Bradley Cooper says he is surprised by 'American Sniper' controversy

AMEN Bradley....you get an AMEN.

Too often the men and women who don the uniform are overlooked. Their sacrifice for the freedom we take for granted everyday is to be commended.

The world itself is complex. Like a myriad of cogs turning we have no idea what is going on beyond our scope.

Many of us disagree with the Iraq war. We know that the war criminal George Bush was wrong in his decision. However we must continue to honor the men and women in the armed forces who continue to serve. In the hearts of each them there is a reason to continue, to press on.

When in harm's way we discover who we are. We discover if we are willing to do what we believe is impossible. To brave the fire. Truth be told most of us don't have it in us. That's not a fault by any means. It is a fact, a reality of the human complex. Therefore, we must recognize these heroes. These men of courage and fortitude.

Can"t wait to see it.

with some liberals and conservatives sparring

From what I see online, mostly liberals, with Michael Moore leading the charge.

“Any discussion that sheds light to the plight of the soldiers and the men and women in the armed services, for that discussion to occur is fantastic,” Cooper said

The most important part of that discussion would be that which sheds light to the plight of the soldiers.

How does one separate 'Politics' from a war created in Dick Cheney's head, supported by fabrications solely for the purpose of making 'Political' friends Billions and achieving no demonstrable benefit?

Mr. Cooper is quite right: "he did not foresee how the Iraq war biopic could become a charged political conversation". How could he?

That's what Bush and Cheney said for eight years; "how can anyone think our occupation is about politics, it's about oil," how dumb can these Americans be?

How a war prosecuted from the lies of Bush/Cheney could ever be imagined as a political creation is beyond anyone's understanding. That's why Iraq was such a marvelous success the GOP-Tea cannot stand to have mentioned in any context, the war had nothing to do with politics! The war stopped imaginary WMDs and made billions for Cheney and Bush friends in no bid contracts and private security firms with a band wagon of supply contractors with no answerability.

“Any discussion that sheds light to the plight of the soldiers and the men and women in the armed services, for that discussion to occur is fantastic,” Cooper said and everyone agrees, now some want to dictate what about that plight should be discussed and that's not political.

Cutting through the crap, Eastwood made a movie about a man with a large weapon who killed lots of baddies with it. Lots of people get off on that kind of thing. The title 'American Sniper' alone will set off fantasies. Eastwood knows what sells.

Cutting through the crap..." as you say, your "insight" is about as informed as a Bart Simpson book report! "Ah, American Sniper. OK...it's about....an American!....who's a Sniper! Yeah, that's it...And...uh...profits?"

"How does one separate 'Politics' from a war created in Dick Cheney's head, supported by fabrications solely for the purpose of making 'Political' friends Billions and achieving no demonstrable benefit?" "...how dumb can these Americans be?"

See? This is what I'm talking about. Usually when people parrot the same sophomoric talking points they've been taught by their favorite media outlet for...what? Going on more than a decade now? And without adding one single new point to the discussion, notice...this is usually a sign that the critic is not actually talking about a movie anymore. In fact, instead of having the movie actually inform any of their rather tired "logic," I would bet that their diatribes would be the exact same with or without it!

Usually those who attack this movie sound like they haven't actually watched more than the trailer, and aren't really interested that much in analyzing the movie; aren't interested in the actual facts surrounding this particular soldier's biography, and in reality have much, much bigger fish to fry. No, the movie becomes a convenient vehicle used to interject yet more of the same rehashed political points about Bush, or Cheney, or oil, the "hyper-power" America, its supposed "gun-culture," or "America's obsession" with violence, or...well, you get the "picture." ha-ha!

In short, surprise, surprise (or not): it's yet more of the same old, same old...

'its supposed "gun-culture," or "America's obsession" with violence'

Why are you using 'supposed' here? America has a gun culture. Hollywood churns out endless, gun-toting violent movies. This is a Hollywood movie - it's in the business of making money. 'Analysing' Hollywood movies? We are talking about a trash right-wing geriatric director here. The title is 'American Sniper' - patriotism, war and guns ( very big, long, powerful ones ) all warming the loins in two words. I'd have called it 'Christian American Sniper' to throw Jesus in there and send the rightwingers into absolute delirium.

