I went to see American Sniper last night with Andrea Parlatore. It was an absolutely incredible movie, one of the best that Ive seen. However, with the growing criticism of the film, I thought I’d make a few observations. First, I completely disagree with the people complaining that Chris Kyle dehumanized the Iraqi people, calling them “savages.” Making such broad generalizations fails to account for the distinction between Iraqis and insurgents. Chris wasnt out there to kill civilians, a point that was made clear in the film, but largely ignored by the critics because it doesnt support their political agenda. Second, I cannot comprehend the problems people have with killing terrorists. Every person Chris killed was a combatant who was on the battlefield with intent to kill Americans. Many, like Mustafa, were foreign fighters who traveled to Iraq for the sole purpose of killing Americans. If people want to debate the political reasons for the war, they can, but this is not the forum. Criticizing the American servicemember for doing his job effectively and legally for decisions that are made by politicians is the same tragic mistake that people made in vilifying Vietnam veterans. How is honoring Chris Kyle’s achievements any different from how we gave John Basilone a hero’s welcome after Guadalcanal? The third point I’d like to make was somewhat unique to our viewing experience. The vast majority of the people in the theater were respectful and enjoyed the movie. However, there was one group of young people that were talking, laughing, making inappropriate comments, using their cell phones, taking photos with the flashes, etc. I figured that they were just a group of undisciplined, disrespectful teenagers. What was shocking to me was that when the lights came on at the end, we could see that they were actually religiously observant Muslims. The women were wearing hijabs. Why on earth would they go to watch this movie, only to spend the whole time disrupting and disrespecting everyone else? I was left with the impression that they were being intentionally provocative, which doesn’t much help the current debate about the distinction between “radical Islam” and the “religion of peace.”
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 15:50:45 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015