I despise war films. The action genre itself is one I struggle to enjoy to begin with, but the war genre is one that I cannot get behind, ever. There is a reason as to why, however, and it is down to the fact that I hate the idea of war. I hate the ways we have been nurtured into idolising people that sign up to kill for greedy politicians.
American Sniper is the very foundations of what I'm going to call 'murderer idolisation'. We are told a heroic story of Chris Kyle: an American sniper praised for his very real in-the-hundreds murder count during his tours of Iraq, many of which included women and children.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film has a very obvious propaganda-like feeling, with Chris Kyle's life and choices being displayed in a light of heroism and tough decisions. His actions reflected as bravery, and his murders considered impressive due to their nature: long distance murders with a sniper rifle, with very precise accuracy.
I'll be honest and a little controversial: I don't care in the slightest for Chris Kyle's background. There's nothing fascinating to me about a man that lived a mediocre life before pursuing another in a foreign land to kill. This man didn't accomplish anything outside of his murders, so his life before war doesn't warrant a film; and I guess that is mostly why it takes place in Iraq, because that's all he achieved.
The film's action tends to be more heroic and 'cool' rather than reflecting the sheer anxiety of war; it almost blankets itself in its attempts to display soldiers as groups of gods against demons rather than the truth: man against man. It fails to hold any substance when it comes to displaying the harsh reality of murder, and its psychological effects. The film very clearly pushes its agenda to the viewer: you should look up to these people. These people have struggled. They have done no harm, for we are the ones that are good.
I'd have very much liked to have seen the film disconnect itself from the likes of war propaganda and attempt to do its own thing; to display war in its true form, rather than its glorification and ignorance towards it.
Chris Kyle was no hero. He was a victim of an oppressive state that has pushed the narrative that war is good, our soldiers heroes, and that we should be proud of their actions, rather than the lack of actions our governments are doing to not have wars in the first place. American Sniper holds no substance as a film that portrays war in its true form, as it simply does the opposite of that.