INDEX
Harsh marine corps training and minorities
This film depicts three months of grueling training. There, they are even condemned to say “I,” and once stripped of their independence, they are thoroughly re-educated in order to be reborn as soldiers. At one point in the film, the characters are watching “Jarhead” (2005), and it can be said that “The Inspection” is a film in the same vein as “Jarhead” and “Full Metal Jacket” (1987), both of which are about the training of new soldiers. In particular, French is noticed and hurt by his instructors because of his sexuality. The film has also been described as a “queer full metal jacket.”
However, the way the military is perceived in this film is complex. In “Full Metal Jacket,” the film expressed the insanity of human beings being driven into a corner by military training. In “The Inspection,” minorities from diverse backgrounds such as race, gender, sexuality, religion, and poverty endure intolerance and discrimination within the military and manage to hold their own without descending into madness.
For French, who had no place in society, the military is also a place where he can show his abilities and gain recognition, and a place of solidarity with his peers who have overcome training. And his sexuality is tolerated as long as it is not made public. The military’s rule that one cannot freely express one’s identity, which was highly discriminatory and has now been abolished, is depicted positively only in the dialogue with French’s mother, who prefers to be straight.
