Early blog post #2

Jarhead

Jarhead is one of those outstanding films that nobody really watched. It's also one of those films that's not really regarded as outstanding scoring a mere 61% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, Jarhead tackles military life in a way rarely seen. War is hell as seen in most movies, but not for the reasons we are used to.


Jarhead is an examination of the effect war have on aimless use, especially in regards to their masculinity. The main character, Anthony Swofford (Jake Gyllenhaal) is ferociously yelled at by his drill instructor in a scene reminiscent of the first half of Full Metal Jacket. Swofford admits that he only joined the Marine Corps because he got "lost on the way to college". Drill Instructor Fitch is not impressed

Swofford finds his training at Camp Pendleton rather uninteresting and even pretends to be sick to avoid having to do any work. However, he is eventually invited to join a Scout Sniper course which he accepts. Swofford and a fellow soldier Troy are made shooter and spotter respectively. Troy and Swofford have a mostly friendly relationship. Troy's first words to Swofford are "welcome to the suck". The suck is a slang used by Marines which refers to the Marines, but it also ultimately foreshadows how all of the Marines will be feeling later in the film.


After Kuwait is invaded by Iraq, Swofford and several other marines are sent to the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Desert Shield. Lt. Colonel Kazinski (Chris Cooper) gives the Marines a charismatic pro-war speech. One of the Marines, Fowler, shouts "I can't wait to kick some Iraqi ass, sir!" Soon enough, all of the Marines start saying it, and Kazinski is happy to see the enthusiasm of men ready to murder others.

The only marine who doesn't seem to fall for the propaganda is LCpl. Chris Kruger (Lucas Black in an excellent performance). Kruger is different from the other Marines because he only joined to avoid going to prison (it's never explained what he did). Kruger is a young Texan, the type of person who is usually stereotyped as being pro-war and bloodthirsty. Instead, Kruger seems to be the only man who sees what's going on. He believes the only reasons the troops are there is to protect the profits of the oil tycoons. When a television crew arrives to interview the Marines, Ssgt. Sykes (Jamie Foxx) demands that they don't say anything that could be interpreted as anti-war. Kruger accuses it as censorship. Swofford starts to see more clearly at this point as well asking about freedom of speech and the constitution.

"No, you signed a contact. You don't have any rights. You got any complaints, you complain to Saddam Insane and see if he gives a fuck."

Kruger accuses Sykes of treating the Marines just like Saddam treats his own people.  Sykes responds "you are a marine. There is no such thing as speech that is free. You must pay for everything you say."

These marines, who are supposed to be fighting for freedom and democracy, don't even have freedom themselves. When the interviews happen, most of the interviews are typical. Troy talks about how he loves being a marine because he finally counts for something.  Cuban immigrant Ramon Escobar talks about how he's proud to serve America because it has given freedom to him. Naive Fergus O'donnell discusses how he misses his parents. Swofford is arguably the most honest after being asked if he's scared. "Look, I'm twenty years old and I was dumb enough to sign a contract. I can hear their fucking bombs already. I can hear their bombs and I'm fucking scared, yeah." 
Kruger is interviewed as well but ultimately has nothing to say because he wants to speak his true opinions and he's not allowed to do that.

Nobody seems to be lacking more in empathy than PFC Dave Fowler. Fowler is reckless, loudmouthed, and is bigoted towards Middle Eastern people including making obscene gestures to a woman in a Hijab. All of this goes unpunished. Swofford finally decides Fowler has gone to far when he sees him defiling a burnt Iraqi corpse. Sykes assures Swofford that Fowler will face consequences for his actions when they go back home, but the last scene we see of Fowler is him back in America making out with a woman in a bar with a big smile on his face. Fowler's lack of humanity was irrelevant to the U.S.M.C. The gung-ho marine is exactly what they're looking for so he gets off without even a slap on the wrist.
Swofford's behavior constantly teeters a line between sympathetic and gullible. Pure boredom often times gets the best of him. This isn't call of duty. The marines don't have to worry about shootouts or bombings. The only bombing incident is from a friendly fire incident caused by the gung ho PFC Dave Fowler dissented from the formation. Swofford has family waiting for him at home and a girlfriend, but his big concern is to be involved in the action. He wants to fire his rifle. He wants to kill someone. The USMC has taught him the importance of kicking Iraqi ass and if you leave the war without killing someone, then you're nothing. Only killers matter. This has a horrible effect on Swofford's mental state to the point that he almost shoots Ferguson in the face and then tries to shoot himself. Troy berates him for his reckless and dangerous actions.


At the end of the film, Swofford and Troy are finally sent on their first combat mission. Their mission is to kill two Iraqi officers in a control tower. They are given permission to take the shot but a team of Marines who outrank them appear and call in an airstrike instead. Troy wants a kill, he NEEDS a kill so he pleads with the commanding officer to let them take the shot anyways. When his requests are denied, Troy breaks down into a violent fit and eventually tears up. The commanding officer observes with a smirk. He doesn't care about his fellow marines. He just wants credit for everything. It's at this point that Swofford realizes what he has become and how Troy's mental break mirrors his own from earlier in the movie.

Troy and Swofford head back to base disappointed. They get lost but here noises in a distance (it's late at night). They think it's their chance so they get their guns ready only to discover that it's their own base and the noises are their fellow marines partying. The war is over and the Marines couldn't be happier. Swofford tells Troy that he never fired his rifle. Troy recommends that he does it now, so he fires a round in the air. The other marines fire their weapons into the sky as well, the only time any of them got to experience anything that even resembles action.

The marines head home and are celebrated as heroes, despite their presence having no real effect on the war. The situation becomes worse when a Vietnam war veteran jumps onto their bus and it's immediately clear that he's still suffering from effects of the Vietnam war. Swofford moves on with his life, though he discovers that his girlfriend has moved on with somebody else. Everyone else moves on with Kruger arguably ending up the most successful. His final scene shows him talking in a corporate boardroom, apparently doing quite well. Swofford discovers that Troy has died and attends his funeral (the cause of death is not specified in the film, but in real life it was a car accident). This causes Swofford to truly examine his life. The film ends with one final monologue:
A story. A man fires a rifle for many years. and he goes to war. And afterwards he comes home, and he sees that whatever else he may do with his life - build a house, love a woman, change his son's diaper - he will always remain a jarhead. And all the jarheads killing and dying, they will always be me. We are still in the desert.

This is going to be hanging over Swofford for the rest of his life. He spent a year doing absolutely nothing and he'll never forget it. His biggest accomplishment was almost killing someone and he now realizes the absolute pointlessness. He fell for the propaganda, for the pro-war movies, and now he has no choice but to continue. However, this will always remain a piece of him. Once a marine, always a marine. Swofford made the choices he made, thanks to his own naivety, and now must live with the psychological consequences.