About the Film
American Sniper, released in theaters on December 25, 2014, is a Clint Eastwood directed war drama film loosely based on the life of U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The film was a huge commercial success, grossing in total over 346.6 million dollars domestically, thus making it "the first non-franchise film to top the year-end rankings since Jim Carrey's The Grinch in 2000", in addition to receiving critical acclaim (Mendelson). It was given a 73% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes and nominated for six 2014 Academy Awards, winning one. However, the film has also received some backlash from certain communities for its controversial portrayal of Muslims and the Arabian population.
Islamophobia in American Sniper
Perhaps most notable is the difference in treatment U.S. Marine soldiers and Iraqi soldiers receive in the film. The American soldiers, especially Kyle, the film's protagonist, are painted as full human beings with a life, personality, and purpose outside of the war. The soldiers are shown to have family and friends to look after, and who likewise care for them. On the other hand, it seems whenever an Arab appears on screen, he is attacking the very Marines the audience has grown to sympathize with. There is no evidence of any of the Iraqi combatants having any family members or any purpose aside from fighting Americans. In fact, this characterization is generalized to even Iraqi women and children. At the beginning of the film, a woman and child are shown attempting to blow up a group of Marine soldiers on patrol with a grenade. Kyle shoots and kills the two, and this murder is justified by having saved the lives of the Marines. Of course, this utilitarian logic of killing one to save ten is applied one-sidedly. The death of an American is a tragedy, whereas the death of an Iraqi is a confirmed kill. The film never stops to investigate any rational motive for their actions, or any qualms they may have with killing. Instead, the audience is left with the assumption that Iraqi people, for one reason or another, hate Americans and are desperate to kill them, even if it means sacrificing their lives, and the lives of their children. Despite being slaughtered on screen one after another, the Iraqi soldiers are reduced to nothing more than numbers on Kyle's resume.
Furthermore, American Sniper glorifies the role of the American soldier in spite of the number of murders committed by its model soldier, Kyle. The film does not just disregard enemy casualties, but instead chooses to glorify them as achievements of its protagonist. Due to his record kill count, Kyle is praised by both the film and those around him as the legend, and as the most lethal sniper in U.S. history. The film even takes some perhaps laughable measures to portray Kyle as “awesome”.
For example, in contrast to the relative seriousness of the movie, when Kyle finally kills the enemy sniper, a CG bullet is shown exiting the barrel of his rifle in slow-motion. Kyle is also shown to be a prodigious sniper and skilled soldier and is emphasized to be a hero and model person. Without a doubt, his actions have saved many lives, and this fact is pointed out numerous times in the film. However, the film doesn't consider the number of Iraqi people, many of which have friends and family, who have lost their lives in exchange. Additionally, Kyle is shown to be someone who performs his job with a strong sense of duty: to protect his fellow soldiers and those at home, even if it means risking his own life. His sense of duty and servitude to his country are traits most people would find admirable. However, this is an overly romanticized image. Though the film seems to indicate that Kyle, despite feeling conflicted about killing, performs his job in order to protect his comrades, in Kyle's autobiography, Kyle describes killing as "'fun' and something he 'loved' to do", and "his only regret is that he didn't kill more", according to an article by Scott Whitlock (Whitlock). Though the film suggests noble motivations for Kyle's continued participation in the war, his autobiography suggests otherwise. Regardless of the filmmakers' original intentions, American Sniper glorifies the actions of a killer.
For example, in contrast to the relative seriousness of the movie, when Kyle finally kills the enemy sniper, a CG bullet is shown exiting the barrel of his rifle in slow-motion. Kyle is also shown to be a prodigious sniper and skilled soldier and is emphasized to be a hero and model person. Without a doubt, his actions have saved many lives, and this fact is pointed out numerous times in the film. However, the film doesn't consider the number of Iraqi people, many of which have friends and family, who have lost their lives in exchange. Additionally, Kyle is shown to be someone who performs his job with a strong sense of duty: to protect his fellow soldiers and those at home, even if it means risking his own life. His sense of duty and servitude to his country are traits most people would find admirable. However, this is an overly romanticized image. Though the film seems to indicate that Kyle, despite feeling conflicted about killing, performs his job in order to protect his comrades, in Kyle's autobiography, Kyle describes killing as "'fun' and something he 'loved' to do", and "his only regret is that he didn't kill more", according to an article by Scott Whitlock (Whitlock). Though the film suggests noble motivations for Kyle's continued participation in the war, his autobiography suggests otherwise. Regardless of the filmmakers' original intentions, American Sniper glorifies the actions of a killer.
