Daily Dialogue — August 13, 2010

“I’m Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, your senior drill instructor, from now on you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and the last word out of your filthy sewers will be “Sir”. Do you maggots understand that?” 

 — Gunnery Sergeant Hartman (Lee Ermey), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Stanley Kubrick & Michael Herr & Gustav Hasford

Daily Dialogue theme for the week is notable opening lines.

Trivia: Michael Herr, a very close friend of Stanley Kubrick, helped write much of the screenplay, particularly the part set in Vietnam. His contributions to the script are based largely on his own experiences as a reporter covering the war. Like Joker and Rafterman he was essentially freelance and allowed to travel anywhere in the country. Additionally, the scene where Joker and Rafterman watch the crazed gunner in the chopper machine-gun civilians is taken directly from “Dispatches”, Herr’s memoir of his experiences.