American Sniper causes backlash, stirs controversy at college campuses across the country

In early April, the University of Michigan canceled a screening of the movie American Sniper after 300 protesters complained that the movie promoted negative stereotypes about Muslims. The students circulated a petition to have the screening of the movie stopped. The Google document circulated stated the following, according to Mlive.

“Chris Kyle was a racist who took a disturbing stance on murdering Iraqi civilians. Middle Eastern characters in the film are not lent an ounce of humanity and watching this movie is provocative and unsafe to MENA and Muslim students…”

The Center for Campus Involvement promptly canceled the showing, an after-hours event that was to be part of the UMix Late Night program. They issued a statement on their Facebook page apologizing.

“We deeply regret causing harm to members of our community, and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided to us by students.”

A few days later, Eastern Michigan University erupted when 40 students got on stage and interrupted the first of two screenings. Four students were detained in the incident. None of the students were charged. A moderated dialogue will be held after the April 24 screening. The university issued the following statement.

“Eastern Michigan University is an open and diverse community, with many perspectives and viewpoints. The University respects the rights of its students to speak out on issues of importance to them, and encourages civil debate and discussion that promotes empathy and understanding.”

Muslim students at George Mason University, the largest university in Virginia, launched a campaign to ban the showing of American Sniper. The petition, as reported by the Daily Caller, explains the issues at hand.

“This is a film that perpetuates misleading and negative stereotypes about the Muslim community that many organizations on campus work hard to dispel,” the petition reads. “Not only this, but it romanticizes war and glorifies the idea of violence. As thinking humans, we should recognize the issues of morality presented when such a film is shown on campus and sponsored by the Office of Student Involvement whose mission is to ‘embrace diversity.'”

There was no word yet on whether the university would cancel the screening of this movie. Asra Ahmad and Sara Mojarrad, the president and vice president of GMU’s Project Nur, one of the organizations calling for the ban of the movie, admitted they had never seen it.

At the University of Maryland, the May 6 screening was canceled after Muslim students raised concerns about the film’s content. Since the cancellation, some of the Muslim students received nasty emails, tweets and Facebook posts.

Hellsangel wrote:Here we go with the Libby academics again. That movie played for months in movie theaters around the country. And now they whine.

confuzzled dude wrote:

In early April, the University of Michigan canceled a screening of the movie American Sniper after 300 protesters complained that the movie promoted negative stereotypes about Muslims. The students circulated a petition to have the screening of the movie stopped. The Google document circulated stated the following, according to Mlive.

“Chris Kyle was a racist who took a disturbing stance on murdering Iraqi civilians. Middle Eastern characters in the film are not lent an ounce of humanity and watching this movie is provocative and unsafe to MENA and Muslim students…”

The Center for Campus Involvement promptly canceled the showing, an after-hours event that was to be part of the UMix Late Night program. They issued a statement on their Facebook page apologizing.

“We deeply regret causing harm to members of our community, and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided to us by students.”

A few days later, Eastern Michigan University erupted when 40 students got on stage and interrupted the first of two screenings. Four students were detained in the incident. None of the students were charged. A moderated dialogue will be held after the April 24 screening. The university issued the following statement.

“Eastern Michigan University is an open and diverse community, with many perspectives and viewpoints. The University respects the rights of its students to speak out on issues of importance to them, and encourages civil debate and discussion that promotes empathy and understanding.”

Muslim students at George Mason University, the largest university in Virginia, launched a campaign to ban the showing of American Sniper. The petition, as reported by the Daily Caller, explains the issues at hand.

“This is a film that perpetuates misleading and negative stereotypes about the Muslim community that many organizations on campus work hard to dispel,” the petition reads. “Not only this, but it romanticizes war and glorifies the idea of violence. As thinking humans, we should recognize the issues of morality presented when such a film is shown on campus and sponsored by the Office of Student Involvement whose mission is to ‘embrace diversity.'”

There was no word yet on whether the university would cancel the screening of this movie. Asra Ahmad and Sara Mojarrad, the president and vice president of GMU’s Project Nur, one of the organizations calling for the ban of the movie, admitted they had never seen it.

At the University of Maryland, the May 6 screening was canceled after Muslim students raised concerns about the film’s content. Since the cancellation, some of the Muslim students received nasty emails, tweets and Facebook posts.

http://www.inquisitr.com/2045162/american-sniper-causes-backlash-stirs-controversy-at-college-campuses-across-the-country/

Kris wrote:

confuzzled dude wrote:

In early April, the University of Michigan canceled a screening of the movie American Sniper after 300 protesters complained that the movie promoted negative stereotypes about Muslims. The students circulated a petition to have the screening of the movie stopped. The Google document circulated stated the following, according to Mlive.

“Chris Kyle was a racist who took a disturbing stance on murdering Iraqi civilians. Middle Eastern characters in the film are not lent an ounce of humanity and watching this movie is provocative and unsafe to MENA and Muslim students…”

The Center for Campus Involvement promptly canceled the showing, an after-hours event that was to be part of the UMix Late Night program. They issued a statement on their Facebook page apologizing.

“We deeply regret causing harm to members of our community, and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided to us by students.”

A few days later, Eastern Michigan University erupted when 40 students got on stage and interrupted the first of two screenings. Four students were detained in the incident. None of the students were charged. A moderated dialogue will be held after the April 24 screening. The university issued the following statement.

“Eastern Michigan University is an open and diverse community, with many perspectives and viewpoints. The University respects the rights of its students to speak out on issues of importance to them, and encourages civil debate and discussion that promotes empathy and understanding.”

