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American Sniper Movie Trailer

Background Information
This is a promotional trailer for an entertainment film by Clint Eastwood about an American soldier, Chris Kyle, who killed more than 255 people in Iraq.
Technique Used
Activate Emotion
This is propaganda because
This film has the potential to distort how people in the United States view its own history and its troops. That's really dangerous.

Comments

  1. user-avatar
    Anthony
    Fri, 04/24/2015 - 04:51
    Anthony
    Just from watching this commercial, I can't make an opinion on whether or not this is some type of propaganda. But I do understand the implications this film had on its viewers because of the reviews it got. I'm sure that people can still form their own opinion after watching the movie because it is just a movie.
  1. user-avatar
    SR1913
    Sat, 04/25/2015 - 01:33
    SR1913
    I am a bit torn watching this trailer on whether or not it is dangerous or informative. My ex-husband served in the military and served in Iraq. The things he experienced there messed him up when he first came back to the U.S..
  1. user-avatar
    gbreeden
    Mon, 04/27/2015 - 01:01
    gbreeden
    There are many, many problematic things about American Sniper in its entirety, but I will try to not let that judge my interpretation of the trailer. The purpose of the trailer was to set the highly emotional tone for the film, but I think it isn't championing emotion in a productive way. The description that says "This film has the potential to distort how people in the US view its own history and its troops" fits my feelings very well. Adding propaganda to a piece covering the massacre of people over seas is not productive. War isn't something that should be glamorized, nor should someone known as the "most lethal sniper," as the trailer put it.
  1. user-avatar
    K
    Mon, 04/27/2015 - 12:54
    K
    I agree that this can be harmful because it presents an inaccurate portrayal of people and a certain culture. Moreover, many films distort facts for the sake of entertainment.
  1. user-avatar
    Abby kahn
    Fri, 09/11/2015 - 06:27
    Abby kahn
    i liked the trailer because I love suspense in trailers. I think that it's interesting to see the hard choices that soldiers have to make. what you said about how this movie making the U.S. view its history differently is good in my opinion. I think that we always talk about horrible things other countries did (like the holocaust) but we don't really discuss the things we have done, like the interment of Japanese-Americans in ww2.
  1. user-avatar
    Jamie
    Fri, 11/20/2015 - 02:38
    Jamie
    I think this is harmful because they claim this was a true story however, there are many fabricated parts to the movie that just makes it another Hollywood film for entertainment.
  1. user-avatar
    Kristin
    Sun, 11/22/2015 - 05:50
    Kristin
    I watched this movie with my husband, who is a veteran of the Iraq war. From my perspective, it captured the reality of what being home during a deployment, or being home after a deployment is like for military families. The glorification of killing, however, is deeply troubling. The fact that I was so moved by this movie, and then hearing other people's perspectives, it really concerned me. There is a storyline in which Chris Kyle is essentially hunting another sniper. I saw this other sniper as a mirror image of him, but others only saw the other sniper only as an enemy. At that point, I felt like the movie was more about getting Americans to support war and not consider the circumstances of those in countries different from ours.
  1. user-avatar
    Zachary J. Davis
    Sun, 11/22/2015 - 07:23
    Zachary J. Davis
    As a student who studies education entertainment, I have noticed that trailers for shows are meant to invite a strong sense of emotion in order to connect views to the full feature. This particular example strikes on anxiety and fear. However, because of these types of films, I feel we have become desensitized. In addition, it makes a villain of a woman and a child.
  1. user-avatar
    Justin Reilly
    Sun, 11/22/2015 - 10:18
    Justin Reilly
    I think this film blurs the line between telling Chris Kyle's story and glorifying Chris Kyle's story. It's certainly a delicate subject.
  1. user-avatar
    Calab
    Fri, 12/11/2015 - 20:06
    Calab
    Very impactful using the child to oppose harm to our armed forces
  1. user-avatar
    Allie
    Fri, 12/11/2015 - 20:08
    Allie
    I don't think this is harmful. If people don't like us being proud of our troops than they can not watch the movie
  1. user-avatar
    tyler
    Fri, 05/13/2016 - 19:53
    tyler
    i believe this is a great example to show what the troops go through
  1. user-avatar
    RajahCheese
    Sat, 11/11/2017 - 01:54
    RajahCheese
    Normalizing war has never been beneficial to society.

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