. Without that, it would have been hard to pick up on some things.

Welcome

Bermuda! Man, what's it like growing up in a place where everyone flies in for vacation? Like, what did you do when you needed a vacation--step outside your front door?

Ah, my good man Severin, always up to no good. You will tell him I say hello, yes? He is a good man, and thorough.


Glad to have you in the class Teddy.

About me

My first name is Dwight but I go by the name Teddy and I am a freshman from Bermuda. Right now, I am in the school of Communications and majoring in RTF. Although being from Bermuda (a British territory in the Atlantic Ocean), I went to boarding school the past few years in New England at a small school called Pomfret. Being from small places, I am a bit overwhelmed about the size of UT, however, adjusting to it slowly. I had never been to Texas before until I got into this school and it's great being in a new place.

The reason why I am here right now is mainly because of my fellow RTF major, Severin Witte, who took this class last semester and strongly recommended it to me. This goes along with my great interest in history and this war and the time period it took place in. After being on the waitlist for a while, I finally got in.

In my junior year of high school, I read the book The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brian which I ended up liking a lot. Learning about Vietnam in a history class is one thing, but reading about a first hand account is another, even if this book was a work of fiction. Also in the spring term of my junior year, I studied the war in Vietnam in a history class where I learned a lot of facts. However, the reason why I have such an interest in this war started when I was little and watched the classic movie, Forest Gump. Despite how lame this might sound, it really enthralled me at a young age.