Anyone seen American Sniper yet?

[Everlong]

So everyone on my Facebook is either calling it "AWESOME ZOMG GO SEE BEST EVAR" or "THIS MOVIE IS RACIST PROPAGANDA." The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but I figured I'd get some opinions from people on here.

Anyone see this yet? What'd you think of it?

[The Legend]

I haven't seen it myself, but everyone I know that has said it's awesome.

[JDD]

I saw it and loved it. Anyone who says its racist propaganda must have been watching a different movie. It shows the harsh reality of war and touches on ptsd throughout the film. Definatley not a " GO ENLIST MERICA FUCK YEAH" movie. People say it glorifies killing but I didnt get that at all from the movie. Definatley reccomend giving it a watch.

[Matteo]

It's an easy film to target and baselessly assert as propaganda because it's fundamentally about a member of the US military killing people. That's all you need to engender a large array of critics dubbing it as a work that 'glorifies war'. All art is rudimentarily political, yes, but you're always going to be the recipient of backlash if you make a film like this. It's sad because a lot of people that dub it as 'propaganda' haven't even bothered seeing the film. Or, if they have, they're so heavily clouded by their own political biases and motivations.

[DanielsonTHAGOAT]

Yes, it most definitely is racist propaganda. As a Muslim myself, I was appalled at the blatant racism of the film. A lot of people in the Muslim community felt the same way.

The only people that aren't calling it racist are white conservatives and I'm not surprised

It's sickening that people use racism like this then hide it behind the mask of patriotism. I just can't believe shit like this was allowed to be produced in 2015, it's like this fucking country will never move on with race.

[JDD]

Yes, it most definitely is racist propaganda. As a Muslim myself, I was appalled at the blatant racism of the film. A lot of people in the Muslim community felt the same way.

The only people that aren't calling it racist are white conservatives and I'm not surprised

It's sickening that people use racism like this then hide it behind the mask of patriotism. I just can't believe shit like this was allowed to be produced in 2015, it's like this fucking country will never move on with race.

Yup Im totally a white conservative...

And have you seen the film? Please tell me where is the racist propaganda?

[DanielsonTHAGOAT]

Yes, it most definitely is racist propaganda. As a Muslim myself, I was appalled at the blatant racism of the film. A lot of people in the Muslim community felt the same way.

The only people that aren't calling it racist are white conservatives and I'm not surprised

It's sickening that people use racism like this then hide it behind the mask of patriotism. I just can't believe shit like this was allowed to be produced in 2015, it's like this fucking country will never move on with race.

Yup Im totally a white conservative...

And have you seen the film? Please tell me where is the racist propaganda?

Chris Kyle, the guy this film is based off has gone on record to say the following:

“I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the Iraqis.”

"I only wish I killed more [Iraqis]"

"I loved what I did"

"I'm not lying or exaggerating when I said it was fun".

This man who gets painted as a hero and rewarded is known for making comments like this about the Iraqi/brown people. This man brags about killing people in the war and how he enjoyed it. You really see nothing wrong with Hollywood promoting someone like that?

Don't even try to say it doesn't encourage propaganda because there's a whole batch of people on social media posting shit like this and getting hundreds to thousands of likes/retweets



And you want to talk about PTSD, how about my mom and her side of the family that had her country raided overnight and saw their friends killed & raped before their eyes due to Ronald Reagan's ignorance in the 80s. Where's the movies about them? Where's the movie on the Bush administration encouraging soldiers to torture innocent Muslims? Where's the movie on those Muslim people that come into America with no money in their pocket and make a good living in America? Where's all that? It's nowhere to be found because according to Hollywood we're all bloodthirsty killers that hate America for being Christian. That's pretty much what Hollywood has summarized the Muslim people.

As far as the actual movie, there's one specific scene where the Muslim man invites the soldiers over for Eid and he was supposed to be one of those "good Muslim" people only to find out that he too is an extremist. Fucking amazing. Also within the first 5 minutes of the film, it establishes the idea that all women dressed in traditional Islamic clothing are terrorists too, WOMEN. Like who did the research for this movie? Women in Iraq were constantly oppressed so it's laughable that they're painted as terrorists. Throughout the film, CHILDERN AND WOMEN ARE PORTRAYED AS KILLERS.