Muslim students at George Mason University, the largest university in Virginia, launched a campaign to ban the showing of American Sniper. The petition, as reported by the Daily Caller, explains the issues at hand.

“This is a film that perpetuates misleading and negative stereotypes about the Muslim community that many organizations on campus work hard to dispel,” the petition reads. “Not only this, but it romanticizes war and glorifies the idea of violence. As thinking humans, we should recognize the issues of morality presented when such a film is shown on campus and sponsored by the Office of Student Involvement whose mission is to ‘embrace diversity.'”

There was no word yet on whether the university would cancel the screening of this movie. Asra Ahmad and Sara Mojarrad, the president and vice president of GMU’s Project Nur, one of the organizations calling for the ban of the movie, admitted they had never seen it.

At the University of Maryland, the May 6 screening was canceled after Muslim students raised concerns about the film’s content. Since the cancellation, some of the Muslim students received nasty emails, tweets and Facebook posts.

http://www.inquisitr.com/2045162/american-sniper-causes-backlash-stirs-controversy-at-college-campuses-across-the-country/

>>>Eastern Michigan probably took the best approach on this one. The movie itself left a lot to be desired, but that is a different issue.

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:

Hellsangel wrote:Here we go with the Libby academics again. That movie played for months in movie theaters around the country. And now they whine.

the students pay tuition. they are allowed to protest filth that is played on their campuses which aren't the same as profit making theaters.

yeah and before you ask, i had a different expectation of the movie before i saw it. i should have trusted bw's post here and matt taibbi's opinion article about it. i watched it and puked.

ashdoc wrote:Ashdoc's movie review


American sniper is a real life action movie dealing with the life of Chris Kyle ( played by Bradley Cooper ) , a soldier of America . He was a remarkable sniper , using long range telescopic rifles to shoot enemy soldiers at extreme range using the telescopic sight of the rifle . He was able to pile up a deadly body count , killing upto 170 people in action in Iraq . 

Of course , he was only doing his job . Looking at things from his point of view , he was able to save countless American soldiers who would have been targets of those they were fighting in Iraq . And that is the point of view of the movie too , for it practically paints him as a heroic figure who was fighting for his country . 

To be honest , there is the viewpoint as to what was America doing in Iraq in the first place . It should not be forgotten that Americans invaded Iraq with false claims of weapons of mass destruction that they knew Saddam didn't possess . They invaded Iraq against the wishes of the majority of the world , without caring for world opinion . 

But the movie has no scope for this discussion . It neatly and clinically shows the fighting that Chris was involved in , and intersperses it with considerable glimpses of his family life . In particular , his relationship with his wife ( played by Sienna Miller ) is built up well . 

Of course , the contrast in life of the people who have sent their armies ( Americans ) and the people in the war zone ( American soldiers and Iraqis ) is unbelievable . In Iraq , Chris is dealing with a situation where Iraqis are up in arms against what they perceive as an unprovoked aggression of the country---leading to fighting in which people are dying dog's deaths....while when he comes back home , his wife is more bothered about his increasing blood pressure !!

There is no doubt that Chris is a person with a special aptitude for his job . He is no liberal with the weak heart of a sissy . When he was growing up back in Texas , his father taught him not to back down from a fight if he or his younger brother was threatened---on pain of being whipped by his drawn belt . He was a cowboy before he joined up to the armed forces in response to seeing terror attacks against his country on television , and his childhood memories consisted of hunting animals along with his father using accurate marksmanship of his hunting rifle .

He is shown to be the quintessential family man . After some relationships with women , he settles down to holy matrimony with his wife . He is not shown to stray with other women after marriage even though he is away for long periods from his wife due to his duty in Iraq . And he also cares for his younger brother . 

And of course , he is a patriot . His job is to save American soldiers from being shot dead by insurgents in Iraq using his skills with the long range rifles and he does that . The politics of whether Americans are right or wrong in Iraq---leave it to the politicians....or maybe to the armchair critics....

Technology has brought the war far too close to home for comfort ; he actually talks to his wife on mobile phone ( or is it satellite phone ) from the war zone of Iraq while he is searching for enemies with one eye on the telescopic sight of his rifle , and one finger on it's trigger.....and then all hell breaks loose and his wife can hear it all---as if she is seeing a running commentary of the actual fighting live on radio....

War has given him the status of a legend due to his marksmanship , but he is ever ready to leave his position on top of a building searching for attackers to help in house to house search of Iraqi insurgents with raw recruits of the marines....and he forces his comrades to do so too , even though house to house search is a job carrying deadly risk to life and limb....

It is during such a house to house search that Chris stumbles upon a man who could lead him to the 'butcher' , the second in command of the Iraqi insurgents....
And he is hell bent on revenge when the top Iraqi sniper ( called Mustafa ) kills his team mate....

So what happens of the task of capturing the butcher ?? And can Chris kill the Iraqi sniper Mustafa ?? 
Watch the movie for the answers....

It is the war in Iraq that dominates the movie , or at least Chris' part in it....and the director does excel in showing all the action at both close quarters and long range . The feel of the action is real , and no cinematic hyperdrama is created . To Chris and his men , the Iraqis are 'savages' as they openly call them---and I guess it is that mentality of contempt for the opposition that wins wars....political correctness may lead to becoming losers....

The end however was a shock , and left the audience stunned.....no one got up as the closing music was played....
It seemed that the movie along with Bradley Cooper's acting had really sunk into the hearts and minds of the audience....proof that it was a good movie....

Verdict---Good .