Actor Matthew Modine has taken to X to criticise Amazon Prime for fundamentally altering the iconic movie poster for Full Metal Jacket.
The actor, 65, expressed his frustration with Amazon Prime after noticing a significant alteration to the poster for the 1987 Stanley Kubrick classic, in which he played Marine James T. ‘Joker’ Davis.
The film is available for rent on Amazon Prime, but it looks very different on the streaming service.
The original poster – which has adorned countless dorm room and frat house walls – features a war helmet with the phrase ‘born to kill’ written on it in marker.
The version on the streaming service doesn’t feature the slogan at all, instead depicting a totally plain helmet – much to the consternation of fans of the film and Modine himself.
The actor posted about his displeasure with the change on X, sparking the anger of many fans. He wrote: ‘Who decided to remove “BORN TO KILL?” Not only did they alter a piece of iconic art by Philip Castle, but they completely misunderstood the point of it being there.’
He then summarized the moment in the movie that the poster references, explaining that his character wears the helmet with the phrase ‘BORN TO KILL’ and a peace pin at the same time. Private Joker explains at one point that he wears this evident contradiction in order to symbolize ‘the duality of man.’
The film follow’s Modine’s character as he trains to be an American GI in the Vietnam war.
When questioned about the pin and the helmet by an officer, Joker explains it’s a reference to ‘the duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir,’ – psychologist Carl Jung’s theory that every good quality has an opposite and equal evil.
Many fans rallied behind Modine, agreeing that altering the original artwork was a major misstep by Amazon.
X user @HvyMtLHippieSyL wrote: ‘It’s really sad that so much is censored because “someone will be offended.” Sometimes you need to be offended to get the point of something.’
User @Aristos_Revenge agreed, writing: ‘That’s so stupid of them to remove it, takes away from how much the cover communicates the meaning of the movie, and it’s not like it’s PG to begin with.’
@DaytonCostlow posted: ‘As a Marine this is as insulting as it comes. Whoever did this clearly lacks a basic love of film, let alone having an understanding of such dialogue. You’re a legend Matthew and we love you.’
The reasons behind Amazon Prime’s decision to alter the poster remain unclear, but following the backlash, the streaming service seems to have reverted the poster to its original form on their site.
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