“You never know when you make a movie if anybody’s going to see it, so to have the audacity to think that it would cause any sort of effect at all would be pretty presumptuous"

Yeah sure buddy

@Jimizo: you just proved my point, buddy! You're phoning it in! You're more interested in proving your talking points (about Jesus now, it appears) than you are about actually analyzing the film itself! Seriously, have you even seen the film? I only ask since you're "analysis" is about as predictable as a sunrise and as deep as a puddle in the desert.

I could go on about how FILMMAKERS and not just those of the American persuasion like to make violent, war films about men with guns, or how they happen to actually do quite well not just in America, but in the UK, Australia and all around the world, but you're not really interested in broadening the discussion all that much, are you?

No, you are much more interested in making commentary about the American culture you so obviously despise than you are about talking about this MOVIE. Why, you could've brought up things like:

-Tying 9/11 in with the Iraq War -The multicultural, multinational composition of the troops in modern Special Forces units -Relations between soldiers and their families -Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the shift between combat and the home front -How Islamists use women and children as human shields and as willing combatants in the war zone -Even the obviously fake robot baby used in the film!

All of which would actually tie in to the movie under discussion. But then that would require you straying from your sophomoric talking points about "big long guns" (what next, let me guess, electric guitars being phallic symbols?) and "trash right-wing geriatric directors."

Clearly, you have issues larger than this particular movie, that's for sure. Good luck with them...meanwhile, the rest of the world moves on...until you find something new about America to criticize, that is!

Chris Kyle was a liar and a sociopath.

Oscar-winning Eastwood, who is a staunch supporter of veterans, has said “American Sniper” has nothing to do with party politics.

Eastwood says that, but it's not his ox being gored, witness the squealing from said ox owners.

I think American politicians such as Bush and Cheney have usurped the concept of respecting military men and women.

It suits their purposes very well.

Any attack on the ridiculous and criminal Bush wars must be tempered by the requirement to "respect" military service.

We even have to be careful about criticizing the way the war is conducted on the ground for fear of criticizing the soldiers themselves.

The fact is that American armed forces have participated in criminal reckless wars, instigated under false pretenses, and have died pitiful painful deaths... all designed to make political and industrial leaders rich.

And those same armed forces killed many many innocent people. I am sure this sniper killed at least several innocent people too.

People should focus on veterans yes. But as a veteran I'll also say the rhetoric or way Muslims are portrayed in the film isn't good. Not all people in a wartime are bad. Just saying

"so to have the audacity to think that it would cause any sort of effect at all would be pretty presumptuous"

Not really... and not at all when you're dealing with controversial topics, like the war in Iraq is and what it does to the men and women on either side (and those who have to deal with them after).

I haven't seen it, and as I have said I think calling snipers 'cowards' because you don't believe in the Iraq or Afghanistan wars or war in general is misdirected and going too far, but I think if you are surprised by the kind of response generated by something you do or say, you didn't think very carefully before doing or saying it. If you DID think carefully and realized there would be criticism and shock, as well as praise, and do it anyway that's a different story.

“Any discussion that sheds light to the plight of the soldiers and the men and women in the armed services, for that discussion to occur is fantastic,”

A rather feeble attempt at defending oneself, else why is he 'surprised by the controversy'? And how about the plight of the innocents killed by those soldiers? Maybe it shows that in the movie... but I doubt it touches on it in any relevant aspect.

Forgetting about whether Chris Kyle was a psyco-killer, or hero, for a moment.

One of the main problems with the movie is that it shows the Iraq war from the perspective of the soldiers, and not the Iraqis -- who have lost and suffered far more than our troops.

