Even as a liberal pinko commie, I’m incredibly annoyed with how certain celebrities and politicians are using Clint Eastwood’s movie, American Sniper, and its subject, Chris Kyle, as a kind of political football to serve their own interests. I hate that Sarah Palin is using Chris Kyle to trash some of the very people responsible for making the movie. I think what Michael Moore said about Chris Kyle was idiotic. I hate that a country singer, Craig Morgan, is attacking Seth Rogen for comments that Rogen made about the FILM and not Chris Kyle.
It’s OK to criticize the film. It’s OK to have questions about the role that Chris Kyle played in the war. It’s definitely OK to make fun of the fake baby. But I don’t think it’s OK to judge Chris Kyle, the man, based on a performance by an actor in a movie that’s embellished reality.
You want to judge Chris Kyle? Judge him based upon the interview he did with Conan O’Brien, posted to YouTube on February 2, 2012, EXACTLY one year before he died. You get a really good sense of who the guy was: decent, respectful, funny, and incredibly Texan. I’m with Conan here: I’m amazed with some of the things that Chris Kyle has accomplished, even if I may have some concerns with the policies that pushed him into a position to accomplish those things. (Mostly, though, I just really think that — as good as Bradley Cooper was in the role — that Chris Pratt has a much better likeness.)
Ultimately, what I’m saying is this: For a few minutes, forget what you’ve read, forget about the movie, and forget about what celebrities and politicians are saying about Chris Kyle. Just watch the man himself give a pretty terrific interview on Conan.