Stanley Kubrick created some of the most iconic movies in cinema history. One of them was Full Metal Jacket. In the movie, Matthew Modine plays Private Joker and wears an iconic helmet with the words “Born to Kill” on it. Well, that’s too offensive for some now.
You can rent or buy Full Metal Jacket on Amazon. Someone, probably in the DEI Department, has removed the slogan from some of the promotion art for the movie. If it wasn’t someone in the DEI, it was someone who missed the irony of the slogan.
Matthew Modine took to social media to mention it:
Who decided to remove “BORN TO KILL?” Not only did they alter a piece of iconic art by Philip Castle, but they completely misunderstood the point of it being there. Pvt. Joker wears the helmet with “BORN TO KILL” and the peace ☮️ button as a statement about “the duality of man.” pic.twitter.com/9XQwINJj4l
— Matthew Modine (@MatthewModine) June 18, 2024
I wonder who did decide to remove it? Fiver says they have blue hair and daddy issues. The slogan isn’t completely gone, but it has been removed on one of the icons, as you click on it. This is another form of censorship to fit in with modern standards.
Is there a legitimate reason?
Someone on Twitter (I’m never called it by ‘that letter’), said how the slogan “Born to Kill” maybe been removed because it was text. Amazon does have a rule about no wording on a poster, to avoid critics’ comments plastered all over them.
Sorry, but that sounds like a “the dog ate my homework” excuse. It does make things easier to read on the poster, but not wording that is as iconic as the movie itself.
Philip Castle, who originally designed the artwork, said that “Born to Kill” was always going to be on the helmet. He was given a blank canvas by Kubrick to do so:
“[Stanley Kubrick] sent me a little drawing, a silhouette, and, on one of my visits, he handed the helmet over and I just brought it back. I did the helmet as though it had just been left on a desk, flat; I don’t know who had the idea but, just tilting it, as if it were being worn, made a whole difference — it put life into it.”
As Modine pointed out, the wording on the helmet, and the peace sign, was part of the entire point. Funny how ‘modern audiences’ completely miss the point of some classic movies.