Socialising goes in this thread

Blue fast. Still in progress, ETA 3 or 4 hours.

well it is not practical specially the stuff that needs to be put up in attic space or to the scaffolds. and for something that is used almost daily it just isn't a good way to take it to the storage after every single use

For realzies, I was mostly just joking with the original comment, though I did come up with it because sometimes stirring up a bit of drama is extremely tempting, which is kinda what I was talking about with it.

Go find a bunch of money and give me half

I'll help.

^^NOVA ^^memes

I'm downloading the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire demo right now.

I stopped really playing the games and watching the anime a reallllly long time ago. Like, back when the newest games were on the GameBoy Color. Catching back up right now.

I was rather proud for thinking of that.

For a long time i used my brothers friends account to play it. But then steam implemented more safety features. We were unable to get back into the account. So, yeah...

That's fair. We kept our distance on the off-chance he was hostile -- and from what he was screaming, it's likely.

Not multiple people for each exchange. You pick an exchange and get matched. You are gifting to someone and someone else (not the person you are gifting to) is giving something to you!

You can do multiple exchanges at once. For example right now I'm doing both the Cozy Toes exchange and Sci- Fi exchange.

Vietnam in Full Metal Jacket and Forest Gump There is no war that is more controversial then the war in Vietnam. No other war had caused such a negative backlash from the public so quickly. Veterans would return home and dispose of all medals they received. Some would burn their uniforms. Others would go as far as to denounce the war they were even in. Once the war ended, there was a sense of unwarranted lose among many Americans. This is expressed in many Hollywood films that preceded the Vietnam War. Two such films include Full Metal Jacket and Forrest Gump. Both of these films deal with the process of going to boot camp, getting into action, and the eventual return home Yet, both films deal with these issues in completely different ways. Full Metal Jacket can really be summed up into two acts: boot camp and action. Forrest Gump presents Vietnam in the middle of the movie and focuses on the consequences of the war on the main character and a side character for the rest of the movie. They both portray each period of the military process in a different way, but in similar ways as well. Full Metal Jacket opens up with a group of young men having their heads shaved. We are not introduced to any of them or know any of them. We see the same look in their eyes though. They are being sent here. This is no voluntary thing. The draft is in full swing baby, and anyone is eligible to be shipped to boot camp. This can really be seen with all of the different races, hair styles, and even just the clothes these boys are wearing. Let’s contrast this with Forrest Gump. For starters, Forrest volunteers to go fight in this war. Sure, a recruiter may have persuaded him right after graduating from college, but it was still his decision. We then cut to him getting on a bus, heading toward a military boot camp. The operator is cold and yells, but doesn’t say anything too personal. He finds a friend, Bubba, and they learn a lot about each other. At the camp, they are not given haircuts. They are still the people they were before they entered the camp. We as an audience know at least two characters in this boot camp and their life stories. They are human. They have motivations and desires. This is not found in Full Metal Jacket. Once the hair is gone, the drill Sargent absolutely destroys any humanity left within any of these young men. He physically, emotionally, and psychologically breaks them down until they are good soldiers. This includes horrid insults non-stop, addressing all of them by insulting nicknames, and punishing the entire squadron due to the mistakes of one individual. Boot camp is hell in Full Metal Jacket. This is not a place were one makes friends and become close. This is a place were you become a machine. A machine designed to take an order and execute it without thinking. Compare this to the boot camp scenes in Forrest Gump. Yes the drill Sargent is loud and in your face, but he doesn’t break down Forrest. In fact, he builds him up by continuing to refer to him as the smartest, fastest, and will even be a general someday. There is no mockery or abuse found here. This is the type of boot camp one would see in an army recruitment video. It’s just a bunch of people training for war in a facility that may seem harsh, but never too hurtful or personal. Full Metal Jacket tells it how it is. Boot camp is hell. It destroys any sense of individuality. You can really see this in the characterization of Private Pyle. We don’t know anything about him, but we assume that he has something wrong with him. He is slow to pick up on orders and struggles to even complete the most basic tasks. As boot camp trudges on, we see him change. It occurs after the other inhabitants of the boot camp attack him with bars of soap due to him failing a room inspection. Private Joker, later to be revealed to be the protagonist of the movie, even gets involved. Something then breaks in Private Pyle. Again, this isn’t told to the audience, it is shown. Private Pyle now has a complete glassy eyed expression. He continually wears a devilish smile no matter what the situation is. It is completely unsettling to look at him. The scene that really insights this is the bathroom scene. Private Joker finds Private Pyle in the restroom loading up his rifle with live ammunition. Private Pyle looks completely mad. The only light in the entire room is produced from the flashlight held by Private Joker. It’s right on the face of Private Pyle. You see that there is nothing behind those eyes. The person that used to be there is long gone. Things get only worse when the drill Sargent tries to intervene but is shot in the chest. The loud bang and the ringing following the gunshot really makes the audience jump. Private Pyle then shoves the rifle in his mouth and blows his brains out. It’s not extravagant or even that gory. It’s clean and disturbing. Nothing even remotely this shocking or disturbing occurs during boot camp in Forrest Gump. In fact, we don’t see this group of recruit’s even leave the barracks. For all we know, they could have received their entire training from within there! This was due to the director wanting to focus more on the battle sequences later in the film instead of the crushing and barbaric nature of boot camp. Nothing that harsh even happens in boot camp for Forrest. As stated, he is continually praised. This is a huge contrast from Full Metal Jacket. After Private Pyle commits suicide, we head to Vietnam. We are in a bustling city. The camera is position on a women’s rear as she crosses the street. The camera then pans up and back, so we can see private Joker and another private at a table at some sort of restaurant. Private Joker and the prostitute then have an exchange. Joker is trying to negotiate a decent price based on the money his mother sent him, but the prostitute only understands Basic English. The scene ends with Joker’s friend taking a photograph with said prostitute as they head back to the barracks to receive orders. In contrast, Forrest Gump introduces Vietnam with helicopter ride to a remote location in the jungle. Wouldn’t you know it? Forrest and Bubba just happen to be in the same squadron! How convenient. We are then introduced to Lieutenant Dan. Dan tells the boys all they need to know about Vietnam and the enemy in less then three minutes. Headquarters is also set up very well. There is tons of beer, cola, and even a BBQ going on. Both films introduce Vietnam in different ways, but both present a similar message to the audience. There is a lot of down time in war. It’s not just constant action. Both films really express this well. Full Metal Jacket uses this time in order to build upon all of the characters in Private Joker’s squadron. Forrest Gump uses this time to make sure that the bond between Forrest and Bubba is even closer. Forrest Gump also uses montage in order to establish that a good bit of time has past. We see all of the mundane tasks of war. Walking forever, being weary of booby traps, and clearing out foxholes. The use of montage during this really takes away the danger of the situation. It makes it seem like a boring task that has to be completed. Full Metal Jacket does this too, but without the montage. For the entirety of the movie, there are only three sequences of action. One in boot camp, one outside of headquarters, and the last being a sniper in a town square. This is a two and a half hour movie. That’s not a lot of action for such a lengthy movie. This was done due to really bring home the message of how young and fragile these men were during this conflict. No one in the squadron is above the age of 21. The more we learn about them, the more it becomes apparent that they cannot handle being in such a situation. These long gaps were we learn about the squadron also make the scenes of action so jarring and frightening. They come out of nowhere without even a hint. It’s brutal, fast, and intense. The one fight scene in Forrest Gump also comes out of nowhere. It is also fast, loud, and intense. We never see the enemy directly. We just hear the gunshots. The resulting fight leads most of the squadron Forrest is in wounded. He is the only one that is not and manages to retreat. He then runs back in and saves everyone, even managing to outrun the napalm strikes in a heroic manner. The only person that dies is his dear friend Bubba, but Forrest still manages to hear his last dying words. He is also wounded, but not fatally.

