"Marine, what is that button on your body armor? "

Upon finishing Full Metal Jacket, I was drawn to Joker’s perspective about humanity. After being addressed about his ironic placement of a peace pin on his lapel and the phrase “Born to Kill” on his helmet, Joker gave the Colonel an insightful answer as to why he displayed both. He stated that he was “trying to suggest something about the duality of man.” Although the movie only addresses this theme explicitly during this very short scene, it is implicitly seen throughout the movie. What Joker was trying to convey through his display was that man has the inclination to go to war even though he has an even greater potential for peace. While war is being fought on one side of the world displaying humanity’s self-destruction, the complete opposite can be seen in the desire for peace in another region of the world.

This is echoed through Charlie Sheen’s character in Platoon. After blindly following Sergeant Barnes for a majority of the movie, Chris comes to a realization when he stopped his fellow soldiers from raping an innocent woman. He discovered that although he was being constantly put in the situation to take lives, he should take every moment he can to save lives. It is at this point that he feels independent of his fellow soldiers and looks to Sgt. Elias as a model for moral character. Sheen’s character said in the final scene of the movie that he was born of two fathers: the moral Elias and the sadistic Barnes. He makes the connection that even though war maybe necessary, one should never lose sight of his humanity. The sense of an elusive but attainable peace is best summarized by the musical selection for the movie. The choice to sequence the movie with Adagio for Strings highlights this “duality of man.”