In conclusion, the film completely re-writes the history of what truly did happen in the Iraqi war and in the Middle East in general. For example; Bush encouraging troops to use torture techniques on innocent Muslims.

So yes, it is propaganda, when every Muslim American says this movie is insulting and offensive, it probably is.

[Str8Shooter]

^^^^^^^

I haven't seen the movie so I can't really comment on most of the stuff that you said. But are you really going to use 4 random tweets from people as an argument that it's turning everybody against Muslims? That's absurd.

You could go on Twitter and find 4 tweets about any subject that make those people and their argument seem dumb as hell.

[Kyle]

After 9/11, Kyle and many other soldiers had great reason to hate Iraqis extremists. And with ISIS at large, I'm dead certain that it's far more than Americans who despise them also. Yes, there are always going to be dickheads who are completely racist and hate all Muslims, but there are plenty out there who know better and only hate the extremists in the Middle East.

[DanielsonTHAGOAT]

^^^^^^^

I haven't seen the movie so I can't really comment on most of the stuff that you said. But are you really going to use 4 random tweets from people as an argument that it's turning everybody against Muslims? That's absurd.

You could go on Twitter and find 4 tweets about any subject that make those people and their argument seem dumb as hell.

Those tweets and Facebook posts have over thousands of retweets/likes. There's plenty more but don't be dismissive about their ignorance because there's a lot of people posting stuff like this on Twitter/Facebook.

After 9/11, Kyle and many other soldiers had great reason to hate Iraqis extremists. And with ISIS at large, I'm dead certain that it's far more than Americans who despise them also. Yes, there are always going to be dickheads who are completely racist and hate all Muslims, but there are plenty out there who know better and only hate the extremists in the Middle East.

While you are right, the problem is that the movie doesn't reflect your views. It basically tells the audience that all Muslims are evil, even the ones you think are innocent such as children and women. It's really sickening.

[Everlong]

Did you see the movie though Danielson?

[Kyle]

I'm no expert, but I'm sure at least some women and children were involved in the war, by consent or not. I haven't seen the film but will soon. I certainly want to see it after hearing all the controversy it has caused.

[DanielsonTHAGOAT]

Did you see the movie though Danielson?

Yeah, the audience actually stood up and clapped at the end. That part is what really hurt me, I don't think I've legitimately felt that hurt in a long time. I understand I'm being a little passionate but it was because of that experience that left a really sour taste in my mouth.

[JDD]

After 9/11, Kyle and many other soldiers had great reason to hate Iraqis extremists. And with ISIS at large, I'm dead certain that it's far more than Americans who despise them also. Yes, there are always going to be dickheads who are completely racist and hate all Muslims, but there are plenty out there who know better and only hate the extremists in the Middle East.

While you are right, the problem is that the movie doesn't reflect your views. It basically tells the audience that all Muslims are evil, even the ones you think are innocent such as children and women. It's really sickening.[/quote]

How did you get that from the movie? Ill put this next part in spoiler tags since its about a specific scene.

Spoiler:

It realy didnt portray the child as evil. The kid was given the grenade. To me this showed that the kid wasnt evil, he was corrupted by the extremist. Not once did I think that he was just an evil muslim.

Watch the scene again. To say this movie portrays all muslims as evil is wrong. It portrays extremist as evil. Which they are.

Spoiler:

What about the father and child that were killed by the man with the drill? Were they shown as evil? Nope

[Everlong]

I will say that two of my best friends fought overseas, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Both said that they heard of and personally witnessed situations where women and children were armed and attacking U.S. troops, because the enemy knew that soldiers would not expect it. They'd have people dressed as civilians fire a few pot shots then run away. My buddy who fought in Afghanistan said this was one of the most frustrating parts of doing patrols... Al Qaeda knew that the U.S. soldiers weren't going to attack anyone who appeared to be an innocent civilian, which made it easier to get in a few cheap shots before dashing off.