The final fight scene in Full Metal Jacket is anything but heroic. We see one of the squad members brutally shot over and over again by an unknown sniper. Every time he is shot, we focus on the wailing and crying man in the middle of the square. His howls are piercing and painful to even listen too. Another squad member tries to drag him back to safety, but he suffers the same faith. They both are lying in the middle of the square, blood pooling around them, as they are shot more and more times. It’s brutal, but not extravagant. Joker and his remaining squad mates manage to make into the tower and identify the sniper. It’s a little girl, no older than seven. A squad mate shots her in the lower stomach. She is lying there in her own blood, begging someone to kill her. Joker pulls out his pistol. The camera then focuses on his face. It looks all too similar to the face Private Pyle had before blowing his brains out. We hear a gunshot and cut to the next scene. Joker is doing an interview, bragging about being the first in his squadron to have a confirmed kill. He’s sporting the glassy eyes of Private Pyle and the evil smile. Right after the battle scene in Forrest Gump, we see him in the hospital with all of his squad mates. They all lived, but have severe injuries. Missing limbs, blindness, or just severe burns. Except for Forrest Gump. He just got shot in the ass. He is deemed a hero and receives the Medal of Honor for his bravery. This is something I did enjoy about Forrest Gump more than Full Metal Jacket. It did show how broken and wounded the survivors of the Vietnam War were once they went home. Both films deal with the Vietnam War in their own unique way. Full Metal Jacket takes it time to show the realities of boot camp and how it destroys the individuality of people. Forrest Gump just shows it as a place were one goes to get basic training. Full Metal Jacket deals with the harsh realities of war with brutality and violence. Joker is unable to stop his friends from dying and changes into the machine that Private Pyle was. Forrest Gump also does this, but focuses on the main character saving his entire squadron and explores the healing process of veterans after war.

It sure was! It was a blast watching some of my favorite movies again and comparing them!