American Sniper,No Coward

[kaylagrl]

So my husband and I went to see American Sniper last night.After sitting there for two solid hours I still didn't find the place where it shows this man was a coward,as claimed by Micheal Moore.The movie shows occasions where he saved lives,one young man in particular.Moore said his grandfather was killed by a sniper so anyone who shoots people in the back is a coward.He seemed to miss the fact that Chris Kyle saved the lives of his fellow soldiers by shooting people who would have taken their lives had he not done so.Another comment was made by Howard Dean that the movie is being seen by "angry people" Well I wasn't angry when I went in but I sure was when I came out! The movie shows children being use to carry bombs.It also shows the brutality of the men the US is over there fighting.At one point drilling a young boy because his father gave information to the US soldiers.There in the street he drills through the boys head,killing him.And thats what they do to their own! Yes I would say I was angry by the time the movie was done.And now we are awaiting news of a young woman that ISIS may have killed.Angry? More like righteously indignant.

 

[Percepi]

Michael Moore called him a coward because he feels snipers are killing men from a safe distance away. This is asinine, but Moore is an idiot. Is there a proper way to conduct war? The British felt Americans were cowards for using gorilla tactics during the Revolutionary War, but it's those very tactics that helped America come out on top.

I guess the real question Moore needs to answer is... what is the honorable way to kill a man?

As for the movie, you need to take it with a pretty big pinch of salt. Soldiers are effected in different ways and they'll often come back with differing perspectives with what's going on.

Think about this:

Watch a movie about the Vietnam war. You're going to likely feel many strong emotions as you watch Americans dying to protect one another. You're going to clench your nails into your seat as you see bullets coming out of the backs of people's skulls and watching soldiers discover their friends laying dead next to them. Most of these movies will have you HATING the Northern Vietnamese.

But these are just movies, and the reality isn't so simple.

A few years ago I was at a bar with my dad when two of his buddies began talking to us. My dad and one of his friends began to talk about hunting while the other man, quite drunk, began talking to me about various different things. And out of the middle of nowhere he began to reflect on his past. He revealed to me that he was 21 when he killed a Vietnamese kid. He cried and vomited back then, and he nearly cried in the bar almost 40 years later.

ISIS is our enemy for sure, but it's not as simple as good guys and bad guys. You have people defending what they believe is right. You have some men fighting out of fear of being terminated by their government. You have men who want to fight but keep getting caught up in moments where innocent people are hurt. War sucks.

Also, I wrote about the experience I had at the bar in my DeviantArt. It's just a rough draft I never got around to cleaning up. It's a true story, but the way it's written is pretty rough. I couldn't decide if I should use his actual first name or a pseudonym, so I just used his first initial. If you'd like to read it, I'll link it. It does contain profanity though.

 

[Percepi]

Also, here's an interesting article: I’m a U.S. veteran, and “American Sniper” is rife with lies - Salon.com

 

[Percepi]

Sorry, I forgot to quote this from the article. I haven't seen the movie, but this is incredibly disgusting:

Finally, it seems that a voice of criticism will be heard through the character of Marc Lee. When Lee voices his skepticism, Cooper asks, “Do you want them to attack San Diego or New York?” Cooper somehow wins with that absurd question. Later in the film, Navy SEAL Ryan Job is shot in the face. Distraught, Cooper decides he should lead a group of SEALs back out to avenge Job’s death, which is portrayed as the heroic thing to do. While Lee and Cooper are clearing a building, an Iraqi sniper shoots Lee in the head. The audience is then at Lee’s funeral, where his mother is reading the last letter that Lee sent home expressing criticism of the war. On the road home, Cooper’s wife asks him what he thought about the letter. “That letter killed Marc,” Cooper responds. “He let go, and he paid the price for it.” What makes Cooper a hero, according to the film, is that he’s a sheepdog. In Jason Hall’s world, Lee stops being a sheepdog when he questions his actions in Iraq. He becomes a sheep, “and he paid the price for it” with a bullet from a wolf.
Hall claims his film is a character study, yet he shamelessly butchered Marc Lee’s real story (and part of Kyle’s) to promote his moral fantasy world and deny legitimacy to veterans critical of the war. Here’s the truth: On the day that the real Ryan Job was shot, the real Marc Lee died after stepping into the line of fire twice to save Job’s life, which apparently was either not “sheepdog” enough to portray accurately in the movie or would have taken the focus off of Cooper’s reckless heroics. You can’t have people believe that critical soldiers are actually not sheep, can you? And as it turns out, Kyle never said those things about Lee’s letter and never blamed Lee for his own death for being skeptical of the war. (Here is Marc Lee’s actual last letter home in full.)

