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.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Starman (412) 5 years ago

There's more people with PTSD from their childhood than from wars, about 95% of world population without even realizing it. PTSD has also far deeper impact on a child's psychology than on an adult's. As it has been pointed out above, it is the extreme minority that have PTSD from war experiences, and usually in those cases people find out that their trauima stems from their childhood as well and contributed to the reason or reality they went to war in the first place.

[–] degree7 (821) 5 years ago

That’s no correct at all, only 7-8% of the General American population have PTSD (mostly stemming from things like rape or abuse). Whereas 30% of the US military will experience PTSD at some point in their life. That statistic is much higher.

[–] Starman (412) 5 years ago

Yes from my experience it is absolutely correct, almost every single human being on the planet is basically born with some trauma, what happens in childhood and war is another thing, it's just adding on to what was already there. Most people are just not aware of this understandably, especially psychologists, yet it has been talked about for decades. It depends what truth people choose to believe, I understand. Not many of us are even aware of the ancestral traumas that people have been healing from, and which drive our reactions in the body, instincts or decisions throughout our lives.

[–] degree7 (821) 5 years ago

Have you read Carl Jung? He talks a little bit about the mind have to integrate its traumas to become fully healed. But the process looks horrifying.

[–] BurningSun (717) 5 years ago

He seems to have some sort of PTSD after executing the little girl sniper at the end of the movie, but the movie ends shortly after so we don’t see any sort of adverse long lasting effects.

[–] degree7 (821) 5 years ago

It’s a problem of the movie that Joker is a generally unlikeable character and Kubrick treats the entire Vietnam portion as a big joke. It’s like the whole movie has these weird tonal shifts and makes you wonder if you’re even supposed to take it seriously.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

People react to such things differently. Not everyone suffers from PTSD who's witnessed extreme violence like that.

Or he suffered from it but wasn't showing any symptoms of it at the time. People with PTSD don't show it constantly.

[–] whynotwriteme (7817) 5 years ago

Joker kept himself from going off the deep end with his cynical sense of humor. He was likely much more intelligent than most of the other soldiers. He was able to approach the situation with detachment. Note his comment on 'the duality of man'. He knew that any man has the capacity to be peaceful or violent. It was not a shock to him. In the end, he seemed to have embraced this fully. Note as they are marching and singing the Mickey Mouse song after he killed the girl sniper. Joker is smiling.

Some men are just meant for war. A former girlfriend's grandfather served in the British Army in the Pacific Theatre during WW2. I knew him in Canada during the 1990s as he lived with my ex and her family. He was full of violent, bloody horrific stories about the battles he had fought in. He said that he never felt so fulfilled and like he was living the life he was meant to live as when he was fighting the Japanese in Burma during WW2. Didn't disturb him or upset him. He loved it. It was his life's greatest adventure. And he was never tormented or needed therapy, or drank too much or did drugs or beat his family. A fine, upstanding family man who just happened to love warfare.

[–] wearsalan (5554) 5 years ago

It affected him afterwards when he unleashed a reign of terror on Gotham City

[–] whynotwriteme (7817) 5 years ago

Hyuk hyuk hyuk.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 5 years ago

Because he had been hardened into an “ultimate badass” who wasn’t shaken up by death

[–] millsey72 (10947) 3 years ago

Its a plot hole