Question: What exactly did Ryback mean when he told Private Nash that they "brainwashed him at Boot Camp"? I never understood that line all these years.
raywest
18th Oct 2023
Under Siege (1992)
Answer: Boot camp teaches you to obey. As long as the person talking to you has a higher rank, you're supposed to say "yes, sir or yes, ma'am." You do what you're told when you're told. You don't question it. That's why he goes along with putting Ryback in the freezer instead of the brig. That's why he believes it when he's told that the gunfire is party poppers. That's why Ryback says he's been brainwashed. Because he can't or won't think for himself.
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Answer: Adding to the other answer, boot camp/basic training is designed to break down recruits' personalities, individuality, resistance, and other behaviors to reprogram their thinking to align with the military and train them into a unified fighting force.
raywest ★