Last night, Travis and I went to see American Sniper.
This movie is catching all kind of controversy right now. After I saw it, I read a few pretty detailed reviews and other articles about it to see what people were thinking about it. I know that a lot of prominent figures in Hollywood have had words to say over it and I was curious as to what other people were saying as well.
A lot of people are upset that the movie just isn't accurate enough. They aren't explaining the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. They're making people think that it was caused by 9/11. They're making Chris Kyle out to seem like he was remorseful. They're turning the war into a human interest story...
As someone who know that the War on Terror wasn't a direct result of 9/11 and as someone who can understand the want to defend the freedom of the American people I really enjoyed the movie...most of the criticism surrounding it is saying that they are leaving out way too many details about the war. Well, film critics and random people alike, I've got news for you...This movie wasn't about the war. It was about a person. Chris Kyle. It's called "American Sniper" not "A War on Terror and American Snipers In General: An exactly factual documentary on the war in the middle east"
Since when does Hollywood get everything right and always depict the story exactly as it happened? I feel like they are simply expecting something from a movie that rarely if ever happens. I swear, people criticizing this movie are assuming that every single viewer will watch it and assume that all of that was real footage and Bradly Cooper is the same guy as Chris Kyle. It's a movie. They have to make people like it or it isn't going to make any money...so they're going to dramatize. Why on earth would you expect anything else? I'm not really trying to say that it's okay...but it happens with everything.
Example: The movie Captain Phillips. A very exciting film based on a true story. It's totally inspiring to watch Tom Hanks "save" everyone on the ship...when if you look into the story a little bit more, the crew members will tell you that Captain Phillips was being arrogant when they went too close to the shore. That his moves were actually more detrimental than they were helpful...but it was widely liked film that didn't really depict exactly what happened, rather it told a dramatized story about a true event with a more specific protagonist.
Example: The movie Captain Phillips. A very exciting film based on a true story. It's totally inspiring to watch Tom Hanks "save" everyone on the ship...when if you look into the story a little bit more, the crew members will tell you that Captain Phillips was being arrogant when they went too close to the shore. That his moves were actually more detrimental than they were helpful...but it was widely liked film that didn't really depict exactly what happened, rather it told a dramatized story about a true event with a more specific protagonist.
So I choose to sort of take this one at face value. The story in American Sniper is based on a true story about the most lethal sniper in American History. It notes the issues that soldiers who go to war face. It talked about readjusting to the regular family lifestyle and PTSD. And it showed grueling images that state how war is hell.
Maybe instead of seeing all those "bad" things about the movie we can just allow it to symbolize all the brave men and women who have died in the line of duty and those who have suffered the consequences of fighting a war.
