- Crosses the Line Twice: Judy's genuine grief and trauma over her husband dying while consummating their marriage being mixed with laments about the wedding gifts makes the scenes go back and forth from tragedy to comedy.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Sergeant Ross doesn't get much screentime or dialogue once Judy starts improving in training, but he is a pretty iconic character, especially for his Not So Above It All participation in the Victory Dance.
- Heartwarming in Hindsight: Kate Hudson was born a couple of months before her mother starred in this film, thus her mother even cared for her on-set!
- Karmic Over Kill: Private Winter's naked public humiliation in front of her mentor is a bit excessive for being a Teacher's Pet, enforcing the rules without too much severity, and sleeping with a commander.
- One-Scene Wonder: The silent soldier who gives Judy a Death Glare for asking if the uniforms are in another color her first day in camp makes the most of his few seconds.
- Tough Act to Follow: The story becomes way less interesting in the second half of the film, after Judy leaves the army for that Jerkass Henri.
- Unnecessary Makeover: In the second half of the film, Judy dyes her hair red for Henri, even though she was already a lot prettier with natural blonde hair.
- The Woobie: Judy's parents are controlling and emotionally abusive and broke up her first marriage (it's unclear if that was a good thing) while not engaging with her on a personal level when she tries. Her second husband dies as they have sex. She gets but through a harsh boot camp she isn't emotionally prepared for after being tricked into enlisting in the Army and feels shunned by a lot of the others for a while. Then, once she starts committing herself to becoming a soldier and feeling passion for that life, she's nearly assaulted by a commander, is forced to quit the Army because of her new lover being a Communist, then learns the guy is a cheater and misogynist.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/YMMV/PrivateBenjamin
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