That is the real issue. Veterans ought to be respected, and their plight highlighted. But at the end of the day, they get to go home to the stable, wealthy USA. The Iraqi civilian is stuck in their living hell for the rest of their lives. This is something we in the West/Japan can take for granted, but the real tragedy is not Chris Kyle -- its the children who are forced into poverty, who have lost their families, and who end up as suicide bombers.

How about, American Christian Male Dead Sniper ?

And as we are talking movies here, as a counter reference I would suggest watching Stanley Krubrik's, "Full Metal Jacket".

When the sniper is a young female North Vietnamese regular, why isn't she a hero?

Can't wait to see the movie and see what all the fuss is about. Basically is sounds like a movie about a hard job I wouldn't want to do.

Obviously Mr. Cooper hasn't any interest in the facts of BushWars, why should his audience?

This is a private picture made for those incurious ghouls, like Mr. Cooper, who don't care to see past the bottom line. Mr. Cooper is just parroting the GOP-Tea party line. It’s only a movie, it’s only a movie . . . USA, USA, USA.

Worst, ‘Sniper’ shows clearly the ideology of those cannot be bothered to care about the consequences of their actions, they're too busy counting money, the party of personal responsibility.

Some have scolded comments that point up the obvious failings and fallacies of ‘Sniper’. They are Mr. Eastwood’s and Mr. Cooper’s fan base. Their tiny plea is that America must stop talking about this, it’s so uninteresting and so played, just move on.

Some guys got rich on lies that cost 100,000 (under count) lives, big deal, move on. Don't bother these wise and intelligent few with details. They want their blood money pure and unsullied with facts.

I am a Vietnam Vet with as much scorn as I can muster for the American Coward, and the cowardly politicians who screamed "Bring 'em on!" from their Undisclosed Locations.

It is time for prosecutions of all who supported and ordered these Bush mass killings.

JWithersFEB. 04, 2015 - 09:01AM JST Too often the men and women who don the uniform are overlooked. Their sacrifice for the freedom we take for granted everyday is to be commended.

Just a point of order, at no time between September 11 of 2001 and today has America's freedom in any way been threatened by any nation or (snort) group of individual. In fact, at no time in U.S. since 1812 has America's freedom ever been tested.

Chris Kyle was part of an unnecessary, immoral and costly invasion of a nation that was no threat to even it's neighbors let alone the U.S. Like it or not, the only "patriots" involved in the Iraq war were those of the Iraqi army fighting the U.S. invasion.

Thank You US commentators, you confirmed out opinion about you and your country...

Jeff Huffman, do you actually believe that americans in general and a profeesional mass murderer in particular are interest in facts?

Bradley Cooper can be forgiven, he is an actor doing a job to make a living. He is not supposed to think....

"Cooper, who is also a producer on the film, said he wants the spotlight to be on soldiers." . . . not on those who sent them and made a dandy profit. Goodwill Hunting Mr. Cooper Is Not.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Eastwood chose to insert his own brand of proselytizing into the film. It could have been made as a straight war movie, rather than as a propaganda vehicle. Mr. Eastwood's hatred and cynicism, needlessly inserted into the film, detract from an otherwise very interesting story.

I am a Vietnam Vet with as much scorn as I can muster for the American Coward, and the cowardly politicians who screamed "Bring 'em on!" from their Undisclosed Locations.

It is time for prosecutions of all who supported and ordered these Bush mass killings."

Best comment Ive read so far in JT, you sir are awake

One of the main problems with the movie is that it shows the Iraq war from the perspective of the soldiers, and not the Iraqis -- who have lost and suffered far more than our troops.

Well maybe the Iraqi's can do a movie about how terrible it was for the American's to try and stop the Islamists from trying to cut the heads off of those Iraqi's who were deemed insufficiently Muslim.

Wolfback...

No one was cutting off heads there, BEFORE the USA bright "freedom and democracy" . Iraq was many things, a failed state it certainly was not, NOW it is.

