One of the central conceits in one of Staley Kubrick’s most popular works has been restored to the film’s detail page on Prime Video after mysteriously disappearing. There was an uproar in the past few days when the helmet in the poster for Full Metal Jacket appeared without the phrase “born to kill” on it. The phrase was later restored after Deadline made inquiries.
According to sources, Warner Bros. has asked that the “detail page” be updated to reflect the original art. See the image that caused the uproar and then the image that has since replaced it below.
Throughout the director’s 1987 masterful commentary on war the main character, Pvt. Joker, wears a helmet on which is scrawled “born to kill.” The helmet is also adorned with a peace sign button. For a filmmaker as careful as Kubrick, placing a phrase on the forehead of your main character is not an accident, it’s a statement.
The film’s star and the actor who wore that helmet, Matthew Modine, recently posted his thoughts on the omission.
“Who decided to remove ‘BORN TO KILL?’ wrote Modine online above a photo of the denuded helmet. “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.’ “
“The duality of man” is a consistent theme in Kubrick’s work, as are Jungian themes, which are explicitly at work in the statement and pin on the helmet.
In one scene, a colonel asks Modine’s Pvt. Joker, “You write ‘born to kill’ on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What’s that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?”
“No, Sir,” answers Joker.
“What is it supposed to mean?”
Joker replies, “The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.”