Total Institutions In Full Metal Jacket

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Total institutions in Full Metal Jacket

A total institution is a place in which people are cut off from the rest of society and are almost totally controlled by the officials who run the place. There are seven procedures that separate a total institution from a regular institution. The procedures are: initiation, creating the helplessness of infancy, destroying the person’s previous sense of identity and self respect, mortification and degradation, disorienting experiences, depersonalization, and powerlessness. Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket displays a perfect example of a total institution.
The movie encompasses all of the characteristics of a total institution. The first is the initiation process, the process of initiation, is where the subjects are cut off from the outside world. In Full Metal Jacket the privates are taken to “the island,” where they have no contact with the outside world, only each other. This is evident because they all live together and do everything together; there is no contact with anyone other than their drill sergeant. The purpose of the initiation process is simply to setup the next procedure, creating the helplessness of infancy.
When you create the helplessness of infancy, the people become totally dependant on those in charge. Since the marines have been isolated, they are forced to rely on their drill sergeant. In the movie, the drill sergeant controls all of the privates; they can do nothing without his permission. The drill sergeant tells them exactly what they will be doing and when to do it. For instance, he tells them when to go to bed, pray, and turn off the lights.
The next procedure is to destroy the person’s previous sense of identity and self respect. In this step, it does not matter who you were before, or how important you were, everyone is taken down to the lowest level and reduced to a childlike state. To do this, the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket does several ...