Source: The University of Michigan has cancelled an upcoming screening of the Iraq war drama “American Sniper” after hundreds of students blasted the movie’s subject matter — claiming it promotes “negative and misleading stereotypes” against Muslims and “sympathizes with a mass killer.”
The college’s Center for Campus Involvement officially slammed the brakes on the April 10 showing of the film on Tuesday after a sophomore named Lamees Mekkaoui started a petition earlier that morning when she first heard about the scheduled event.
Students will now instead be forced to watch “Paddington” — a PG-rated movie that centers around the misadventures of a stuffed bear.
Identifying herself as Arab and Middle Eastern, Mekkaoui reached out to others across the Ann Arbor campus and asked them to join her cause and ultimately help stop the screening of a film that “condones a lot of anti-Middle Eastern and North African propaganda.”
Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper” was an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture and took home the title for top grossing film of 2014. The movie is based on the autobiography of the late Chris Kyle — a US Navy Seal who served in Iraq and became the deadliest sniper in US history.
“Chris Kyle was a racist who took a disturbing stance on murdering Iraqi civilians,” Mekkaoui’s petition charged. “Middle Eastern characters in the film are not lent an ounce of humanity and watching this movie is provocative and unsafe to MENA [Middle Eastern and North Africa] and Muslim students who are too often reminded of how little the media and world values their lives. What we instead should offer is compassion and respect towards others.”
Mekkaoui’s document garnered about 300 signatures from students and quickly got the attention of the university — who apologized in a statement posted to Twitter explaining they had cancelled the screening.
“We deeply regret causing harm to members of our community, and appreciate the thoughtful feedback provided to us by students,” the release said. “Student reactions have clearly articulated that this is neither the venue nor the time to show this movie.”
One of the biggest reasons officials most likely axed Friday’s showing of “American Sniper” may have been the concerns Mekkaoui raised about the possibility of attacks against Muslim students.
“Anti-Muslim and anti-MENA hate crimes are growing increasingly common,” her petition noted. “These incidents create an unsafe space that does not allow for positive dialogue and triggers U of M students. Examples like the recent Chapel Hill shooting, which took the lives of three Arab American Muslim students…contribute to this lack of safety and space for Muslim and/or MENA students.”
“Although we respect the right to freedom of speech, we believe that with this right comes responsibility: responsibility of action, intention, and outcome.”
But not everyone had bad things to say about the controversial blockbuster being shown on campus.
University of Michigan students involved in the local chapter of the conservative organization, Young Americans for Freedom, started their own petition urging the CCI to overturn their decision and go ahead with the scheduled showing.
“The movie ‘American Sniper’ is not about a racist mass murderer or a criminal,” the document states. “It is about a decorated American war hero who served his country valiantly. If the University prevents a movie like this from being shown, it promotes intolerance and stifles dialogue and debate on the subject…As adults at a public university, we should have the option to view this movie if we so choose and have the opportunity to engage on the topics it presents to come to our own conclusions on the subjects.”
Make no mistake about it, this Lamees Mekkaoui chick SUCKS. And so does the University of Michigan for letting a few hundred out students out of almost 44,000 force them to do this. 300 students were able to change the decision by the school to show the movie. That's about .7% of the students at Michigan if my math serves me correct. Grow up Michigan. Take a stand. Don't be a bunch of pussies. American Sniper is one of the best movies I've seen in a while. There's no way it stereotypes against Muslims and Middle Eastern people. You know who Chris Kyle killed? Terrorists. People that were going to kill hundreds of innocent people had he not killed them first. To call Chris Kyle a mass killer and get a university to cancel a screening based on that is ABSURD. I hate people like this. Like hey, if you don't wanna watch the movie, then don't. Is it that fucking hard? Seems like there's about 43,700 people who would have gladly seen the movie. Why do these people have to ruin it for everybody? Just slandering an American hero into getting whatever you want. Such bullshit. And then just straight up calling Chris Kyle a racist. First time I've heard that one. Racist how? For being in the U.S. Navy? For doing his job as a sniper in the U.S. Navy? For killing TERRORISTS? Please tell me how any of that is being racist. (Islam isn't even a race by the way. It's a religion. But don't tell stupid people that or they'll lose their shit.) I'm just so sick of people trying to degrade the U.S. armed forces. The point of American Sniper was not to brag about how many people Chris Kyle killed in battle. It wasn't to show that all Muslim people are terrorists. If you get that from watching the movie, then I'll probably be seeing you in next year's Special Olympics. The actual point of American Sniper was to show how hard it is to come back home to a normal life after being overseas in battle while also commemorating an American soldier who served his country with honor. There is nothing worse (and I mean NOTHING) than one of those people who says U.S. soldiers who serve with honor aren't heroes. That's the very definition of a hero, people. And if anything, this film was to remind people of that fact. Because in this day and age depending on where you are in this country, you'll find more people calling Bowe Bergdahl a hero for deserting his platoon than people calling Chris Kyle a hero. And it's backwards and fucked up. Pretty disappointed in the University of Michigan on this one. Now a bunch of 18-22 year olds have the option to go see fucking PADDINGTON. IT'S A MOVIE ABOUT THE ADVENTURES OF A STUFFED BEAR. Talk about overcompensation. Oh a couple dick cheeses get offended by a movie about an American hero so we're gonna show a PG movie about a fucking teddy bear exploring shit instead. FOR COLLEGE KIDS (AKA adults). Might as well throw on Dora the Explorer for a couple hours in the campus theater. Figure it out people. For the love of God, figure it out.
Also, notice how much more intelligent the people in favor of showing the movie sound. Pretty much like "We're all adults here, why don't you just show the movie and if it sparks some debate on campus, then so be it. It's a discussion we should be willing to have. Don't just cancel it." Compared to "it's racist, hates Muslims, and promotes mass killing." People are sooooooooo stupid and I hate them.
UPDATE: Michigan reversed the decision. They're gonna go ahead and show it as scheduled.
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