Additionally, the film portrays a stark contrast between the two sides. Though relatively subtle, there are references to religion in the film. The Marines are presented as the Christians, and the enemy is associated with Islam. Primarily as an artifact of the crusades, and amplified by the current political atmosphere within the United States, Islam rings in the minds of the Christian-majority Americans as a rival and threat. Furthermore, by taking the vantage point of a glorified Marine soldier, the film makes clear which religion is "good", and which religion is "evil". As a result, the evil barbaric militants are labeled with Islam, whereas the sophisticated, justice-preserving Marines are associated with Christianity. This serves to not only promote the already growing fear of Islam, but also justifies the actions of the American soldiers in the name of religion, eliminating enemies of God. Kyle's purpose is defined for the audience with a lesson from his father. He states that, "There are three types of people in this world: sheep, wolves, and sheep dogs... there are those blessed with the gift of aggression, an overpowering need to protect the flock. These men are the rare breed who live to confront the wolf. They are the sheepdog." (Eastwood). The sheepdog is implied to be Chris Kyle. Thus, Kyle is defined to be an individual who lives to protect the sheep from the wolves, who are shown to be the Iraqi militants. However, despite believing his actions to be rightfully justified, Kyle remains hesitant about taking another's life and wears down with each shot. In contrast, the Iraqis, particularly the butcher and the unnamed enemy sniper, kill without hesitation. These only reinforce the presented image of Kyle as a good-natured soldier who, despite feeling uncomfortable with taking the lives of others, fights for justice. In a sense, Kyle is hurting himself. Such images only serve to reinforce the growing hatred and negativity towards Muslims of Middle-eastern origin.
On the other hand, one could argue the film rightfully presents the cold-blooded killers as cold-blooded killers, and that to claim these representations are generalized to all Arabian Muslims is absurd. Of course murderers should not be sympathized with. However, given the political climate, such representations can easily trigger uprisings against the general Muslim population. Though the militants are not exactly shown carrying copies of the Quran, the region and its people are depicted with Orientalist caricatures often associated with Islam. Many of the soldiers carry weapons resembling AK-47s and wear clothing iconic of the region, and scenic shots likewise exhibit the characteristic landscape. Although the direct accusations of murder and savagery are limited to the combatants, it is difficult to claim that the audience won't perceive them as accusations of the entire Muslim world when such blatant links are made between them.
One might also argue that the focus of the movie is on the hardships Marine soldiers and their families have to face and the struggles associated with adjusting to life at home after service. Given this, naturally little attention would be placed on the lives of the enemy. However, the intended message and received message are not necessarily the same. There is a long history of negative sentiment and discrimination against Muslims, particularly of those Arab origin. As a result, even rather neutral images can incite unexpected reactions. The film appears to cheer behind Kyle as he kills Iraqis, and as a result, not only vilifies the Arab, but desensitizes the audience to the death of Arab people. Many of the "others" in the film are either killers or killed, and often both. What is perhaps absurd is not the claim that American Sniper promotes Islamophobia, but rather that such Islamophobic content has become part of natural discourse. Of course, none of this is new. In fact, Hollywood has a long history of propagating the image of the "bad Muslim". Unfortunately, American Sniper is no different, and only joins the others in exacerbating the current rise of Islamophobia around the world.
References
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/studio/chart/?studio=warnerbros.htm
http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/03/08/american-sniper-is-now-the-biggest-box-office-smash-of-2014/
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2015/01/19/ed-schultz-disturbed-american-sniper-and-normalizing-islamophobia
http://www.chriskyleamericansniper.info/