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American Sniper - WTF

OpED UK

Only in the USA would a very mediocre Hollywood action/fantasy film, loosely

based on the dubious autobiographical ramblings of a soldier become a massive hit.I watched the film but haven't read the biography of Chris Kyle. The movie is pretty

awful as entertainment, but worse it had such glaring factual errors about the military.

I am assuming the film is a very poor depiction of the calibre of the professional

soldier Mr Kyle was. During 10 years service with the Australian Army, I worked

with US various military units on operations over my career, as coalition partners in

Iraq and Afghanistan. I was also lucky to go on a AUS/UK military exchange for 11-

months and was seconded for the first half to a USMC Company in a Pacific-based

MEU, and then spent 4 months in a west coast-based SEAL Team Troop. Without

exception, the men of both units I worked with were highly capable, driven andintelligent professionals. To see them 'represented' on the big screen by Holywood as

f-ing unprofessional narcissists with intellectual challenges, is insulting to the

profession it claims to portray.

I'm sure the quiet professionals of the US Military see the film for what it is - a piece

cheap, banal entertainment - while it claims to be based on factual account, which is

 just farcical.

What did anger me about the film and the 'hero' premise the US seems to crave, is that

USA's elite soldiers, like the one's I knew, are the classic quiet achievers, who shun

celebrity and would never seek approval from civilians. They care only for the earnedrespect of their peers. The best example of the glaring discrepancy between this

ludicrous Hollywood cliche and the real deal is premise of American Sniper, being the

'Deadliest sniper in US history'. Who the F keeps a career tally of their confirmed

kills? I've known quite a few snipers in Australia and the US military's and aside from

recording confirmed enemy dead/casualties in a operations log, the subject is a matter

kept to those involved.

A case in point is the public's keen interest in 'longest sniper kill' records - which was

driven by media hype - often government-orchestrated. Since the start of the

Iraq/Afghan theaters, the longest kill accolade seems akin to an Olympic world record

waiting to be broken. I imagine many out there would love to have the title to their

name - except the professionals who are tasked with it on a regular basis and knows

what it means. A year or so after a highly publicised kill at over 2400m from a

British sniper (who sued the Military for disclosing his name against his will) in

Helmand was promoted to top spot, a sniper pair from the Australian Special Forces

killed a Taliban machine gunner in Afghanistan from over 2800m. They had a laser

range-finder to pinpoint the target, so it would be an accurate record and it was

confirmed by a bunch of soldiers. It's a fact well known in their circle, but when a

reporter heard a rumour and asked for confirmation of this miraculous feat of skill,

they dismissed it. That's +400m further than the previous longest kill shot.

There's an old-fashioned grace, which highly accomplished, tough and brave menwould strive to posses at the envy of all their peers. Remember the quiet, confident

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man? A natural leader, but showed such humility and composure. The hero’s of the

past were repelled by personal glory. Guys like this are an increasingly rare breed,

but there are definitely some still around today. You'll have to look hard to uncover

their marvellous feats and awesome achievement, though.

The USA and much of the western world's culture is infected with the cult of celebrity

and ostentatious gratification. It's attractive to young people because it can beachieved with very little effort. This unfortunate transformation can be attributed to

many influences, but I believe the most poisonous to be the culture of fecklessly

rewarding inaction and feebleness. It’s a malignant process of inculcation, which has

been partly fostered by feeble, hypocritical leadership, but more insidious is the

apathy bred from capitalism and in the vacuum left by secularism.

OpEd 2

It seems we miss out on some quality cinema in this country, and have to make dowith fatuous rubbish pushed over from the US. American Sniper is showing across the

country's cinemas, but the problem is it's possibly the most god-awful production that

carries themes, which the vast majority of thinking, breathing adults saw as more than

the obnoxious and puerile fare they are accustomed, but something highly offensive

and derisive .

Of course was no surprise to me that this feckless Hollywood offering would be trash,

but I my view, American Sniper stands well clear. The premise is infantile, and relies

on churlish devices like farcical jingoism driving the lead characters affectation and

cultivation. What is most offensive is that in order to build a hero, war is trivialised

and combat infantilised, with its realities are often debased for ego celebration andhero-worship. For Veterans, experiences depicted in the action sequences would be

raw for many, but the many complexities are shunned in favour of furthering the crass

emotional redundancy of the hero and abandon any chance of hinting at the moral

dilemma which is central to a soldiers experience of combat. There is one moral

champion and the righteousness of him and his comrades is despicably polarised by

the racist caricature of the Iraqi people. Insurgents all portrayed as the clumsy savages

of the most churlish pantomime and forget any context their story except a hackneyed

agenda of sadistic violence against American family men in their gloriousness. The

debased of Iraqi people are given a fleeting hint of a victory, before the hero retakes

the initiative and slays them. I'm sure that there's an assumption that opening combat

sequences are sufficient to get male viewers on board - and do - so characters are left

to develop by their righteous killing, Thus constitutes a modern blockbuster,

apparently. Judging by the US Box Office figures, some of the work may have

exceeded requirements.