War machine/mind control/etc (observe how Pyle is reprogrammed - which is what 2/3 of the movie actually?). The "war machine" part is more implied - but if you think about it, just how many "horrors of war in and of itself" movies are there, and why would Kubrick feel the need to do one?
I feel that most people that know someone who enlisted have asked how basic is, or have watched accurate movies, can see what it's like. I think there are also fitness boot camps, with a training regimen designed usually by retired military.
I'm going to disagree and say that Pyle wasn't able to handle basic training, and the unending psychological abuse (I think the first half is great, but let's call it what it is) can break people. Pyle killing his drill instructor (abuser) then himself is a sign of a broken mind.
The thing is, with Kubrick (and this is of course often the case with literature/film/etc in general, at least of quality) he's dealing with stuff at multiple levels. On the surface yes your analysis is the standard one. In the context of what we now know much more about than then, as well as his larger body of work, it's obvious there's more than one meaning here. When that came out could he have done a movie about mind controlled slaves? What happened to him when, much later, he did a movie explicitly (if only showing a small, relatively palatable - adult orgy - outer layer of it) exposing the occult elite?
Why do you include Full Metal Jacket?
War machine/mind control/etc (observe how Pyle is reprogrammed - which is what 2/3 of the movie actually?). The "war machine" part is more implied - but if you think about it, just how many "horrors of war in and of itself" movies are there, and why would Kubrick feel the need to do one?
I feel that most people that know someone who enlisted have asked how basic is, or have watched accurate movies, can see what it's like. I think there are also fitness boot camps, with a training regimen designed usually by retired military.
I'm going to disagree and say that Pyle wasn't able to handle basic training, and the unending psychological abuse (I think the first half is great, but let's call it what it is) can break people. Pyle killing his drill instructor (abuser) then himself is a sign of a broken mind.
The thing is, with Kubrick (and this is of course often the case with literature/film/etc in general, at least of quality) he's dealing with stuff at multiple levels. On the surface yes your analysis is the standard one. In the context of what we now know much more about than then, as well as his larger body of work, it's obvious there's more than one meaning here. When that came out could he have done a movie about mind controlled slaves? What happened to him when, much later, he did a movie explicitly (if only showing a small, relatively palatable - adult orgy - outer layer of it) exposing the occult elite?