See query: Full context: the drill instructor in* Full Metal Jacket* yells at a recruit:
I’m gonna rip your balls off so you cannot contaminate the rest of the world. I will motivate you, Private Pyle, if it short-dicks every cannibal on the Congo!
When R. Lee Ermey, who died yesterday, was cast as the DI after improvising harangues over half-an-hour long w/o stopping, Kubrick himself did not understand one of the curses he left in the movie, about what a “reach-around” is and why someone should be courteous about offering one–and I felt very superior that I did. But here I’m stumped (heh).
The problem with explaining a joke is that it loses so much in the dissection.
Cannibals eat people. Fat people feed more cannibals.
“Cannibals on the Congo” just sounds funny. It’s use of alliteration is just inherently funny. Plus, the Congo just sounds like a wild place where Cannibals and other uncivilized people would live.
If he motivates PVT Pyle, then Pyle will end up losing weight as a consequence. Therefore, fewer cannibals will be able to eat.
Getting “short-dicked” just means you were left out; you didn’t get your share. Means the same as “Short-changed”.
So… the DI is saying that Pyle is soooo fat that he would be able to feed all of these cannibals. Despite the fact that motivating Pyle will result in so many Cannibals having to starve–or at least not get to eat as much as they would otherwise–he’s going to keep motivating him.
Translated would be: “I will motivate you, even if by doing so you will lose weight and thereby I would be depriving some Cannibals of a potentially much larger feast.”
I did notice something in the first barracks scene though, just now, in rewatching it - an amazing thing for a Kubrick movie; a really obvious continuity error. the first time we see Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) taling and walking around, Leonard Lawrence/Private Pyle (Vincent D’Onofrio) is to Joker’s right, three men down and standing by the last bank in that row.
Later in the same scene, he is to Joker’s left, two men from Private Cowboy, having suddenly occupied a space previously occupied by a nondescript generic extra. S
Perfect. Thank you. And unlike “reach-around,” “short dicks” is a slang word only in the military, right? (Like “I will PT your ass till you die.”) All services?
Reach Around
The process of, while penetrating a partner from behind (Either anally or vaginally), reaching around and playing with his/her genitalia.
Contrary to popular belief, not only a homosexual act.
He made purposeful continuity errors in A Clockwork Orange because he felt it would subconsciously unnerve the audience during the scene. (The scene where the elderly man confronts Alex during dinner after the old man remembers who he is, the level of wine in his wine glass changes randomly in every shot.)
I always thought that line was bizarre (and hilarious), as I imagine most people do who’ve seen that movie. I think Bear’s explanation makes the most sense. A lot of people probably get sidetracked by the word “dick” and assume it has some sexual connotation, or biting off a guy’s dick or something. But I’m pretty sure the “force you to lose weight” thing makes more sense.
the one error I noted was in 2001 where they are testing the antenna module in zero G in the pod bay, and the wire from the test probe sags in a typical gravity-induced parabola. I guess attaching a filament to make it “float” was considered overkill?
Ermey tried to motivate the wire, but as the wire was already too thin to provide sustenance to cannibals on the Congo, the motivation was insufficient.
As an aside, I’m not exactly a worldly guy, and had never heard of a “reach-around” before seeing the movie, but I still thought it was pretty clear, from context, what it meant.
It calls to mind Major Kong’s intense commitment to the task of getting his B52’s damaged equipment to operate: “I’m gonna get them doors open if it harelips everybody on Bear Creek!”
Another Stan Kubrick “joint,” the sharp-eyed observer will note…
Also, the DI’s imagery makes me think that pulling Pyle’s testicles down will cause his penis to retract (along with the penes of some unrelated Africans).
Same. Even better was the implication Hartman knew the reacharound was a matter of common courtesy as though everyone could be presumed to be as well-versed in buggery as he. It’s the beauty of the Drill rant–generate as many WTF thoughts per second as you can while encouraging your recruits to focus on the bigger picture. It doesn’t have to be clear (short dick every cannibal on the Congo), it just has to be weird and distracting.
In the military, we add “dick” to the end of a lot of adjectives for no reason at all. Radios can be broke-dick, for example, instead of broken. A stranger you met somewhere might be tall-dick, for no reason related to his or her genitals. I recall a sergeant describing his sports car as “quick-dick” once. FWIW.
It’s the beauty of the Drill rant–generate as many WTF thoughts per second as you can while encouraging your recruits to focus on the bigger picture. It doesn’t have to be clear (short dick every cannibal on the Congo), it just has to be weird and distracting.