MovieChat Forums > Platoon (1987) Discussion > Did Barnes kill Manny in some sick plot ...

Did Barnes kill Manny in some sick plot to harden his men?

posted 10 years ago by julielambert99
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Did Barnes kill Manny in some sick plot to harden his men? My mom had explained to me that, to her, when Chris' and Barnes' eyes meet slightly before they notice Manny is missing, Chris had caught Barnes reflecting on killing Manny (Chris doesn't know this, he is just watching him because he looks troubled, part of why Barnes is startled when he catches Chris looking at him. She says he had just killed Manny before getting back to camp and was settling in when Chris starting to watch him). They notice Manny is missing when they go to move on from that point. Then they find Manny after this, mutilated. She says it was Barnes. HE is the psychopath killer in this movie. He hates the enemy. He kills Manny in order to stir up the men and make them more ruthless. He wants to make them into killers like him. He wants to make them hate the enemy like he does. After he kills Manny and gives them the speech, many of them are ripe to "do the whole town". They don't question his tactics. He definitely goes over the top at this point. Killing the woman, and such. I had always thought this to be so. Everyone I tell this to thinks I am crazy. I just took my mother for her word.

[–] GirlwonderReturns 10 years ago

Um.... no.

Barnes looks troubled (and is actually crying) in that scene because he just saw two of his men blown to pieces by a booby trap. He goes apesht on the town because of the deaths of Sandy, Sal and Manny. Barnes didn't kill Manny. Tell your mom she's wrong.

Saying "I apologize" is the same as saying "I'm sorry." Except at a funeral.

[–] Elephantlips 10 years ago

Is it really necessary to do the whole, "Ummm... no" thing?

All it does is make you look like a smarmy a-hole. Which I'm sure you are, so I guess it fits. Thanks for revealing that.

[–] GirlwonderReturns 10 years ago

So you were able to divine what kind of person I am from one sentence typed on the internet, judged and insulted me, and I'M the smarmy a-hole? I love irony...

Saying "I apologize" is the same as saying "I'm sorry." Except at a funeral.

[–] nickm2 10 years ago

Just smile & roll with it; or come up with a colorfully flippant quip.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] Comatose_Conscience 9 years ago

It's true though, dude. And I'm not saying you are a smarmy a-hole, please don't think I'm saying that...

But the whole 'umm...no' is a thing I've seen many a person type on the internet, and it always just comes across as the most douchebaggy sentence a person can start out with. It just sounds immediately condescending and needlessly flippant. I hate it when people do that lol. 

[–] cockroachcharlie 9 years ago

Um.......no.

Sorry. I had to. :-)

Yeah. It can come off as kind of dickish at times. Text doesn't always translate well. I personally tend to reserve it for when something comes completely out of left feel and is extremely obviously wrong (not counting troll posts).

"Did Barnes kill Elias cause he did his sister and videotaped it?"

Um.....no.

Get it?

[–] Comatose_Conscience 9 years ago

Get it?

Um.....no.

[–] nickm2 10 years ago

Unlikely; as they were in an NVA bunker complex, that means there had to be NVA around-skulking around the jungle to murder Manny would be a great way to end up with your head separated from your body.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] Jakealope 10 years ago

I don't see where Barnes even had an opportunity to grab Manny when he and the other leaders converged to the bunker where Sandy & Sal got blasted. IT was the Lt who ordered Manny out on guard. It seemed a couple of NVA were still lurking around and saw an opportunity for mischief when Manny split off from the group.

What are they doing? Why do they come here?
Some kind of instinct, memory, what they used to do.

[–] julielambert99 10 years ago

Makes more sense. I was never really sold on the idea of Barnes being the killer although, he was a bad guy in many ways. I just thought it would be a good topic for discussion.

[–] Jakealope 10 years ago

If Barnes did it, I don't think Stone would have been subtle about it, he would have laid it out plain

[–] mobstar1967 10 years ago

I don't believe Barnes killed Manny for a second..
Yes he eventually went on to try and kill Elias but that was only to save his own ass from a court marshal and possible imprisonment for an illegal shooting.. He's out of control but not to that extent..

