Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Donald Trump Uses 'Full Metal Jacket' Clips to Portray His Ideal Military
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 months ago on
October 15, 2024

Trump's campaign uses 'Full Metal Jacket' clips to contrast his vision of a tough military with Biden's LGBTQ+ inclusive approach. (AP/Evan Vucci)

Share

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is embracing perhaps Hollywood’s most memorable drill sergeant to portray his vision of a hardened military and mock the Biden administration’s embrace of the LGBTQ+ community serving openly.

Trump’s recent rallies have featured a video with clips of R. Lee Ermey as Marine Gunnery Sgt. Hartman in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 classic Vietnam War film “Full Metal Jacket.” Ermey’s character was known for his vulgar and at times racist outbursts as he taunts and bullies recruits.

Those clips, captioned “THEN,” are juxtaposed against clips of people expressing support for LGBTQ+ rights and drag performers, captioned “NOW” and “THE BIDEN HARRIS MILITARY.”

The video ends with a shot from the movie, a scene before the recruits were sent to Vietnam, captioned with “LET’S MAKE OUR MILITARY GREAT AGAIN.” The video was shown at several Trump rallies before he posted it on social media on Saturday.

Trump’s Stance on LGBTQ+ Issues

Trump often rails against the growing acceptance of transgender people, including the use of pronouns and transgender women in women’s sports, drawing some of the biggest applause lines at his rallies by pledging to restrict them.

Trump earlier this month hailed the performance by Ermey, who served in the Marines as a drill sergeant before acting.

“He was supposed to get the Academy Award,” Trump told his audience in Wisconsin, saying he was denied the honor because “he wasn’t part of the establishment.”

Controversial Use of Anti-War Film

In using the movie to illustrate Trump’s ideal military, the campaign borrowed from what is recognized as an anti-war film. Never mind that the film is about Vietnam, for which Trump received medical deferments, despite having attended high school at New York Military Academy.

Vivian Kubrick, the late filmmaker’s daughter, said she believes her father would have embraced Trump and forgiven his use of an anti-war film to make his point about building a powerful military.

“That’s primarily what FMJ is about, the shocking and complicated paradoxes of human nature,” Vivian Kubrick wrote Sunday on the social media platform X.

“And thus, on this tooth and claw planet, you need a very strong military — so I’m going to stick with the idea that FMJ footage was used primarily because of its powerful, realistic portrayal of boot camp, juxtaposed with the entirely demoralizing and inappropriate injection of WOKE ideology into the USA military,” she added. “Which I agree with myself and which I’m certain my father would have agreed with.”

Contrasting Views on Trump’s Use of the Film

Ermey’s “Full Metal Jacket” co-star Matthew Modine, who played Private Joker in the film and is in some of the clips included in Trump’s video, saw things differently.

“Ironically, Trump has twisted and profoundly distorted Kubrick’s powerful anti-war film into a perverse, homophobic, and manipulative tool of propaganda,” Modine told Entertainment Weekly.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

DON'T MISS

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

DON'T MISS

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

DON'T MISS

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

DON'T MISS

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

DON'T MISS

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

DON'T MISS

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

DON'T MISS

Fresno Authorities Seeks Public’s Help to Locate Family of Deceased Man

DON'T MISS

Opinion: Does Jesus Want Christians to Be Environmentalists?

DON'T MISS

Illegal Immigrant Faces Murder Charges in Death of Woman Lit on Fire in NYC Subway

UP NEXT

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

UP NEXT

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

UP NEXT

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

UP NEXT

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

UP NEXT

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

UP NEXT

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

UP NEXT

Fresno Authorities Seeks Public’s Help to Locate Family of Deceased Man

UP NEXT

Opinion: Does Jesus Want Christians to Be Environmentalists?

UP NEXT

Illegal Immigrant Faces Murder Charges in Death of Woman Lit on Fire in NYC Subway

UP NEXT

$1M Investment in Fresno Lender to Help Small Businesses Get Funding

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

18 minutes ago

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

19 minutes ago

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

22 minutes ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

26 minutes ago

Fresno Authorities Seeks Public’s Help to Locate Family of Deceased Man

37 minutes ago

Opinion: Does Jesus Want Christians to Be Environmentalists?

5 hours ago

Illegal Immigrant Faces Murder Charges in Death of Woman Lit on Fire in NYC Subway

16 hours ago

$1M Investment in Fresno Lender to Help Small Businesses Get Funding

16 hours ago

Who Is Making a Difference in Fresno? Explore This List of 2024’s Shining Stars

17 hours ago

Fresno State Tossed by Northern Illinois in Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

17 hours ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of w...

7 seconds ago

7 seconds ago

Bethlehem Marks a Second Subdued Christmas During the War in Gaza

An undated photo provided by NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe shows an unprocessed image from the WISPR instrument of the comet NEOWISE on July 5, 2020, shortly after its closest approach to the sun. (NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Naval Research Lab/Parker Solar Probe/Brendan Gallagher via The New York Times)
4 minutes ago

The Fastest Spacecraft Ever Heads for Its Close-Up With the Sun

7 minutes ago

Survey: Small Businesses Are Feeling More Optimistic About the Economy After the Election

An American Airlines employee wearing a Santa Claus hat looks toward quiet check-in counters in the American terminal at Miami International Airport, on Christmas Eve, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
18 minutes ago

Heavy Travel Day off to a Rough Start After American Airlines Briefly Grounds All Flights

20 minutes ago

Global Monitor Says Famine Is Weeks Away in North Gaza. A US Diplomat Calls Warning ‘Irresponsible’

A security guard watches the entrance to the closed Santa Cruz Wharf in Santa Cruz, Calif., Monday, Dec. 23, 2024. (AP/Nic Coury)
22 minutes ago

California Residents on Edge as High Surf and Flooding Threats Persist on Christmas Eve

26 minutes ago

Stock Market Today: Wall Street Holds Near Breakeven Ahead of Christmas

The Fresno County Coroner’s Office seeks help locating the family of Jalal Tantash, 87, to arrange his proper burial. (Fresno County SO)
37 minutes ago

Fresno Authorities Seeks Public’s Help to Locate Family of Deceased Man

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend