American Sniper
By Emily Richards
Racist murderer or patriotic hero? Both phrases have been used to describe Chris Kyle, the focus of the film American Sniper. Kyle was a US Navy SEAL with 160 confirmed kills—more than any other sniper in American military history. He wrote a memoir about his experience in the military which has now been turned into a box office hit that has many critics up in arms.
Right and wrong are not always black and white. For instance, is it wrong to steal bread if your family is starving?
Good and evil have no shades of gray. Evil loves hate. Evil loves suffering. Evil loves death. Chris Kyle was a good man. He was an American hero who will be remembered for generations to come. He had to make decisions, right or wrong, that haunted him, but he made them for the well-being of his fellow soldiers—those fighting for good.
American Sniper was not just a movie to see. American Sniper was an experience. Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper brought reality to the big screen. They didn’t shy away from the tough moments—they dealt with them head on. They allowed their audience to see and feel the evil that Chris Kyle and every other American soldier fought against.
The entire movie was heartbreaking, but the hardest scene to watch was at the very beginning. A woman and child come out of a building holding a grenade. She hands the grenade to the young boy, and he begins running down the street heading straight for a group of American soldiers. Before Kyle can get confirmation that it is a bomb, he has to make the call—does he kill the boy who is about to kill his fellow soldiers, or does he let the boy survive? He cannot choose the latter no matter how much pain it will cause him. He cannot let evil win even when evil is being carried by an innocent child.
This is what evil does. Evil forces good people to know pain and to know hate. The terrorists that Chris Kyle and all of our soldiers fight against are a new kind of enemy. They know no limitations. No line is too despicable to cross. Women and children are used thoughtlessly in their game of terror. They corrupt minds, ruin lives and spread hatred in every way that they can.
Many critics have said that Kyle’s memoir proves he was an evil murderer who enjoyed killing people. As distasteful as those sentiments are, the irony should not be lost on any of us. Chris Kyle risked his life so that reporters can sit in front of a computer and put hate in writing. He fought the enemy so that we can live in freedom.
There will always be critics of a patriotic movie. Patriotism isn’t cool in liberal circles. For them, soldiers are easier to mock than to salute. But remember this—they are trying, and failing, to belittle a man whose sacrifice has led to their freedom. They are trying to find good in an enemy where good does not exist. We know liberty and we know freedom because of him and every other brave soldier who has risked it all.
