Matthew Modine turned out to be the man of the hour for Amazon's crimes against Full Metal Jacket. The actor, having played J.T. "Joker" Davis in one of Stanley Kubrick's masterpieces, wasn't too pleased about Amazon changing a pivotal piece of artwork. In one of Amazon's promotional images for the movie, they cut out the phrase "Born To Kill" that's adorned on a military helmet. Which is 1.) a crime against good taste and 2.) such a bizarre thing to censor.
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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
"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.'"
You want to know the craziest part about this story? Amazon actually listened and restored the original image! It only took a prominent star speaking out about it (and some tongue-wagging from fans) to make the change. But, hey. The ongoing battle to protect the arts is multi-faceted and won in inches rather than yards.
Amazon Rolls Back A 'Full Metal Jacket' Promo Art Change Due To Backlash From Matthew Modine
I won't post social media reactions because the comments/conversations are vapid. Spoiler: "Woke" comes up a lot, bad-faith issues of "censorship" are abundant -- it's typical X (formerly Twitter) fare. We could talk about how companies traditionally only pay attention and change if a "big name" says something. But, we'll save that for another day.
Instead, let's talk about censorship and art real quick. Art should never be censored unless it is proven detrimental to a singular person (who's the subject of said art, to be clear) or seeks to specifically harm and demean any group based on their race, sexuality, beliefs, etc. Especially in the case of Full Metal Jacket where the entire point is "war sucks and ruins young people who don't know any better."
Maybe Amazon initially removed "Born To Kill" for SEO/advertising purposes. But it's more likely that it was a misguided attempt to "soften" the visual. Consequently, it cheapens the movie's core messaging.