Now, of course, you can't automatically assume that these people were at all sympathetic to the enemy's cause, but the fact is that either through influence or of their own volition, it definitely was (and is) a common occurrence for seemingly innocent-looking people to occasionally lash out and attack soldiers.

[EmperorWu]

Damn I was ready to watch this after the hype train rolled through. But now that I've heard what Danielson said I don't know if I want to face the disappointment. Regardless of how the movie portrays anything the fact that opinions like those posted on twitter are so supported is fucking soul crushing. I've seen this in "real life" a lot, how OK most Americans are with saying things like that about middle eastern people or being OK with others saying it, infuriates me. I've always been of the opinion that the more you deny the humanity of others the more you prove how little you have. I have no problem with people hating terrorism or religious extremism obviously, but I have a big problem with people using that as an excuse to see all people from that area as less than human.

[Hanley!]

I haven't seen the film yet, as from what I've heard of it I don't think I'd enjoy it much. And even if it's really well made the subject matter seems a bit heavy and isn't something I have a huge interest in so that would keep me from getting too excited about it.

As to what Danielson's saying, I just wanted to chime in that from what I've heard the movie does misrepresent Chris Kyle in certain ways. It does overlook some of the more troubling aspects of his character and maybe makes him look more of a hero than he actually was. But I'm not sure that qualifies as propaganda. Biopics almost always take some liberties with the facts in order to make their protagonists more likable or to shape the events into a more conventional narrative.

I do recognise that this becomes more controversial when it's about a more recent time. And possibly it is then in bad taste. Maybe it's wrong to make people think this guy was a better person than he actually was. But at the very least, I think it's a hell of a lot better to write him differently and romanticize him a bit than actually including some of the quotes you mentioned and still romanticizing him. Seems to me that the film makes a hero out of this man that they kinda made up, rather than the real man who did some things we shouldn't be endorsing.

[SortaCreative]

Not seen the film yet but... the media train currently chugging along about this film is making it really hard to make me want to see it and appreciate it as just a film.

The right wing media of America just make me want to vomit blood rather than watch this film, which is sad cos I usually like Clint's movies. This just looks like stupid 'murica fuck yeah jingoism. When you have Fox News still somehow legally allowed to air it's utter lies over the air waves you wonder why everyone has such a negative opinion of America. They recently took credit for being the world police and saving India and allowing their middle class to grow. Fuck off. You've got nothing to do with economic growth in India. Shit like this just makes it hard to take this seriously.

I'm not Arabian. But even I would struggle to watch a film where people of brown skin are butchered and made out to be the enemy by an invading force. What kind of minds came up with that? Who the fuck do they think they are? I think it was Seth Rogan that brought up the propaganda film that was in Inglorious Basterds. How is this film any different from that German sniper film?

[Everlong]

Just saw the movie tonight. It's a decent flick but definitely not best picture nominee material, and Bradley Cooper in no way deserves the nomination over David Oyelowo from Selma. Probably a 6.5 or 7/10 or so for me.

Gotta say though, I agree with @JDD in saying that the Islamophobia bit of this movie is definitely overstated by people. However, there certainly are way too many issues in the movie of it being portrayed as a very black and white, good vs. evil conflict, and there are some situations in which the insurgents are portrayed in an almost cartoon villainish way (never speaking, certain facial expressions, etc.).

So I dunno, overall an above average movie that probably has some issues of whitewashing the protagonist (I don't know much about Chris Kyle IRL) and a few racial insensitivity issues, but I certainly wouldn't classify it as a racist movie overall.

[Everlong]

Also within the first 5 minutes of the film, it establishes the idea that all women dressed in traditional Islamic clothing are terrorists too, WOMEN. Like who did the research for this movie? Women in Iraq were constantly oppressed so it's laughable that they're painted as terrorists. Throughout the film, CHILDERN AND WOMEN ARE PORTRAYED AS KILLERS.

After having actually seen the movie now, I have to say that if this was your takeaway from those scenes then it was a huge overreaction.