American Sniper, A Film Analysis

In order to establish a well-formed identity, comparisons are made by one group to another to determine what is similar, what is different, what is better, and what is worse about the nonself organization. These judgements can eventually become generalizations about all members of the other group that can describe how they look, how they act, and how they think. These generalizations reduce complicated populations into simple caricatures fabricated by outsiders’ perceptions, creating a concept of “the Other.” (website) The resulting perversion represents unfamiliar and often fear-inducing cultural differences in the foreign peoples.
Throughout history, Western and Eastern peoples have constructed very different nations from very different histories. Following the discovery of the Americas in the late fifteenth century, European countries experienced incredible economic growth and expansion, thus spurring feelings of nationalism and pride in their own culture. Western nations in Europe and the United States became known as world powers through this new growth and success, and therefore needed a group to compare themselves with to fortify a new sense of self. Consequently, “The Orient” became “the Other” for …show more content…
The characters frequently use “savages” to describe the indigenous peoples as they invade, consequently reinforcing the belief that the West, the inherently superior population and epitome of civilization, must intervene in order to quell violence perpetrated by Middle Eastern extremists. The seemingly patriotic themes of the movie additionally strengthen orientalist constructs of Eastern peoples. As a result, American Sniper has reinforced the dangerous stereotypes that are the foundation of Western views of the Middle