[–] ynotony23 10 years ago

no Barnes didn't kill Manny. First off he did really know where Manny went. Lt. Wolf was the one that ordered Manny to that spot. Like the other said as well Barnes was sad because he just saw and had 2 of his friends blown away.(both those guys were in the clubhouse playing cards) Plus next time you watch it you can see a white tag around Manny's neck which is something the VC did to mock/insult US soldiers. Barnes killed that women because he was just fed up with everything. He thought they were lying about not knowing anything or helping the VC. He got sick of hearing her so he put her down. I don't think he was trying to turn everyone into killers he was doing his own thing. after the other soldier saw that, some of them are just as fed up and suggest killing everyone the war is taking away their humanity. IF Barnes was just planing to kill everyone in the village he wouldn't have gotten upset at the soldier who brought that guy to Barnes and tripped him. Barnes pointed at him and told him to get the hell out of here. He just wanted straight answers like i said he was sick of the BS.

[–] Chopperbubba 10 years ago

I couldn't see Barnes brutally killing one of his own troops to prove a point when they just lost two men to a booby trap. Barnes may have been a sadistic %#&@ who enjoyed killing VC, but a pure psychopath he wasn't.He showed genuine concern and emotion when someone died from his Platoon. He killed Elias out of survival, due to the looming court martial hanging over his head.

[–] tellbeerx 10 years ago

Julie, your mom made great points.

I also think Barnes kill Manny too just to harden his men. Why? because

1. it would be extremely stupid for NVC to give Platoon the excuse to start killing nearly villagers, villagers that provide them with provision.

2. Barnes knew where his platoon is heading at, and he put the corpse where everyone could see to eliminate any suspicion.

3. Give way for his men to start killing villagers - check. Their first victim? an unarmed mentally challenged man and he was also a crippled.

Examples from the above made me realize why the death counts for civilian in Vietnam were so high because leader like Barnes know how to inspired.

[–] nickm2 10 years ago

Civvie casualties are high because usually a village gets artillery prep & the NVA were very quick to make sure civilians were in the mix where they could amush allied units from bunkers in the village. It does build mistrust-like the cops in shytty parts of town (& trying to track down people with a history of firing at police) tend to be more trigger happy: shoot first ask questions later.'

All that being said, that's always been a feature of guerrilla wars. Yet in spite of all that, more civilians died AFTER the war because in true commie fashion the North Viets & their erstwhile allies/clients like the Khmer Rouge & Pathet Lao just couldn't resist 'liquidating class enemies';

Still, usually NVA would operate in the hills & jungles away from populated areas because they were nearer to their sanctuaries & basecamps, near or over the border.

Why can't you wretched prey creatures understand that the Universe doesn't owe you anything!?

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] tellbeerx 10 years ago

Try asking yourself this question: who has more freedom? the guy on watch or the guy claiming to be at the bunker to fool people like you into thinking you're not a nut? pun intended.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] 10 years ago

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[–] tellbeerx 10 years ago

Probably since hes not on guard duty remember? Manny is.

To get Manny distracted, all Barnes need to do is offer him a cig and stabby stabby.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] michaeluk26 10 years ago

1. The Vietnamese would most certainly take out an American soldier 50 meters from his platoon. The fact that the Americans butchered a village drove more and more people to see the Americans as the bad guys and would help hosted people to fight against them. The Vietnamese would have no samn problem with losing those supplies. They were fighting a political war as well as militarily. They never planned on winning the war militarily. They just had to inflict casualties and fight as long as they could. They were willing to fight till the last man as they viewed the war as another 1st world country trying to invade and subject them to slaves.

2. The VC killed Manny, oliver stone himself said the same thing happened to a guy he knew in vietnam . The VC even wrote a message and put it around his neck.

3. Barnes was not out to just murder people. He believed in the war. Killing the villagers was a natural reaction that many real life soldiers did as well. The 3 deaths of his troops, and Stone himself said Barnes deeply cared for those on his side of the platoon, along with finding the supplies simply boiled over into murder. Barnes did not set out that day to murder civillains.

Haters gonna hate

[–] bear022013-588-696101 10 years ago

I hope so!

[–] mjb442olds 10 years ago

In reading these comments I find that anyone thinks that Barnes killed Manny ludicrous. No way did he do that, and anyone thinks otherwise is delusional.