Chris Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper, is known as the deadliest sniper in American military history, and is considered by many as a hero who saved multiple lives during the war in Iraq. American Sniper tells the story of this man who during ten years sacrificed his family life and mental health to serve his country.
American Sniper, directed by Clint Eastwood and led by a talented cast, is visually beautiful. However, the film is pure American propaganda justifying and glorifying the war in Iraq. By uncritically conveying the version of Chris Kyle, Clint Eastwood offers a biased, and almost partisan, view of the Iraq war. This directorial orientation is completely IRRESPONSIBLE, especially in the current geopolitical context. It is also intellectually dishonest to present Iraq war as a morally and legally justifiable conflict, when it is now common knowledge that this war was completely illegitimate. More importantly, the way Iraqis are portrayed in American Sniper is more than shocking. None of the Iraqi adults in the film is positively represented. They are all stereotypically depicted as either barbaric terrorists, or untrustworthy savages. In contrast, American soldiers are represented as heroes acting in a civilised way, even during war. This binary view can be seen in the scene where American soldiers discover the mutilated bodies and heads of other military men. Showing this moment would have been fine if the abuses committed by Americans had also been mentioned in the film. But as Clint Eastwood chooses to ignore this aspect of the war, it shamefully and wrongly suggests that Arabs are the only ones acting in a barbaric way with the enemy. This is revolting to see that the Middle East and its inhabitants remain, in 2015, represented in an orientalist way.
To be clear, criticism here is not oriented towards Kyle’s actions, although, his decisions and beliefs are questionable and debatable. Instead, the critique focuses on the way Iraq war and Iraqis are depicted in the film as orientalist prejudices legitimise intolerant ideologies. Indeed, by negatively representing Iraqis, American Sniper promotes worldviews which encourage the hatred of Arabs and Muslims. This is the last thing we need right now. Therefore, as Clint Eastwood has not done an honest job, it is crucial that viewers go watch this film with a critical mind. It is our responsibility, whilst watching this piece of propaganda, to remember the lies linked to the Iraq war, the Iraqis who got tortured by American soldiers and all the innocent civilians who were killed by the American army.
In brief, American Sniper is a disappointing film distorting reality by grossly simplifying a conflict which was way more complex.
Not just a film 
I think saying the film is propaganda goes a little bit too far. I simply think the film presented the world through Chris Kyle’s eyes, for better or for worse. He didn’t really question the motives behind the war – and neither did much of America, for that matter – so the film chooses not to either. By virtue of him being the protagonist, it is easy to assume that the audience should automatically sympathize with him and adopt his views, yet I don’t think Eastwood really went for something that facile.