Elias, a good soldier fighting a badnwar, or like Chris, green and maybe anlittle stupid but still capable of gethngnby and, when the times comes, ofnwreaking his own justice with a rifle.nJoker is something real to Platoon’snpaper cutouts, but he’s not somethingnespecially admirable. He’s gotten himselfnassigned as a reporter for Stars &nStripes, which means he’s a hack fornthe military PR—a not entirely willingnone, but still a hack. He’s not evenna proper poor slob of a grunt sure to seenaction; he’s behind it.nOur hero is no hero; nothing evennclose. You could call him an antihero,nmaybe. Kubrick certainly underminesnhim all the way. When the big momentncomes, when Joker’s friend Cowboynis shot through by a sniper andndies in Joker’s arms, he does set his jawnas true John Wayne tradihon dictatesnand goes after the killer. But he doesn’tnget him. Or rather, he doesn’t getnher—the sniper who has decimatednthis patrol ends up being a teenagengirl. Joker runs out of bullets once henfinds her and drops his gun in thenconfusion of being fired at. His littlensidekick, the erstwhile so innocentnRafterman, is the one who actuallynshoots her down, yelping and grinningnlike a hound that’s ripped its first fox.nWhile it happens to be Joker whonends up giving the coup de grace, thatncoup de grace is really a mercy bulletnshe is begging for. Some victory, Kubricknis saying; some revenge, and somenwar.nKubrick seems fascinated not byncharacters but by the lack, the buttend,nthe eradication of personality.nThink again of 200J, or of A ClockworknOrange. What Hartman hasnstarted, Kubrick’s Vietnam finishes.nThe war has given Kubrick anothernforum on which to stage his favoredncult of the anhpersonality. There is sonlittle in this movie of what normallyndefines a man. With two small exceptions,nwe never learn where any of thencharacters are from. We don’t get theirnreal names, either, just their nicknames,nmany of which were givenncontemptuously by Hartman. Barely,nand only because of Tet, do we learnnwhen all this is happening. These mennare only so much matter in a moralnvoid—one simply there and given, anhell that popped up full-formed out ofnKubrick’s odd head. Is this a politicalnmovie or only Stanley Kubrick oncenagain falling in love with a hell of hisnown making?nKatherine Dalton writes from NewnYork.n_,u^iii:iaill« _nGluttons fornPunishmentnby Gary S. VasihshnRecently, NBC News, and the WallnStreet journal devoted features to whatnthey claim, to an editor, is an Americann”obsession” with being thin.nThere may have been many morenreports devoted to the topic—now thatnthe passive-smoke issue is passe, peoplenare refocusing their attention onnthe state of bustlines, waistiines, buttocksnform, etc., etc., etc.nFor years, people have strugglednwith diet, stuffing themselves withnbran or grapefruit or rice, while attemptingnto abstain from foods thatndon’t leave the abdominal region feelingnlike a bowling alley. The other partnof the equation is exercise. Despite thenefforts of running-shoe manufacturersnand Vic Tanny ads showing Cher lookingnlike she just crawled off the set ofnMad Max IV, working out is usuallynmeant to make proper clothes fit well.nAnd who would want to sweat innultracostly ensembles?nThe point is, both diet and exercisenrequire suffering. No matter hownstrong the desire to look good, thenphysics of inertia and the instinct forncalories from nonnutritional sourcesn(e.g., White Castle hamburgers, hotnfudge sundaes) are more compelling.nToday’s pop-culture person is in anquandary.nBut medical technology has come tonthe rescue. Now we can have ournDove Bar and eat it too.nThe July issue of D, the Dallas citynmagazine, includes a feature modestlyntitled “The Ultimate Insider’s Guide tonDallas.” We are made to realize we arennot merely in Texas, which in itself isnastounding, but in its pivotal point.nOne article in the guide is “ThenWomen: Why They Look So Good”nand explains why Dallas has “morennnthan its share of gorgeous women.”nThe authors (two women) maintainnthe reason for this blessedness is thatnthe Dallas Woman spends inordinatentime curling eyelashes, applyingnmakeup, and, yes, actually exercisingnin outfits Ordinary Women can onlyngaze at in fashion magazines.nBut the real reason why there are sonmany daughters of Aphrodite in Dallasnis to be found on the following page.nIt’s not magical, nor is it chemical—nmore to the point, it is medical. Sonmuch for romance. The page in questionnincludes an ad for the AestheticnSurgical Center, which is not to benconfused with your local College ofnBeauty Culture.nAt the risk of providing a free ad fornthe firm, the level to which medicalnscience has taken us must be cited in anhungry Homeric list. To wit:n*Abdomen: Abdominoplasty, suction-assistednlipectomy (SAL)n*Arms: Lipectomy, SALn* Breasts: Augmentation mammoplasty,ngynecomastia, mastopexy, reductionnmammoplastyn* Buttocks: Buttock lift, fat reintroduction,nSALn*Cheeks: Malar augmentation, SALn*Chin: Augmentation mentoplasty,nreduction mentoplasty, submentalnSALn*Ears: Otoplastyn”^Eyes: Accents permanent lashliner,nblepharoplastyn*Face: Forehead lift, rhytidectomy,nSALn*Hair: Flaps, plugs, scalp reductionn*Hips: SALn*Mouth: Augmentation cheiloplasty,nreduction cheiloplastyn*Nose: Rhinoplastyn*Skin: Chemabrasion, dermabrasion,nzyderm collagen, zyplast collagenn*Thighs: SAL, thigh liftnCertainly, one can only stare innwonder at this technological arsenal ofnplastic reconfiguration.nFar be it from me to impugn thenbeauty of the women of Dallas. I lustnin my heart as well as the next guy.nBut the whole thing strikes me asnanalogous to the food-engineered Butterballnturkey: It sure may look good,nbut it can’t sing.nGary Vasilash eats hamburgers, triglyceridesnnotwithstanding.nOCTOBER 1987 I 47n