Full Metal Jacket-

Reception Theory-
- "Full Metal Jacket" in a way is provocative, throwaway and intellectually demanding. The beginning of the film, going through the story of Pyle explores the effect of bullying and how it can emotionally and mentally damage people. I would say that this is intellectually demanding to the audience. The film is based around the Vietnamese war, which in itself is a very controversial topics due to the stories of troops raping and killing innocent civilians. Some humour used between troops, could make the film a throwaway however it is often cut off quickly. I would say that mainly the film is provocative and intellectually demanding, because it explores the issues with war and the controversial theories behind them that question the audience.

-The preferred reading of this film, would come from a patriotic outlook. The soldiers are naive, who think they are doing good but during the film we do not get told who the 'villain and hero' are. However as we are aligned with American troops we side with them and therefore sympathise with their decisions.

-From this film I took a negotiated viewing as I felt aligned with 'Joker', as he seems innocent however the actual setting of war and the way they treat the civilians of Vietnam makes me take an oppositional view on it. From a negotiated point of view, you could argue that the soldiers have been brain washed by the Military camp, as we see this happen with Pyle. But on the other hand it was there decision to join, and some people may think they should of known what they was joining up for.

Central Imagining-
CI-

•  When Pyle is beaten in his bed, you are shown the weapon (soap) in a close up and they hit it against the bed along with diagetic sound showing the force. This results in a central imagining response from the audience. As they hold him down the camera is held in the same position above Pyle. As they hit him there are diagetic sounds of the hits, and his cries.

ACI-

•  The response when Pyle kills himself, would be dependent on peoples experiences as it could result in memories. However the majority of the audience would only be able to try and imagine the pain of Joker watching and Pyle himself as you see his blood hit the wall and then some of his brain slides on the white wall.

Alignment & Allegiance-

• The alignment is with Pyle during the beginning of the film, because you feel sympathy with him. However the alignment is distorted when he kills the sergeant. When he commits suicide, the alignment may depend on the audience member. As people with experience of suicide, may agree or disagree with it. The audiences allegiance to Pyle remains throughout, as we watch him grow into his mental state and therefore feel sympathy as we cannot do anything to help. 

• Jokers alignment with the audience, is not strong at the beginning as it is not clear the movie is from his point of view. He helps Pyle train, which creates a bond between the audience and him because of the allegiance between them and Pyle. When Pyle threatens to shoot Joker, the audience are made to question their alignment with Pyle and in result sympathise with Joker. As the film continues, you follow Joker into Vietnam creating a stronger allegiance to him. 

Alignment

Scene	Are we aligned with Pyle?	Construction?
Clip 1	Yes A-Central We are made to feel sympathy for Pyle which creates a bond between the audience and character. As bullying occurs so oftentimes eh majority of people would be able to relate to this. Although the feelings created from this scene would depend on the persons own experiences.	Pyle is shown as the minority, because he is larger than the other soldiers in shot. When the sergeant is shouting at him the majority of light in the scene is on Pyle, suggesting through binary opposition, he is the hero and the sergeant is the villain. By seeing him as a minority and being bullied for these makes the audience feel sympathy for Pyle.
Clip 2	Yes A-Central Watching Pyle continue to be bullied the audience are again aligned with Pyle, this increases as we see it is not just the sergeant but all of the comrades who are now bullying.	The shot of Pyle eating the doughnut in the middle of all the comrades shows that he is now the minority, as he is isolated. The non diabetic soundtrack creates the "army"/"war" genre. Along with this type of music the audience would be used to seeing fit strong men but instead Pyle is shown struggling on the obstacle course. Again creating more sympathy towards him as we hear him struggle as he groans.
Clip 3	Negotiable A-Central This last scene challenges the audiences alignment with Pyle because he becomes violent and sadistic. He kills the sergeant and threatens one of the comrades who has been the nicest to him, which removes sympathy  as he is making himself equal or worse to them. However knowing the bullying has evoked this violent exterior it questions the audiences alignment to him as they may still feel sympathetic towards him. The sympathy continues when he kills himself, however depending on people's different experiences of suicide and bullying there will be negotiable responses.	The opening shot of Pyle shows him in a dark room with an expression that will make the audience question his motives during this scene. The other comrades face is very terrified as he stands there I'm his short pyjamas, as he is not very covered this shows his vulnerability. The bathrooms lay has little lighting coming from the moon, creating a look of a thriller movie.