Daily Dialogue — March 21, 2014

JOKER: Hey, Lone Ranger.
COWBOY: Holy shit!
JOKER: You old motherfucker.
COWBOY: It’s the Joker.
JOKER: What’s happenin’?
COWBOY: Boy, I hoped I’d never see you again, you piece of shit!
JOKER: What’s happening, man?
COWBOY: Oh, I’m just waiting to get back to the land of the big PX.
JOKER: Yeah? Well, why go back? Here or there, samey-same.
COWBOY:Been getting any?
JOKER: Only your sister.
COWBOY: Well, better my sister than my mom, though my mom’s not bad… This is my bro Joker from the Island. And this is -
JOKER: Rafterman.
COWBOY: Rafterman. They’re from Stars and Stripes. They’ll make you famous… We’re the Lusthog Squad. We’re life-takers and heartbreakers. We shoot ’em full of holes and fill ’em full of lead.
ANIMAL MOTHER: Are you a photographer?
JOKER: No …I’m a combat correspondent.
ANIMAL MOTHER: Oh, you seen much combat?
JOKER: Well, I’ve seen a little on TV.
ANIMAL MOTHER: You’re a real comedian.
JOKER: Well, they call me the Joker.
ANIMAL MOTHER: Well, I got a joke for you. I’m gonna tear you a new asshole.
JOKER: Well, pilgrim … only after you … eat the peanuts out of my shit!
ANIMAL MOTHER: You talk the talk. Do you walk the walk?
EIGHTBALL: Now you might not believe it but under fire Animal Mother is one of the finest human
beings in the world. All he needs is somebody to throw hand grenades at him the rest of his life.
COWBOY: Come on, sit down. Come on, new guy.
ANIMAL MOTHER: Hey, jungle bunny. Thank God for the sickle cell, huh?
EIGHTBALL: Yeah, mother.

— Full Metal Jacket (1987), screenplay by Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr, and Gustav Hasford, novel by Hasford

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Standoff. Today’s suggestion by Adam Gottschalk.

Trivia: The term “full metal jacket” refers to the type of small arms ammunition used in warfare, as heard in Private Pyle’s famous line spoken on the toilet, “7.62 millimeter, full… metal… jacket.” Full metal jacket ammunition has a copper coating covering the lead core of its projectile.

Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Adam: “Sarcasm, posturing, play-acting, and vicious jibes in the dialogue all serve to distance these young men in war from their feelings. Even the underlying affection in the exchanges before and after the stand-off is buried in obscenity and racism.”

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