Walt Disney Meets Stanley Kubrick

There is no happy ending, but it’s best to act as if there is

Images and Text by the author, illustrations by Mike.

How does that final line of Full Metal Jacket go?

“My thoughts drift back to erect nipples, wet cunts, Mary Jane Rotten-Crotch, and the Great Unknown. I am so happy that I am alive, in one piece and short-time. I’m in a world of shit… yes. But I am alive. And I am not afraid.”

That was Private Joker’s narration at the end of the movie. We will not discuss the first sentence of the quote, and go straight to the second sentence.

Joker survived, at the expense of Cowboy’s life. So it goes.

See, there really is no happy ending. PJ Travers wept when she watched Mary Poppins, because at the end, Mr. Banks is flying a kite with his kids.

But Travers’ actual father, the pattern for Mr. Banks, never flew a kite with his kids, and died of suicide.

But Walt Disney is always going to give you hope, and always tries to end his movies on an up note. For instance, think of Bambi. What could ever have been more heartbreaking (except perhaps the death of Dobby) than the poor little thing calling for her mother.

But still, Bambi has an uplifting ending.

Kubrick’s ending to Full Metal Jacket is cinematic art at its finest. You've got Cowboy back there, dead. And Joker just happy to be alive.

And the survivors are going back to a world that ain’t gonna be like it was when they were watching the Mickey Mouse Club on TV when they were kids.