Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper has instigated some serious controversy over the war in Iraq, and critics love to call Chris Kyle, the movie’s protagonist, a murderer. However, despite (or because of) the dispute over the movie’s content and Kyle’s character, the film has brought in $337.2 million at the box office. A Buzzfeed article published on March 8 points out that the vast majority of this sum was earned in 2015, despite the fact that the movie is technically a 2014 movie. Beating out The Hunger Games – Mockingjay Part I, American Sniper is the highest grossing film of 2014.
All of the debated domestic and international political nuances aside (should we have gone to war? etc.), American Sniper is a testimony to our veterans. Moreover, Chris Kyle’s murder at the hands of a fellow veteran truly highlights the need to focus on taking care of them once they are home. Discussion on whether or not our soldiers should have been sent to war in the first place is ultimately irrelevant for these suffering veterans once they are home. They need our care and support, not accusations of murder – those claims belong in Washington, and to the political offices responsible for those decisions.
From the huge profits made with American Sniper’s release and the press surrounding the conviction of Kyle’s murderer, Eddie Ray Routh, it is at least evident that people are talking about veterans’ and their care. It’s a good first step – but there are so many more to that need to follow.