American Sniper is the movie that tells a story about Chris Kyle, who was one of the most famous snippers of world history. It could be said that this film is a bright example of story-telling movies that discuss the war and its dramatic influence on society and the nation. Thus, it does not focus on Kyle’s story solely, and it also expresses the emotions and feelings of his wife and his brother while presenting their inner conflicts and his difficulties when making transitions from the battlefield to civilian life. It could not be considered as an outstanding war film, but it provides valuable insights for military counseling.
When watching the movie, I expected it to be more war-focused, and I was rather surprised when I was able to see the traces of psychological perspective and military counseling. This movie helped me understand that shadows of the war and actions during this period tended to haunt people. Meanwhile, with the assistance of this film, I could feel these emotions. Anger, sadness, anxiety, and insecurity accompanied me while I was watching the movie.
This array of emotions could be easily explained by the number of challenges every character had to face. Thus, eventually, I felt sorry for Kyle, since his war experience and the lack of effective psychological consoling prevented him from making a successful adjustment to civilian life. It seemed that the war became his addiction and made him sacrifice his past values.
When referring to my experience, I can state that individuals tend to face similar struggles like ones portrayed in the movie. For example, Kyle experienced a diverse range of emotions when killing enemies for the first time. Today, when having conversations with veterans, they tell similar stories while stating that these memories continue haunting them many years after the war. In turn, for Kyle, it was also difficult to focus on his real life, as he kept distracted by the memories from Iraq and made a decision to return to the battlefield since it was the only way to overcome them.
Supporting veterans did not help him, and he lost his wife and previous life entirely. His brother also had an internal conflict and lost inner peace. It could be said that these examples explain the difficulties that veterans face when returning home. Their lives are filled with war memories and surrounded by unsatisfied needs and expectations.
One of the benefits of the movie is the fact that it is able to reflect the ways the war affects the families of the soldiers. For example, his wife also had to overcome the challenges, as she was not able to understand him and questioned whether they should continue being together. I can say that this example clashes with the experiences I observed in real life. In reality, the majority of wives help their husbands recover, as family support and effective counseling are the key elements of successful adjustment. Thus, presenting the situation from this angle assisted in discovering that different cases might incur and underlined the importance of support.
In the end, this movie could not be considered as the most realistic one about the war, but it could be viewed as a bright example of the plot with an immense focus on military counseling. Thus, its drawbacks could be discovered as benefits since these images, and coping strategies could be used when working with veterans. They help project their behavior and encourage families and relatives to participate in the recovery process. Overall, I could freely say that this movie assisted me in discovering war from an entirely different angle while seeing the psychological challenges faced by veterans.