Sykes is someplace I frequently go to on campus. Why? Maybe it’s because of the gourmet five star Ram’s Head cuisine that only someone who lived off K-Rations and MREs can appreciate. Or is it the cheaply priced coffee shop located there (not talking about you, Starbucks, considering I have a serious problem with coffee that costs more than my rifle) that serves the tasty sugary cinnamon latte drink I thoroughly enjoy?
Anyway, one day as I was on the prowl for the earlier mentioned sugary cinnamon elixir of life and I came across a movie poster of the latest film being shown in the downstairs theater. I froze as my eyes grew to about the size of a small pox vaccination.
“American Sniper.”
Instantly, my mind went back to my time in Iraq and, honestly, I had mixed feelings. Now, let me place emphasis on the fact that these are my own opinions about the place and I only reflect on my own experiences that differ from veteran to veteran. That being said, while generally the Iraqis were nice, many kept trying to kill us. I remember waking up to Iraqis trying to steal our computers and then our weapons to shoot us. Then, again during the night, we’d get mortars and rockets shot at us (thank God they were terrible at aiming those things and we didn’t lose as many people as we could’ve). Oh, there were also the IEDs (improvised explosive devices), snipers, and ambushes. We were on constant alert while we were on mission. You know, things like Route Clearance and PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Teams) to build schools, hospitals, and things of that nature.
For those of you who will try to argue against this, let me tell you that we were indeed building schools, hospitals, clinics, and a whole bunch of other things we take for granted here. Let me also tell you it sucks doing these things while trying to keep the PRTs, your buddies, and yourself alive. Did I forget to mention it was so damn hot that the sun burned your shadow into the ground? Oh yeah, the whole country smelled like one boiling, overfilled, porta potty that hadn’t been changed in years. Iraqi Soup, I called it, when that description became literal.
Well, back to “American Sniper.” As I observed the poster, these and more reasons filled my head on why I was not going to watch it. There are things I don’t want to remember. However, for these same reasons I thought this would be a great movie for the student body to see. I thought, “Well, maybe if the student body saw this movie, they would at least get a glimpse of the reality of it.”
I then abruptly forgot about the whole thing when my delicious beverage of deliciousness was ready.
The next day, I naturally found myself in the same spot waiting on another drink. Only this time something was different. Did I get a haircut? No… New shoes, maybe? Nope, not that either. Was I working out? Nah, that can’t be the case. Then I saw what was different.
“American Sniper” had been pulled.
Puzzled, I walked over to the help desk to see why. Was it too violent? Too graphic? Too “adult?”
Oh, how I wish these were the reasons. In reality, the reason the movie was pulled was because it was “racist.”
Racist. “American Sniper” is considered racist. What the hell? What’s next? Are all of the students on campus with German blood going to ban all World War II movies because most involve Germans being killed and are therefore “racist?”
What’s that, Lassie? Sykes wants to show Mel Gibson in “The Patriot?” Oh no! We don’t want to offend the English! Quick Lassie! Forget that Timmy is trapped in a well somewhere, we have a real emergency! We have to stop Mel Gibson!
I will continue this rant next week due to the brain aneurism I am about to suffer from the sheer hypocrisy. Until next time, my dear readers.
Alecc Costanzi is a fourth-year student majoring in English and minoring in creative writing. He can be reached at AC688759@wcupa.edu.