Steve Wilson's Blog - Posts Tagged "chris-kyle"
My Take on the 'American Sniper' Dust-Up
'American Sniper', the biopic of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle's multiple tours in Iraq, has now topped $200 million. In its opening, the film shattered records and was number one at the box office again this past weekend. America has embraced this film, and its popularity is staggering for those who considered it 'just another war film'.
It's far from just that. Currently, it's poised to be the most widely received motion picture focused on conflict. There are nuanced layers to this movie that could launch a thousand blogs, and undoubtedly have, and as always, its popularity has leftists wringing their hands in an apoplectic lather.
It doesn't surprise me that liberal America has taken the message of this film—and by extension, Chris Kyle's life—and spun it in a direction that most wouldn't see coming. Clearly, this film must be explained away, and the mediocre and left-of-center media is working overtime in that regard.
Just today, a commentator on one website dissected the movie, and addressed concerns that 'American Sniper' is anti-Muslim. He dismissed that idea and had a different take, spinning the focus away from that view, and through his eyes, he came to the conclusion that the movie is 'anti-war'.
Okay. I'll accept that idea. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan. As a veteran, in a family of veterans, I don't much care for war. It has its uses; ending slavery, toppling despotic regimes, and destroying various Evil Empires worldwide, just to name a few. At times it's necessary. But there's always a price to be paid; death, broken and injured lives, destroyed families, and wholesale slaughter. The list doesn't end there, and I think you get the idea.
But what I think the leftists are trying to do by casting 'American Sniper' as an anti-war film misses the point. Nudging our perspective in that direction uses weasel words to get the focus off the bigger picture. For me, this movie depicts our troops as heroic, courageous, selfless, and dedicated to something bigger than themselves. And I guess it should come as no surprise that the left can't wrap their brains around that notion.
And why should they? The left's agenda (and the mainstream media) is to delegitimize the war against terror, and again, by extension, the men and women who have invested themselves in that fight. I saw that first-hand upon returning from northern Iraq in 2009. Our local newspaper published an editorial advocating policies that would have put our troops at risk--troops like my own son, whom I left behind just days before in the province of Kirkuk.
My wife and I saw 'American Sniper' this past weekend, not for entertainment, or part of our date night, but to show support for the film. Some of the scenes were stark reminders of what I saw in Iraq, and also Afghanistan. I'm sure many wives and mothers couldn't watch some of it, particularly when it struck a chord much too close to home.
I wasn't in combat (unless you count the mortars and rockets lobbed over our heads), but like my comrades-in-arms, I went to support the war-fighters downrange, and also my fellow squadron mates. In that I found a certain humble nobility, and I suspect anyone who bleeds red, white and blue would feel the same.
I think most Americans are flocking to this film because they know or love someone who has participated in these last two wars. They go to show their support for the veterans who have lived these wars--the same veterans for whom they prayed and wept over during their times of deployment.
Think about it. How many men and women do you know who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, or other far-flung corners of our globe?
Most have come home, but far too many didn't, and many more are still struggling to find their place here--while others are even now preparing to go. See the movie for yourself, and make your own judgments. In reality, 'American Sniper' isn't just another war movie, or a film about Chris Kyle (as heroic as he was). It's about every military family who has volunteered to serve their country.
It's far from just that. Currently, it's poised to be the most widely received motion picture focused on conflict. There are nuanced layers to this movie that could launch a thousand blogs, and undoubtedly have, and as always, its popularity has leftists wringing their hands in an apoplectic lather.
It doesn't surprise me that liberal America has taken the message of this film—and by extension, Chris Kyle's life—and spun it in a direction that most wouldn't see coming. Clearly, this film must be explained away, and the mediocre and left-of-center media is working overtime in that regard.
Just today, a commentator on one website dissected the movie, and addressed concerns that 'American Sniper' is anti-Muslim. He dismissed that idea and had a different take, spinning the focus away from that view, and through his eyes, he came to the conclusion that the movie is 'anti-war'.
Okay. I'll accept that idea. I've been to Iraq and Afghanistan. As a veteran, in a family of veterans, I don't much care for war. It has its uses; ending slavery, toppling despotic regimes, and destroying various Evil Empires worldwide, just to name a few. At times it's necessary. But there's always a price to be paid; death, broken and injured lives, destroyed families, and wholesale slaughter. The list doesn't end there, and I think you get the idea.
But what I think the leftists are trying to do by casting 'American Sniper' as an anti-war film misses the point. Nudging our perspective in that direction uses weasel words to get the focus off the bigger picture. For me, this movie depicts our troops as heroic, courageous, selfless, and dedicated to something bigger than themselves. And I guess it should come as no surprise that the left can't wrap their brains around that notion.
And why should they? The left's agenda (and the mainstream media) is to delegitimize the war against terror, and again, by extension, the men and women who have invested themselves in that fight. I saw that first-hand upon returning from northern Iraq in 2009. Our local newspaper published an editorial advocating policies that would have put our troops at risk--troops like my own son, whom I left behind just days before in the province of Kirkuk.
My wife and I saw 'American Sniper' this past weekend, not for entertainment, or part of our date night, but to show support for the film. Some of the scenes were stark reminders of what I saw in Iraq, and also Afghanistan. I'm sure many wives and mothers couldn't watch some of it, particularly when it struck a chord much too close to home.
I wasn't in combat (unless you count the mortars and rockets lobbed over our heads), but like my comrades-in-arms, I went to support the war-fighters downrange, and also my fellow squadron mates. In that I found a certain humble nobility, and I suspect anyone who bleeds red, white and blue would feel the same.
I think most Americans are flocking to this film because they know or love someone who has participated in these last two wars. They go to show their support for the veterans who have lived these wars--the same veterans for whom they prayed and wept over during their times of deployment.
Think about it. How many men and women do you know who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan, or other far-flung corners of our globe?
Most have come home, but far too many didn't, and many more are still struggling to find their place here--while others are even now preparing to go. See the movie for yourself, and make your own judgments. In reality, 'American Sniper' isn't just another war movie, or a film about Chris Kyle (as heroic as he was). It's about every military family who has volunteered to serve their country.
