quote:

ORIGINAL: jobloffski

Personally I think the second half is equal to the first.

The first half breaks Private Pyle's personality, spirit and dignity. The second half robs Private Joker of his.

War is hell, and you will either be broken by the process of getting ready for it, or broken more slowly, and forever by the experience of it.

Neither half works properly without the other, and Kubrick very specifically had Hartman say 'What's this Mickey Mouse shit?' in the first half to tie both halves together (and in anticipation of people not understanding the ending!).

Yes, it's funny to see Pyle being berated, but that's the trick Kubrick was pulling, to make the audience laugh at Pyle, and thereby be complicit in his destruction. The film makes me ask questions of my own behaviour and whether I want to be part of the group, laughing at the weakest in order to avoid being the one the group tun on next (you'll note Joker tried to help Pyle at first, even helping him keep his identity by calling him by his name, Leonard, before he gives up on Pyle and joins in with the punishment, even while still not wishing to do so, beating Pyle all the harder for making him feel so guilty).

I still laugh at the abuse of pyle while watching the film, but it is very uneasy laughter these days, cos it really aint all THAT funny to humiliate someone so much they lose the will to live!