American Sniper

(This may sound like it belongs in a movie section, but hear me out here.)

American Sniper is a movie that came out last year, starring Bradley Cooper, who plays a sniper who has the most recorded kills in American military history. The man in question, Chris Kyle, was shot by former soldier, Eddie Ray Routh, while he was mentoring in a program meant to rehabilitate soldiers.

Kyle also published a book, also called American Sniper, chronicling his stories and kills. Obviously, the movie was based off the book.

However, allegations and articles have been published calling Kyle a racist, after he said in his book he had "fun" and "loved" killing Iraqis. He claimed they were all "savages" and didn't "give a flying fuck about Iraqis."

These are quotes. I'm serious.

Kyle is hailed an American hero by some, and called a racist by others. What's your outlook?

Personally, I don't think America should be calling him a hero, and those who are don't see the fact that he was a racist, and was probably so good at killing because of the disgusting hate fueling him to do so. The fact that he relished and enjoyed killing people, no matter who they are, shows psychopathic and murderous tendencies, and he should only be painted in that light, instead of glorifying his kills as an "american hero."

How do you see Chris Kyle's work? Do you think he was right in his actions?

 

I'm not disagreeing with you on the terrorist things, I assure you I don't like terrorists. I'm not ready to go join ISIS and destroy America or whatever, but he painted them all in the same brush.

What I'm saying is that he shouldn't be hailed as a hero because he blatantly enjoyed killing. That's not acceptable. That's not patriotism. That's not even heroism. That's doing something out of hate and being a racist and getting celebrated for it.

When it becomes something he enjoys, he's no longer doing it for his country. He's doing it for pleasure. Killing for pleasure is kind of fucked up.

 

Adjust is different than enjoy. He didn't get used to seeing people die at his hands, he literally relished in it. That's beyond being a soldier and following orders. That's becoming an actual murderer.

 

Maybe, but I'm not sure that excuses anything. Some would say after a serial killer committed his last killing and stopped, they'd become more human. Some would say after an alcoholic quit drinking, they'd become more human. Just because you left something behind doesn't mean it's erased from history. Especially with Chris Kyle, who not only published the quotes above, but ended up having a movie, based on that book.

 

Maybe some people he killed were threats to our country, but let's be honest. There's no way citizens weren't caught in the collateral damage he caused. Even if he killed people who "needed" to be killed, he still made racist statements and killed humans for fun. He's not a role model, in my opinion. He should be known as an example of what portrayals of Islam in media can do, and how war can affect someone's mind, instead of a patriot.