 

[kaylagrl]

Sorry, I forgot to quote this from the article. I haven't seen the movie, but this is incredibly disgusting:

You know I'd really have to see it a second time in a home setting.Two blinkin hours in a movie theater had me wanting out.By the time we got to the part of that story my butt was in dreamland. Now I understand how Hollywood does things.Hye,I watched "Noah" and wasn't surprised in the least.I get that,I do.I also understand that a war movie can make you hate the enemy.But in my view they were pretty clear about the mixed emotions these men have to face.At one point a young boy picks up a rocket launcher after the adult has been shot dead.Kyle begs "dont pick it up,dont pick it up"! The child picks it up which means Kyle will have no choice but to kill him.Suddenly the boy drops it and Kyle almost sobs in relief.Did it happen that way? I didn't research it.Is that basically what men and women have to face in these countries? Yes.Part of my anger would be that the higher ups,the leaders,use children to do their dirty work.Like Hamas placing children in harms way knowing Israel will hit them if they fire back.To use women and children is despicable to me.I think the movie was clear about what soldiers have to suffer after they have killed the enemy,especially if it has to be children.The conflict of saving a soldiers life but having to take another.

As far as as lies in the movie I'd have to look deeper into it.In these types of situations there is bias in both directions,especially where the media is involved.I'll have to look that up.Thanks for the link.At least we both agree Moore is an idiot.lol

 

[AgeofKnowledge]

kaylagrl; Michael Moore has already been ousted by independent investigative journalists as a lying, hypocritical, coward so...

So my husband and I went to see American Sniper last night.After sitting there for two solid hours I still didn't find the place where it shows this man was a coward,as claimed by Micheal Moore.The movie shows occasions where he saved lives,one young man in particular.Moore said his grandfather was killed by a sniper so anyone who shoots people in the back is a coward.He seemed to miss the fact that Chris Kyle saved the lives of his fellow soldiers by shooting people who would have taken their lives had he not done so.Another comment was made by Howard Dean that the movie is being seen by "angry people" Well I wasn't angry when I went in but I sure was when I came out! The movie shows children being use to carry bombs.It also shows the brutality of the men the US is over there fighting.At one point drilling a young boy because his father gave information to the US soldiers.There in the street he drills through the boys head,killing him.And thats what they do to their own! Yes I would say I was angry by the time the movie was done.And now we are awaiting news of a young woman that ISIS may have killed.Angry? More like righteously indignant.

 

[Percepi]

You know I'd really have to see it a second time in a home setting.Two blinkin hours in a movie theater had me wanting out.By the time we got to the part of that story my butt was in dreamland. Now I understand how Hollywood does things.Hye,I watched "Noah" and wasn't surprised in the least.I get that,I do.I also understand that a war movie can make you hate the enemy.But in my view they were pretty clear about the mixed emotions these men have to face.At one point a young boy picks up a rocket launcher after the adult has been shot dead.Kyle begs "dont pick it up,dont pick it up"! The child picks it up which means Kyle will have no choice but to kill him.Suddenly the boy drops it and Kyle almost sobs in relief.Did it happen that way? I didn't research it.Is that basically what men and women have to face in these countries? Yes.Part of my anger would be that the higher ups,the leaders,use children to do their dirty work.Like Hamas placing children in harms way knowing Israel will hit them if they fire back.To use women and children is despicable to me.I think the movie was clear about what soldiers have to suffer after they have killed the enemy,especially if it has to be children.The conflict of saving a soldiers life but having to take another.

As far as as lies in the movie I'd have to look deeper into it.In these types of situations there is bias in both directions,especially where the media is involved.I'll have to look that up.Thanks for the link.At least we both agree Moore is an idiot.lol

If you find out the article I posted is wrong or if you learn anything else about the movie, definitely post it here. I'd love to learn more!

I prefer movies that are influenced by actual events or use actual events to portray fictional stories than movies that are "based off true stories", because the latter suggests the director is trying to portray an accurate telling of history even though he's taking a lot of liberties in changing certain key aspects. If you're going to base a movie off an actual event, I feel the only honest way is to try to be as accurate as possible.

I guess I just dislike when you watch a movie based on actual events and you leave wondering how much of it was true and how much was untrue... and more importantly, which parts are untrue or exaggerated.

 

[kaylagrl]

If you find out the article I posted is wrong or if you learn anything else about the movie, definitely post it here. I'd love to learn more!

I prefer movies that are influenced by actual events or use actual events to portray fictional stories than movies that are "based off true stories", because the latter suggests the director is trying to portray an accurate telling of history even though he's taking a lot of liberties in changing certain key aspects. If you're going to base a movie off an actual event, I feel the only honest way is to try to be as accurate as possible.

I guess I just dislike when you watch a movie based on actual events and you leave wondering how much of it was true and how much was untrue... and more importantly, which parts are untrue or exaggerated.

Ya me too.The LMN channel did several historical type movies.Bonnie and Clyde etc. Not very close to the real story.Kind of disappointing if you know the true history.

 

[Utah]

kaylagrl; Michael Moore has already been ousted by independent investigative journalists as a lying, hypocritical, coward so...

And those are his good attributes.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

Percepi ...

I lift this quote from your "article" ...

Finally, it seems that a voice of criticism will be heard through the character of Marc Lee. When Lee voices his skepticism, Cooper asks, “Do you want them to attack San Diego or New York?” Cooper somehow wins with that absurd question.

Absurd? They actually did that, dude! That's why we were over there in the first place. Or did you and the writer, Brock McIntosh, forget 9/11?