Monday, February 02, 2015

IRAQ - The Debate Fanned by 'American Sniper' Movie

"‘American Sniper’ provokes debate on Iraq, depictions of war" PBS NewsHour 1/29/2015

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  "American Sniper" has been nominated for six Academy Awards and is on track to be the biggest box-office war film ever.  But the drama based on the life of a late Navy Seal, said to be the most lethal sharpshooter in U.S. military history, has rekindled debate about the Iraq war and the glorification of killing, as well as the veracity of Chris Kyle's own account.  Jeffrey Brown reports.

JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour):  Now a look at a movie that has been at the top of the box office for the past two weekends, as well as generating a lot of conversation and controversy.

Jeffrey Brown has that.

It’s part of our occasional series we’re calling "NewsHour Goes to the Movies."

BRADLEY COOPER, Actor:  Don’t pick it up.  Drop it.

JEFFREY BROWN (NewsHour):  “American Sniper” is a drama based on the real story of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL said to be the most lethal sharpshooter in U.S. military history, credited with killing more than 160 people in Iraq.

ACTOR:  Do you ever think that you might have seen things or done some things over there that you wish you hadn’t?

BRADLEY COOPER:  Oh, that’s not me, no.

ACTOR:  What’s not you?

BRADLEY COOPER:  I was just protecting my guys.  They were killing our soldiers.  And I’m willing to meet my creator and answer for every shot that I took.

JEFFREY BROWN:  Kyle himself told the story of his multiple tours from 1999 to 2009 and difficult adjustment to civilian life in a bestselling memoir.

Now the film, directed by Clint Eastwood, has become a huge commercial success, on path to becoming the biggest box-office war film ever, overtaking Steven Spielberg’s World War II classic “Saving Private Ryan,” with $200 million in ticket sales and counting.  And it’s received six Oscar nominations, including for best picture.

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