Come to think of it.... There were "Islamists ... cutting the heads off of those Iraqi's who were deemed insufficiently Muslim", they are called Saudi Arabians and are YOUR allies. You "brave and free soldiers" did not go there and stop them, quite the opposite. You and and your government supported these people and armed them to prevent uprisings against the criminal rulers there, because these rulers did not interfere with their profits of your oil companies...

Mr. Cooper and Mr. Eastwood are happy to create a "uncontroversial" picture featuring a sniper in the midst of Iraq that Warner Brothers hoped would create important dialogue. Part of that dialogue, and the story of Veterans, (if that is Eastwood and Cooper's topic) must include Pat Tillman and his brother Kevin Tillman.

Cpl. Pat Tillman's sacrifice is far more dramatic and the true story of a real hero betrayed for deception. Contrasting the portrait of Eastwood's 'Sniper' with the facts about Cpl. Pat Tillman reveals a sobering and devastating impression.

The reader is asked to consider The Telegraph, UK review in October of 2010 found on the internet.

"The saga has now been told in an extraordinary new documentary, The Tillman Story. The fruit of three years’ work by the producer John Battsek and the director Amir Bar-Lev, the film examines how the US army attempted to cover up the fact that Tillman died from so-called 'friendly fire’ and, in the words of one former soldier, 'pin a recruiting poster on his coffin’, and his family’s struggle to find out the truth."

reference: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/8046658/Betrayal-of-an-all-American-hero.html

The Veteran, American Citizen and The US Congress should see 'The Tillman Story' and test the message of 'Sniper' in the crucible of truth and fiction. Those who take the time to read The Telegraph review will find their own beliefs tested. Did Eastwood and Cooper think Tillman's story might be too controversial for their purposes?

The Telegraph relates: "Returning home after his first tour of duty, Tillman told his mother that the war was 'pretty much bullshit’." Maybe that is the story Cooper and Eastwood are telling and The Academy will recognize them for.

@volband

No one was cutting off heads there, BEFORE the USA bright "freedom and democracy" . Iraq was many things, a failed state it certainly was not, NOW it is.

Oh really? Are you going to pretend that Saddam Hussein wasn't gassing his own citizens by the thousands and oppressing the Iraqi people? Was he not executing political opponents and members of the Sunni majority by beheading them, summary executions, hangings, and other heinous human rights offenses? Iraq was not a failed state when Obama took office but it may be heading in that direction now. Regardless of what the US did in Iraq, the country was not a democracy before now. Hopefully Obama will not blow it. Chris Kyle and military members of a large military coalition helped to prevent Iraq from becoming a failed state. You are willfully ignoring reality.

If you want a failed state after a US intervention, a better example would be Libya. Or perhaps Yemen.

"Iraq was not a failed state when Obama took office but it may be heading in that direction now." - comments

Many see how these comments are integral to Mr. Cooper's surprise at controversy over his picture 'Sniper'.

Mr. Cooper, for some apparently, has made a motion picture that delineates President Obama's role in Bush's War of Choice.

These comments are free to detail gassing without factual support. Others, not so much, and are appropriately removed.

Please note however: If "Bradley Cooper says he is surprised by 'American Sniper' controversy" is the topic,

How should it be gassing anyone is either allowed or redacted in existing comments?

This is purely an academic observation and requires neither posting nor responses: with complete respect to Japan Today's standards.

However, comments detailing gassing and the source of Saddam Hussein's gassing are equally not related to Mr. Cooper's "surprise" story and are clearly unrelated to the article. Some are removed, others retained. Bloody comments, always a nuisance. Cheers!

WolfpackFEB. 06, 2015 - 04:01AM JST Well maybe the Iraqi's can do a movie about how terrible it was for the American's to try and stop the Islamists from trying to cut the heads off of those Iraqi's who were deemed insufficiently Muslim.

Nice straw man there. That is something that is strictly intramural and began ten years after the U.S. invaded Iraq for no reason and tore the country apart. By removing the center, regardless of how morally rotten it was, the U.S. completely destabilized an artificial nation created by the U.K. in the wake of WWII.