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

Interesting take

The American Sniper controversy proves film critics matter / The Dissolve

Also with noting that Michelle Obama is a fan of the movie and praised it quite publicly.

 

Film adapted from a book I've never read and never would,
about a marksman from a war I never supported,
whose killings have nothing to do with preservation of our liberties.

But losing a lawsuit to Jesse Ventura- LOL. That's a movie I'd watch. Maybe Michael Moore can direct it.

 

Colonel in the Marines who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and somewhere else (can't remember) and has sons who served in Yemen and elsewhere over there was in the gallery the other day. I asked him if he saw the movie -- Yes -- and he said it's pretty realistic in terms of telling the story of the toll war takes on a family such as Kyle's.

Also interesting, he said, and it may have been brought up here, is that Kyle went to tour rather late in life -- he was 30'ish on his first tour? Is this correct? Does it matter in relation to some of the things we've talked about here?

This colonel wasn't being all Hoo-rah! about the movie for the sake of being someone who pulled the trigger often. I asked him for an honest assessment and he said that the story as told is pretty spot-on.

 

Another Sniper. Good read.

I was an American sniper, and Chris Kyle’s war was not my war - Salon.com

 

I thought this was an interesting observation:

"I've heard it said by colleagues that American Sniper is the kind of movie that was going to get made anyway, and it’s best that it got made by someone as ambivalent about the business of war as Eastwood."

American Sniper, movie politics, and the snipe hunt for accuracy · For Our Consideration · The A.V. Club

 

I started reading the book last night and got about 30 pages in before I conked out. He definitely doesn't lack moral clarity - and he notes within the first page or two that the Marines were on their way to "liberat(e) Iraq from Saddam Hussein." He mentions quite a bit how "evil" the enemy was.

Lots so far about his days working on a ranch and participating in rodeos.

It's strange. He says that he was rejected at first for the SEALs and the military because of a prior rodeo wrist injury that required pins. Then he says he just got a call out of the blue one day that he was accepted. He doesn't say what changed. Maybe he didn't know himself.

 

I saw the film this weekend.

I have to say, I'm a little surprised by the controversy. The idea that Kyle gets a nuance in the film he didn't possess in real life seems a little naive frankly. Because what he wrote in his memoir reflected a more macho attitude? I have no problem thinking Kyle might have felt somewhat conflicted about shooting kids, but didn't want to reveal as much to the people writing the book. It's not as if he sat down at a computer and banged this out.

I make no attempt to hide my liberalism here, but I don't quite think there are any major problems with this film. So it doesn't capture the entire moral complexities of the Iraq war. Well shit, what film or story does? Certainly this film does capture a certain perspective and it's certainly a valid one. Horrible shit did happen there and I've got no issues with telling a story about some of the SEALS who dealt with some of it. It wasn't a great film, but it was interesting. I don't really think some of his other fibs in real life are relevant to this film. The guy wasn't some monster. You bet your ass if I was a Marine kicking down doors, I'd want someone like Chris Kyle watching my back. That politicians lied and misled and lit billions of dollars on fire during this mess is relevant to history, but no so much Kyle's role in it.

 

Hmmm .... Lots of food for thought.

I'm still not convinced that you can 100 percent separate Chris Kyle or any other individual's moral culpability from the underlying action. Like I wrote in the post above yours, Kyle himself writes on page 1 or 2 of his memoir that the Marines were on their way to "liberat(e) Iraq from Saddam Hussein." He did not misspeak. This was not a throwaway line. It was an intentional early signal to the reader that he believed in the Iraq War. It feels infantilizing to me for us to then separate him from the problems we have with the conflict. I don't think he would want have wanted to be separated from the underlying cause, which he supported whole-heartedly.

Also, the memoir doesn't merely reflect a more "macho" attitude. That's soft-pedaling it a bit. From what I can tell so far - and, like I said, I'm just digging in, the book was basically written to explain to us how unrepentant he is, how clear his conscience. This wasn't a guy keeping a couple things from his ghost writers. His moral clarity was the premise upon which the entire tome rests.

 

Here is my rebuttal: Isn't that exactly what we want from soldiers? Not up to them to debate the mission (obviously war crimes aside).

 

That book leaves no doubt that Kyle was not tortured by his actions in Iraq. The movie leaves some doubt. I'll go with the book for
Kyle's true state of mind.

 

Eddie Ray Routh's murder trial is about to begin, and it's difficult to seat an unbiased jury:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/10/u...an-sniper-model-sets-town-on-edge.html?ref=us

 

Verdict is in.