MovieChat Forums > Full Metal Jacket (1987) Discussion > Why did Joker show no signs of PTSD? SPO...

Why did Joker show no signs of PTSD? SPOILERS

posted 8 years ago by liamstepp
28 replies | jump to latest

He witnessed Private Pyle blasting away his drill instructor with an assault rifle and then blowing his brains out all over the latrine. Then in the second half he is goofing it up as a military journalist like he has no post-trauma stress. If I witnessed a murder-suicide, I'd be horrified for years just as so many veterans that returned from Vietnam. Joker turned out to be the main character but we were more concerned with the Sergeant and Pyle.

Awesome movie though.

[–] ncdwbmk6 8 years ago

Most military veterans deal with their military experiences very well. The training is designed to prepare them for it.

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Fowler's knots? Did you say ... fowler's knots?

[–] liamstepp 8 years ago

Then why do so many soldiers come home and commit suicide from PTSD?

[–] ncdwbmk6 8 years ago

That's a small minority. And a lot of them are whiney crybabies who won't accept responsibility for taking care of themselves.

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Fowler's knots? Did you say ... fowler's knots?

[–] degree7 (821) 5 years ago

While it’s true that suicide is fairly rare among veterans, it’s still much higher than among the civilian population. 30% of returning veterans have PTSD. That’s not a “small minority.” Turns out witnessing and committing horrific acts of violence takes a terrible mental toll, although Post-traumatic stress is actually a normal response by the brain to cope. Has nothing to do with “being a whiney crybaby”.

[–] FourThreeTwo 8 years ago

There's no such thing as PTSD.

When you come home from a foreign country after killing innocent people the name of what you feel is GUILT.

Please correct my grammar, make my day.

[–] stevekaczynski 8 years ago

PTSD can take years to manifest itself, and a lot of the routines of armed forces life are designed to stop people having the time to brood. A British veteran of WW1 said officers and sergeants seemed to do their best to keep soldiers busy to stop them thinking about their last battle, or their next. That is why many psychological problems only manifest themselves later in civilian life.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] NutMustardx 8 years ago

Cuz not all marines are wimps n csnt handle violence . There are guys fighting in Africa n other 3rd world *beep* holes for decades n don't cry about ptsd...it's only the Americans who bitch n cry

[–] franzkabuki 8 years ago

Firstly, we don't know how long the time gap was between the murder/suicide and when we next see him in Vitenam. Secondly, it's probably fair to expect that psychological aftereffects of such a sudden event are more easily swept aside than the repercussions of acute fear/stress sustained over long perdiods of time.

"facts are stupid things" Ronald Reagan

[–] blufftoni 8 years ago

Because not everybody who witnesses violence gets PTSD

[–] orrdaniel398 8 years ago

I've always been curious about the backstory on the interval between the Pyle / Hartman shooting and the next scene where Joker is in Vietnam. There must have been some sort of investigation into the shooting incident, and Joker was the sole eye-witness so he must have undergone some sort of interrogation. They might have even questioned whether or not Joker acted appropriately in the situation, as well as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. There is no mention of this later in the film, but it must have had a lasting effect on Joker.

[–] stevekaczynski 8 years ago

The biggest weakness of the film is that it is really two films with some of the same characters in both, principally Joker and Cowboy. There would have been some kind of investigation, and possibly it would have delayed Joker being shipped to Vietnam, but nothing is said about it in the film.

"Chicken soup - with a *beep* straw."

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

The biggest weakness of the film is that it is really two films with some of the same characters in both, principally Joker and Cowboy.

It's not two films. Kubrick deliberately make a clean break between Joker's training and Vietnam so the audience could make the connection between the dehumanization he and the other trainees experienced, and how this helped them kill people so easily later on in the film. Kubrick did that because he respected American audiences enough to where he trusted they'd understand what the common thread between both halves of the movie are, without having to spell it out for them.