Harbaugh & American Sniper
There is some controversy on campus about the University showing American Sniper. It was cancelled after some protest, but it has since been rescheduled. I know that politics aren't supposed to be talked about on the board, but it involves our beloved coach.
Harbaugh weighed in on the matter via twitter:
"Michigan Football will watch "American Sniper"! Proud of Chris Kyle & Proud to be an American & if that offends anybody then so be it!"
Apologies for not being sure how to embed twitter posts.
http://www.si.com/college-football/2015/04/08/michigan-football-jim-harbaugh-american-sniper-screening
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/04/08/after-university-canceled-american-sniper-showing-football-coach-harbaugh-made-this-announcement/
Harbaugh has stirred a bit of controversy on campus with this tweet- a minority of students have complained about this.
My personal opinion on this is that I like Harbaugh more because of it. He is not afraid to step on people's toes, and voice his opinion. He is unapologetic. That's exactly how a coach should be.
As far as the film goes, I would prefer the University show it. Although I am not a big fan of Chris Kyle, I can understand why people would be. There are a lot of inspirational things about him, but also some negatives. I think the film addresses the negatives of war adequately, and makes a nuanced argument- Kyle is a controversial figure.
[ED-Seth: Aaaaand we're locked. Handed out one ban. Leaving because it's news that Harbaugh waded into it. This is why we don't talk about politics. But see Comment 14 for a good example of why I wish we could sometimes.]
That guy was a horrible murderer painted as a hero. This is propaganda at its worst.
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I wish our football coach would not get involved with situations like this, at the very least with a polarizing figure like Chris Kyle. Its all good to be proud to be an american and to be proud of our military as a whole, but to be proud of a person who by a lot of accounts was a shitty human being and a psychopath just because they served in said military is stupid. There are plenty of really, really shitty humans in the general population, we don't worship these people, why should we worship the ones in the military? I just wish he would have left it alone.
And his book is still in the top 3 best seller list. He is only polarizing to those who don't like him which is a small minority of people.
2 things.
1) Huh? no it's not.
2) There were a lot of people who saw the movie whether or not they agreed with it.
the average movie ticket price in 2014 was $8.14. There were an estimated 242.7 million people over the age of 18 in the U.S. in 2013. If 51% of those people went to see that movie it would have grossed $1,007,787,321. The book has sold around 1.2 million copies. I'm assuming that if you like chris kyle you are going to see the movie or own the book, so def not the majority
Hope this blows over fast, don't need the media making assumptions that Harbaugh hates Muslims.
Where did Harbaugh say that he hated Muslims? I know what you are getting at as far as people making assumptions but it would be a real stretch to make that connection. The movie has made over 300 million dollars. Did everyone who saw the movie also hate Muslims?
"If that offends you then so be it"
I was saying the media can blow this up to where it seems like Harbaugh doesn't give a damn what the Muslims at school think.
As a Muslim-American and a student at Michigan. The problem isn't that American Sniper makes me feel uncomfortable, the problem is that the movie makes people hate me because of who I am. I have received actual verbal abuse in a movie theater from people who have JUST watch the movie, these portrayals have real effects on real people.
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As I said below, I would not have pulled the movie (though I would have made sure to put it in a greater context) - but the people who wanted the movie pulled cannot be made into some cartoon "PC" crowd who protest anything and everything.
Being on the receiving end of xenophobic insults is a rattling experience. It's not like they were calling him a "poop head" - or at least that's the strong implication of his post.
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[Comment moderated, user Boliviated]
I'm sorry that this has happened to you. I came away from the movie with a feeling of appreciation for what our servicemen do, and to not take for granted what we have, immediately calling to talk to my family. I didn't think the movie endorsed hating Muslims, but I think people that are already racists against Muslims can come away with that, just looking for reasons to hate.
You are way off and ill-informed. Plenty of muslims speak out against terrorism. It may not get the airplay that other items do, but that does not mean its not being said.
"a more uninformed message" - oh the irony.
Yep, the group most dangerous to the U.S. isn't an external terrorist organization, its the hyper-patriotic americans who think America means white christian english speakers and putting our military on a pedestal. I'm a white and I've had issues with these people, I can't imagine how much shit you've had to deal with from people who think like this. People who say things like "its time to take back america" are dangerous people
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solely blaming the movie for those feelings. Muslim terrorism has been plastered all over every news source since 9/11. ISIL has only dumped gallons of fuel on that fire. Let's not blame one movie for all anti Muslim sentiment when there's been a decade-plus of terrorist coverage in the news.
Love Harbaugh, but he has made a mistake by being so in-your face about this. As a person who represents the university and has to appreciate his job has a PR aspect to it, he could have made the decision to see the film but explained it more like the OP did.
@skyhits: @CoachJim4UM I love steak, potatoes, and apple pie, and if that offends anybody, I've made peace with my maker. Also, Go Blue
@skyhits: @CoachJim4UM "Life is a precious gift, but we realize this only when we give it to others." - @Pontifex
My first was a response to the notion that a football coach "supporting the troops" is somehow courageous. It is not. It is quite normalized.
With the second I hoped to point out to Coach Harbaugh that Pope Francis (whom he retweets regularly from his public university-related twitter account) would probably disagree with him on this one.
Try making your points more clearly. I have no idea what you are trying to say from those tweets, and I bet everyone outside of your own big head also has trouble figuring them out. Its not an issue of a higher understanding, its an issue of communication.
1. I would not have pulled the movie - and Michigan apparently agrees with that now.
2. Pulling the movie wasn't censorship. The school is under no obilgation to show a movie at all.
3. I hope people can sympathize with the students who opposed showing the movie even if they disagree with them. The U.S. is not always a safe place for Muslims/Arabs/Middle Easterners/North Africans, and it's very understandable that they would be leery of a movie that they believe dehumanizes people like them. It's deeply unfair to write these folks off as simply people who had their feelings hurt.
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...the right of minority groups to stand up to the majority is a basic part of any healthy democracy, so there's that.
I am not sure you are allowed to say the world is getting too PC. Its offensive.
I'm offended by PC's.
Easterners than the Middle East, which is why a lot of them come here.
UM is under no obligation to show the movie but also nobody is similarily obligated to view it, trying to stop others from watching something you find objectionable is censorship.
Which, of course, would be offensive to any soldier who's served, especially those who've been to war. But that's what student activists do, they always overstate their case and pound their chests. I'm sure they didn't expect the most-known figure at the U push back on their rhetoric though, which is kind of funny.
You have people over there that are burning human beings alive in cages and then putting the videos up all over the internet. I'm not so sure that protesting over what a middling Clint Eastwood war movie is doing to your image is the sensible move.
your household doesn't care much about people's feelings either.
Good thing America doesn't only belong to you. I kinda think of it as "OUR America," but that's just me.
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And I will try really hard to resist giving my opinion in this political thread
I didn't read the book before I saw the movie. I still havn't read it. My wife wanted to see it on her birthday (better choice than the other one available, 50 shades) and we did. To me it was just an account of what Chris Kyle saw or did. It didn't justify or glorify the war or snipers or killing. If anything, I was feeling bad that the general population puts some individuals in such situations where killing people is their primary task. The rest of us should be ashamed of that. Anyway, I would hate any censorship on this movie or any movie. Students are adults, they can chose to watch or ignore it.