‘American Sniper’: Our nation’s most pressing issue

Last Tuesday was President Obama’s sixth State of the Union, an important speech filled with controversial policy proposals, chock-full of far-reaching effects for the country. Policy debates are ridiculously blasé and hardly merit our discussion, even if a federal law, by definition, affects the entire nation. 

No, the really important controversy is over “American Sniper” — the 2015 hit that garnered six Oscar nominations and broke box office records during its opening weekend.

I’m sure some would claim that a movie, even an Oscar-nominated one, is simply not worth arguing about when we could argue about more fascinating federal policies . These persons would be terribly wrong, because in the United States, where 115.2 million homes contain TVs, nothing is more important than movies — well, besides maybe sports. That is why analyzing all the details about late U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle’s life and his autobiography-turned-movie is purely essential to profound American life.

As a refresher, the primary conflict over “American Sniper” is whether it unduly glorifies war and promotes Kyle as an American hero. This is an important enigma, because the title of American hero holds more power than, say, New York State Assembly Speaker. The latter is considered to be one of the most powerful people in a state of 19.65 million people and plays a key role in that state’s legislation, but the former means people will say nice things about you. 

That is why it is so concerning that Kyle might have lied about several incidents detailed in his book and might not have been a generally nice person. Alternatively the federal government arresting Sheldon Silver — the current New York State Assembly Speaker — being arrested on charges of corruption earns only (perhaps) a yawn. Sure, the act of telling tall tales is not worse than the crime of taking millions in bribes, but we don’t have a movie about Silver’s life, do we?

Similarly, the argument over whether “American Sniper” is political — something its director, Clint Eastwood, and main star, Bradley Cooper, have explicitly denied — is far more important than actual politics. After all, those who watch “American Sniper” might come off with the impression that soldiers are predominantly decent people who can even be heroic. This might brainwash them into supporting the Iraq War—which, although officially over, is something liberals like to emphasize was bad. 

In comparison, President Obama’s asking Congress to authorize force against ISIS in his State of the Union is similarly unimportant. A new war in the Middle East and its so-called heroes will only become relevant once that war is over, when we can look back and judge whether or not it was a good idea.    

Of course, it would be dishonest for me to say that “American Sniper” is the most taxing contemporary controversy. There is something that is as big as or potentially bigger than the controversy over “American Sniper” or a new war— Deflategate: whether or not the New Englad Patriots knowingly deflated their footballs of some air during the NFL’s AFC Championship Game. While Deflategate is huge, with Vice President Joe Biden even commenting on it, “American Sniper” is still more important. 

Now, that is not to say that Deflategate is unimportant. I agree that the sanctity of the Super Bowl also deserves far more press than President Obama’s desire to change the tax code or the Supreme Court potentially gutting a law aimed at preventing discrimination in housing. 

After all, unveiling character flaws in a dead man or, conversely, vehemently shouting down his detractors seems like a more efficient use of time than asking whether the Patriots cheated when or whether Sheldon Silver is guilty or not guilty of corruption.  

Deflategate aside, arguing over a movie is probably the most productive thing you or the rest of the United States media could be doing. Policy proposals and political corruption are simply too boring and require too much reading to generate substantial, widespread debate. 

It’s not as if in our democracy, where leaders are elected and accountable to the public, you can really do anything to affect actual change. With this in mind, I urge you to go see the movie and talk about it with your friends. It is of vital importance to society that your voice is heard, because without it, our entire culture could be changed without your consent. If we let an elite few determine what qualifies a movie as good, similar to how laws are passed, America is truly doomed.                           

Eli writes a biweekly satirical column for The Pitt News.

Write to Eli at ejt26@pitt.edu