Trump's 'Full Metal Jacket' Clips Divide Matthew Modine, Kubrick's Daughter

Oct 16, 2024

The Donald Trump presidential campaign’s use of clips from Stanley Kubrick‘s 1987 Oscar-nominated Vietnam War movie Full Metal Jacket has polarized those close to the pic indeed, with the late filmmaker’s daughter Vivian Kubrick declaring “Trump has my blessing” to the pic’s star Matthew Modine blasting in EW that the former POTUS has turned the anti-war feature “into a perverse, homophobic, and manipulative tool of propaganda.”

Trump’s recent rallies have begun using the video below which include Full Metal Jacket actor R. Lee Emery’s tough, racist and vulgar ridden Marine Sergeant blasting Modine’s Private Joker. Those bits are labeled “THEN”. This is followed by clips that show support for the LGBTQ+ in the military captioned “NOW” and “THE BIDEN HARRIS MILITARY.” The propaganda video ends with a shot from Full Metal Jacket before the recruits are sent to Vietnam, with the saying “LET’S MAKE OUR MILITARY GREAT AGAIN.” Trump has railed against the acceptance of transgender people, and the use of pronouns. The former POTUS received medical deferments during Vietnam even though he attended high school at New York Military Academy.

WE WILL NOT HAVE A WOKE MILITARY! pic.twitter.com/zpWZhSKcEs

Modine told EW in a statement today: “In the 1930s, Leni Riefenstahl directed the Nazi propaganda films Triumph of the Will and Olympia.”

“These two films are considered among the most effective propaganda ever made. Riefenstahl denied any knowledge of the Holocaust, repeatedly invoking the ‘how could we have known?’ defense,” the actor continued.

In a recent post “TO THOSE WHO THINK MY FATHER WOULDN’T HAVE WANTED #TRUMP TO USE FMJ FOOTAGE” on X, Vivian Kubrick says that her Oscar winning father would likely have zero problems with Trump. After all, voted for Ronald Reagan.

“I agree in principle that an anti-war movie is incongruous with promoting the idea of a tough non-woke US military and thus war itself – however – these are very dangerous and strange times and thus using this footage is doubtless pure expedience,” Vivian Kubrick said in the lengthy post.

“Because I’m sure the irony of using [‘Full Metal Jacket’] footage is not lost on Trump or his team – Trump is always seeking to end wars and use peaceful methods,” continued Kubrick. “However, that’s primarily what FMJ is about, the shocking and complicated paradoxes of human nature.”

“And thus, on this tooth and claw planet, you need a very strong military – so I’m going to stick with the idea that FMJ footage was used primarily because of its powerful, realistic portrayal of boot camp, juxtaposed with the entirely demoralizing and inappropriate injection of WOKE ideology into the USA military,” she continued. “Which I agree with myself and which I’m certain my father would have agreed with.

“Truthfully, I believe my father (who supported [President Ronald] Reagan), would very much approve of saving America, indeed the world, from the highly destructive Globalist forces threatening to take over this planet,” she wrote. “And if that footage from FMJ helps Trump make the point that the US military needs properly trained, super tough, focused, dedicated warriors, and not introduce the demoralizing effects of woke-ism, and attracting people to join up simply to have their sexual reassignments paid for, then Trump has my blessing.”

“Finally, knowing my father very well, I can assure you he had a profound grasp of how paradoxical human nature is! Which accounts for how at the same time he made anti-war films, he had a great passion for guns (self-defense not hunting) and he had quite a few!” she underscored.

“My father had a great respect for life – his movies being unimpeachable evidence of his love for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness! So on that basis, I feel very confident he would be a Trump supporter and would forgive using FMJ incongruously, if it helps the cause of freedom!”

Deadline has reached out to Warner Bros for comment as well as Modine’s reps.

TO THOSE WHO THINK MY FATHER WOULDN’T HAVE WANTED #TRUMP TO USE FMJ FOOTAGEHere are my thoughts: I agree in principle that an anti-war movie is incongruous with promoting the idea of a tough non-woke US military and thus war itself – however – these are very dangerous and… https://t.co/0bSXz8nL3V

Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.