A Non-American look at 'American Sniper'

In case you all didn't know, I'm not American. In fact, I'm the sort of non-American that you hardly hear about. You don't really see my sort of people in movies or television shows nowadays. I think there's about maybe 20 or so of my people in my general area of residence, and I can easily make a new friend by talking about what it's like to not freeze my butt off in the middle of December. Spring Break anyone? One of the few cons, aside from having to talk at the blinding speed of 1 m.p.h so people can understand me, is that it's often hard for me to relate to the things of The United States of 'Murica America. Patriotic pride, cheap gas, and Chipotle are only a few of the things that leave me scratching my head on a daily basis.

Clint Eastwood's 'American Sniper' is no exception.

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It was just after midnight, and the credits were rolling. The silence was absolutely deafening. No applause. No laughs. No whispers. Rows of people shuffled quietly towards the exit, not even checking their phones. The weight of the last two hours and ten minutes sat on me like a boulder. Suddenly, I became Atlas, struggling to carry the weight of the moment on my shoulders until I walked down the hallway into the blinding light of the theater lobby. I was eagerly anticipating the question of "So what'd you guys think?" amongst the group. Nothing. For what seemed like hours and hours, we all made our way towards the door to exit into the mall in silence. Not even the post-movie-restroom stop was made. It wasn't until we made the turn towards the parking lot did a voice pierce through the choking layer of quiet between us all. 

"So what did you think?", one friend said to another. After the reply the arrow was pointed to me, begging for a response from the Film major. 

"It was pretty great...", I said at first. It was then that I realized that I had to tell the truth. Not the film-critique truth but the how-I-actually-felt-about-this-film truth. 

"...It may have been a tad over-hyped for me.", I added.

I heard the murmur of replies and quickly added "I'm not American so there were a lot of parts that I didn't relate to quite well but I can see why people liked it so much". Whew. Bullet dodged. A few silent minutes later and I'm walking back up to my room with nothing but the weight of 'American Sniper' on my mind. What do I do when someone else asks me what I think of it? Do I lie and say it was "SUPER SPECIAL AWESOME 'MURICA YEA WOO!!!" or do I speak honestly and risk a red, white, and blue stake shoved into my heart? Is putting my life at risk worth it? Well...

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Let me get this out of the way. I loved 'American Sniper'. It deserves every single nomination for the upcoming Academy Awards show and the cinematography was nothing short of amazing. This is not a movie review but rather a different look among the masses into what may be one of the best films to start off the year.

One of the things that immediately became apparent to me during this film is that I won't come out feeling the same as the guy next to me or the crying woman in the back row. I'm from a country where there really isn't much of a military and we sure aren't engaging in a war overseas in the name of freedom and what not so my impression of soldiers in combat here in the United States is a bit lacking. I'm still not even sure what the Coast Guard does. I do, however, respect those who serve their country. They're doing things that I couldn't do unless you gave me a million dollars and a guarantee that I'll have a second chance at life. 'American Sniper' did such an excellent job of capturing the darker side of such a huge responsibility. I got to see and understand just a bit better what war does to those how take part and how there has to be caution when throwing around the word 'hero', particularly in this instance. There were many times that Chris Kyle (played by Bradley Cooper) denied the spectacular titles others gave him because he knew each and every one of those accolades came with a heavy price on himself and changing him as a man. While it may have been a sad moment for others, it was a learning experience for me. 'American Sniper' gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "war hero" and paves the way going forward for future films.

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Another thing I noticed with this film was that I found myself having to step outside of the audience to take it all in. While others may have seen acts of freedom, protecting the masses and the 'Murican Dream, all I saw was another specific war movie. There were many times in between the cut-throat shooting action scenes that I found myself sort of bored (until the PTSD started kicking in anyway). I just couldn't connect so I found myself in this weird purgatory-like state just outside of the target demographic. I was left with nothing to do but watch the film outside of its sphere of influence. 

Maybe it was the constant comments of "Ahmygerd you're gonna enjoy it so much! It's such a good movie!" that made me have a different view of what this film was (granted most of those comments came from people who had not seen many other films yet this year). It was then that I realized that there's a difference between experiencing a movie and enjoying a movie. I, in no way, enjoyed 'American Sniper'. 'American Sniper' was not a film to be enjoyed but rather a film to be experienced. I went in fully expect to enjoy an epic tale of American's deadliest sniper but I didn't get that. In fact, all chances of enjoyment are taken away from the audience after about 20 or so minutes into the flick when you realize that this isn't something that just goes away and gets better in the end. Every gruesome moment is there to stay whether you like it or not. It is for that reason I am actually happy that I was outside of the core demographic of Clint Eastwood's work of art. Any film that can still impact those who don't have much relation to it is one that should be recognized as great.

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With all of that being said 'American Sniper' was still phenomenal, just in a different way. As a non-American I found myself wishing that I could relate to the things in this film more just so I can have the full experience but I have to make due with what I have and that's what made this stand out to me even more. It seems as if in the midst of the gun-loving, hamburger-munching American patriotism that sometimes pokes it's ugly head out  in endeavors such as this, there is still hope for decency. 'American Sniper' dared to do what many films have not done and made a work of art that manages to stay away from being enjoyable and takes pride in being a masterfully crafted example of storytelling. The non-American in me wasn't impressed by the flags or the kills in the name of war. I was impressed by how much I had taken away from a film that had absolutely nothing to do with me. I fully expected to go in and enjoy yet another American war film and forget about it by next week but instead all chances of that was shattered and replaced with the remnants of a story that deserves to be told. Clint Eastwood takes things back to what makes a movie stand tall against the rest and proves that simplicity is sometimes best and that deserves a standing ovation. 

Long live the craft of good story-telling and God bless America.