What "American Sniper" Can Teach College Students

By Christina Oehler on January 22, 2015

Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper”

I have never been to a movie in a theater where the credits begin to roll, and the audience is left completely silent until the very last member left the theater. That is, I had never experienced that until last Friday night.

Let me start out by saying Oscar-nominated “American Sniper” for best picture and actor in a leading role is worth the movie theater ticket, even if you end up in the very first row, like me. As a last-minute decision on a Friday night, my father and I decided to see if we could get tickets to the show before they were sold out. Turns out, we should have just found another time to see it, because sitting in the first row made me slightly nauseous.

Nausea and poor seating aside, “American Sniper” was easily the most influential and well-made movie I have seen in the past year. Keeping in mind all of the incredible films that came out- “Interstellar,” “Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Imitation Game,” I can still confidently say that Bradley Cooper’s incredible acting in this film made it one of the best films I have seen to date.

If you haven’t yet seen it, the story leads with a young man named Chris Kyle, played by Cooper, and his pursuit as a member of the U.S. Navy SEALs. Based on a true story, the film follows Chris Kyle’s four tours in the Middle East, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

The movie goes back and forth between the stressful moments of his deployment overseas, and the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that destroys his home life when he is back with his family.

Primarily, I was so impressed with the way the makers of this film were able to portray the extensive hardships that soldiers experience on a daily basis as members of the military. It seems as though many Americans, including myself, are blind to the amount of physical and mental pain these men and women experience, and this film truly captures their heroism in a beautiful light.

College students can learn a lot from this film. As a student of journalism, I never plan on enlisting in the military. Yet this film is a perfect reminder of why I am able to sit here, writing this review in the comfort of my bedroom, knowing that I will wake up tomorrow and the days following, knowing I won’t have to worry about foreign forces attacking my home.

I think it’s vital for young adults, especially those who are pursuing an academic degree, to see this movie, and remember why they are able to do so.

This film is also a reminder to students that there are much harder facets to life, and despite the academic challenges we face, we are able to face these challenges because of men and women overseas, taking bullets for us.

I am able to walk from class to class, knowing my family is only three hours away, and that the hardest part of my day will be studying for exams. I don’t need to think about whether or not I will see my family again, or whether I will be attacked in my sleep.

There is always someone going through something much more challenging, and this movie was a window into the world of men and women who do need to worry about these problems.

And yet, one of the most important take aways from this film is that we can recover. Despite the incredibly traumatic experiences Chris Kyle faced, which could have caused anyone a lifetime’s worth of emotional instability, Kyle was able to recover from the horrifying experiences he witnessed as a solider.

“American Sniper” isn’t a light-hearted film, but it’s one that will give anyone inspiration. Chris Kyle was an American soldier, who dedicated his life to ensuring the safety of families and students across the U.S.

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