What a shock: Hollywood pushing back at "The Sniper"

Why is acknowledging the fallibility of our warfighters unpatriotic or "character assassination?"

Same question for acknowledging that war is awful and does awful things to human beings, both exceptional and otherwise?

Part of the problem is that some people think anything less than unrelenting machismo is weakness. That's part of the reason these people don't get the help they need when they come home.

 

I am not a conservative but am an admirer of Kyle. I just re-read most of the NYT piece, and didn't see much that was objectionable. The Katrina questions are about the only thing that stood out, but as the piece said, it was more likely just him trying to feel relevant after leaving the service. I haven't seen much that I would call character assassination ... how did that term even come up? But Kyle's actions are certainly not above questioning. I just believe that he performed an important and dangerous job with noble intent and saved a lot of lives. If people want to classify him as a cold-blooded killer, I'll just have to disagree.

 

You kill as many people as Kyle did, you ARE a cold-blooded killer. People who feel remorse don't kill hundreds of people.

Of course, he was trained to be so and ill-equipped to do anything else as a result. But he was what he was.

 

To me, he was just doing a job he thought was important and he was very good at. He somewhat found a way to compartmentalize it, but it still had long-term effects on him. He obviously is a killer, but I don't think he enjoyed killing, even if at times he indicated he did. From what I have read, he seemed to have a pretty good outlook on it compared to some of his fellow soldiers.

 

The truth is the truth.

And, again, I'm no expert on Kyle. The wife just bought the hard copy of the book, but hasn't read it yet, so I probably won't see the movie right away.

But, like almost everyone, Kyle sounds complicated to me. He did both good things and bad things. And, I', fine with reporting on, and writing about, it all. And, when you write a book about yourself, you should certainly expect people to want to know more (unless you're running for President).

To me, the character assassination comes in the conclusions people draw from what they've learned about him. He's been called a coward by Michael Moore (who pretends he wasn't speaking about Kyle).

I'm not sure why we have to determine that he's either the Greatest American Super Hero, or a murderous coward.

And, while you're right that some on the right have become unnaturally attached to Kyle, and the narrative of his life, the very fact that an American Sniper is seen as heroic to some seems to have offended some on the left, who are determined that he not be seen as such. They'd prefer we look up to cocoa sipping, pajama wearing, metrosexuals, who like to sit up late and discuss healthcare reform.

 

"Some"? Or Michael Moore?

 

Cocoa sipping
Pajama wearing
Metrosexual

... I'm using that.

 

I agree. I am not quick to anoint him a hero, but I certainly have a hell of a lot of respect for what he did. And Michael Moore is an ass. Most us know that by now. Haven't seen a lot of what I would I would consider character assassination, but it does aggravate me that people would disrespect Kyle's service because they disagreed with the wars politically.

 

Notice that YF didn't criticize latte sippers!

 

What year did Chris Kyle enlist?

 

I almost did -- with a disclaimer! But, then I remembered, wasn't cocoa referenced as to what Pajama Boy was sipping?

 

What is wrong with people?