American Sniper

Sigh. I hate that I was compelled to see this film. It means I am also compelled to blog about it. That means I'm required to tell you that this is a well-made movie. Not an impeccably-made film that a Best Picture nomination would imply, but well-made all the same. So why did it pain me so to see it? Because it's such a disgusting piece of propaganda that made me feel like I needed to see a thousand Miyazaki films to get that warm fuzzy feeling back in my soul.

The unabashed racism on display is astonishing. There are three people who are not wholly demonized among the many Iraqi in the film. They are there to… well I'm not exactly sure: is it to free the people there? No, I don't recall any such discussion. In fact, anyone who might be seen as trying to free themselves either seen being greedy for wanting money from the invading forces or, are just plain evil (remember that boy with the grenade in all the commercials?). What is honestly discussed is the need to "fight them over there so they don't follow home." Seriously. This laughable notion is brought up in almost those exact words.

But if I were one who agreed with this ridiculous cannard, what would I think of the quality of filmmaking? Well, it's a slightly elevated action movie. The structure is petty basic to the degree that there's an enemy sniper whom the lead is constantly confronting, leading up to a final confrontation on the rooftops. A big difference is made by the presence of Sienna Miller. By my estimation she outshines Bradley Cooper as his embattled and just plain fed-up wife. For a movie that fails the Bechdel test so wholly, and has the main female character that I only a housewife, she still manages to be portrayed as a strong, independent woman who will only take so much her husband's hoorah crap. She's really the only character in the film the questions the war at all.

But how do I grade it? By soley it's filmmaking merits? I don't think I could do that in good conscience. This film has already inspired countless racist tweets along the lines of "American Sniper makes me wanna go out and shoot some fuckin Arabs" followed by several gun emojis. I don't want to feel like I'm in any way enabling bullshit like that, even by passively admiring the filmmaking. ⭐️

For further tweets and racism in Kyle's own words, see: https://storify.com/RaniaKhalek/american-sniper-chris-kyle-in-his-own-words