A few weeks ago I went to see the film American Sniper. Overall I enjoyed the movie, am glad I saw it, and would recommend it to anyone looking for an hour or two of entertainment, but there were some issues I took with it.
As a form of entertainment the film was excellently directed and acted, and as a work meant to reflect on the effects of war on soldiers and the life of a single man it was quite successful.
The only flaw I saw was the slight simplification of the entire topic. I understand that an analysis was not the purpose of the movie and that without such examination it is by many measures a success, but I feel that it would have done best to explain the issues in more depth than it did.
For the majority of the population, the representation of a single perspective is entirely acceptable, and is what is given in almost any film. Unfortunately, there are those that take the events of the big screen as a larger influencing force than they should. It was by no means the fault of the producers, but when I spoke with a man on the bus in lexington who advocated for "bombing all of them, even if some innocent ones die," it was hard not to wish for a change.
hmm - interesting
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