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

If you liked American Sniper, you're probably just an angry Tea Party member:

“There’s a lot of anger in this country, and the people who go see this movie are people who are very angry,” Dean said on “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Friday.
...
“I bet you if you looked at the cross-section of the tea party and people who see this movie there’s a lot of intersection,”

Howard Dean: 'American Sniper' Viewers Are 'Very Angry' | The Daily Caller

 

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When I want a thoughtful take on pop culture, I go to politicians.

 

Yeah, but is Dean right?

Maybe the people who came out of the theater wanting to kill some ragheads went into the theater wanting to kill some ragheads

 

At the risk of outing myself/location, I won't give names, but I can say that I saw a lot of anti-Muslim sentiment after people viewed this movie. To be fair, most of that is probably self-fulfilling prophecy as people held these prejudices already.

But I do think the most credible criticism of this movie is that it makes next to no effort to humanize any Iraqi characters. Which poses a problem of nuance.

 

Again, I didn't see the movie, but is that necessary if you're telling the story from Kyle's point of view?

It's his story.

 

It's a storytelling problem, yes.

"This was Jackie's story."

Sound familiar?

 

From a creative writer's point of view (Ranked #1 in most persnickety ways I've started a sentence), yes, it's a problem. A well-crafted story isn't that easy, or black-and-white. That fairy tale version of good and evil doesn't work in the real world, and it undermines the complexity of what Kyle had to do. His job was harder BECAUSE these were human beings that surrounded him, some good, some bad, just like the rest of us in many ways, led by different cultures and questions.

I think a better version of the movie articulates Kyle's POV (which is more black and white), but also forces the viewer to see shades of gray. Otherwise, we don't truly see the complexities of war and the difficulty one must face in convincing himself that he's always doing what's best for mankind.

Also, just from a responsibility standpoint, it's dangerous to generalize an entire people as "bad." You can't assume your audience is smart enough to seek out the nuance you don't provide. And more people will see this movie than will hear voices of good Iraqi people in obscure documentaries or online profiles.