I finally finished watching American Sniper. Great film... Let me first of all say, that over 90% of you all that bashed the film, most likely didn't even watch it. You lazily looked at reviews or read the tweets and posts of bigoted idiots that said the film stirred their disdain for Muslims/Arabs. For someone to look at this film and come away with negative feelings towards Muslims/Arabs because some were killed in it, is idiotic to say the least. Furthermore, for people to witness the moronic behavior of such people and then claim the movie is anti-Arab/Muslim is insane. Americans were killed in the film as well--by another sniper no less. This movie does not demonize Arabs, Muslims, or Iraqis at all. It is an inside and raw look at the effects of war in general and the Iraqi war specifically.
It is not about just his acts that some people deem heroic. That's up for the viewer to decide. Having been deployed myself and having had four of my six younger brothers do numerous tours to Iraq, Afghanistan, or both, I can tell you firsthand, there's nothing glorious, beautiful, or heroic about war. War sucks. War is hell. War is death, misery, and destruction--for all involved; except for the politicians that claim victory and the private companies that profit from it. For people to say that this film was nothing but and Arab/Muslim kill-fest is so far from reality.
The film, among other things, is a brilliant juxtaposition about the costs of war. Even the concept of victory (in the context of war) is short-lived and ill-conceived. For example, on the battlefield, Mr. Kyle was seen as a warrior who never tasted defeat. Yet, away from the front lines, when he was at home, he was losing his family in the process. Out of ten years, he did four tours in Iraq. He was saving lives but his marriage was dying and his kids were growing up without him. He lost brothers in arms and with each death a part of him was gone as well. Not to mention he was forced to live with the guilt thereof. In addition, as he became synonymous with death, he himself began to die slowly by becoming more and more like the cold steel rifles he used to "do his job." In essence, he was becoming a machine--a weapon--a tool of death. And as the body count increased, his humanity decreased.
But people that come to the movie to find fault with their tired anti-American garbage will miss the nuances, metaphors, and shared struggles we face with Mr. Kyle. In the end, his attempt at redemption finally cost him his own life by the same means that he was forced to take them--from the bullet on a man in uniform. I repeat, the movie is great. But anytime you go to watch or listen to something with your mind already made up, you cheat yourself from the experience and end up parroting some other idiotic, close minded person.
This film is not about American foreign policy. Trust me, we in uniform and out of uniform can clearly see that our government's foreign policies and geopolitical political stances are stupid, hypocritical, counterproductive, wasteful, and even can at times be classified and inhumane and treasonous. We know that we had no business in Iraq and Saddam Hussein had as much to do with 9-11 as Krusty the Clown. We also know that the whole "Weapons of Mass Destruction" and "Nuclear Capabilities" reasoning was a sham. Trying to tie this biopic into that is also a stretch of the same illogical proportions. Whether you agree with the actions of Mr. Kype or not is up to you. But one thing cannot be argued; what he did took courage, intelligence, skill, love for his fellow men in arms, and cold concentration. Did he murder innocent people? Maybe. Did he follow orders. Yes. Was he simply a trigger happy redneck from Texas that one day hoped a movie about his life would influence people to hate Arabs and Muslims? Absolutely not.
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