The Intelligentsia Reacts to "American Sniper"

Hollywood elites and sophisticated urban intellectuals are shocked to see the weekend box office for Clint Eastwood’s film, “American Sniper.”

Apparently, they did not notice November’s elections results.

Allow the New York Times to report the reaction.

Hollywood is prone to superlatives, but this one is truly jaw dropping: “American Sniper,” which arrived in wide release on Friday, is expected to sell about $105.2 million in tickets in North America over the four-day holiday weekend.

While America’s coastal intelligentsia busied itself with chatter over little-seen art dramas like “Boyhood” and “Birdman,” everyday Americans showed up en masse for a patriotic, pro-family picture that played more like a summer superhero blockbuster than an R-rated war drama with six Oscar nominations.

Directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper” joins another unexpected hit, Angelina Jolie’s “Unbroken,” in turning out a conservative, heartland crowd that surprised Hollywood in its size. “Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico — all absolutely massive,” said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution at Warner Bros., which released “American Sniper.”

The Times gets it right. It even gets the tone right. It notes with bemused irony that the intelligentsia is largely out of touch with America.

Even Jane Fonda, having recently realized that her trip to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War was a bad idea, has praised the film.

Expectedly, the film did not please Michael Moore. The rotund filmmaker denounced Chris Kyle as a “coward.”

The greatest shock comes from Seth Rogen. How didi it happen that Seth Rogen, an actor who is not generally known for making offensive statements, the star of the recent film “The Interview” compared the Eastwood film to Nazi propaganda?

In a tweet to his followers Rogen said:

American Sniper kind of reminds me of the movie that's showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds.

The Daily Caller reports on Rogen:

Last month comedian Seth Rogen was the cause célèbre of Hollywood when terroristic threats caused Sony Pictures to cancel the release of his latest movie “The Interview.” Americans from across the political spectrum spoke out in favor of Rogen’s right to make any movie he wanted, and when it was released online, Americans supported the movie. Many may now regret that purchase.

It continues by parsing Rogen’s tweet:

The movie to which Rogen referred is the fake “Nation’s Pride,” the Nazi propaganda movie that draws Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and other Nazi high command leaders to the theater where they are slaughtered in Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece [Inglorious Basterds].

Comparing a biographic film of an American hero who not only saved the lives of countless American soldiers but also died trying to help another to Nazi propaganda might not be the best way to sell DVD copies of “The Interview.” The release date of which Rogen told his followers is fast approaching.

One suspects that the American public will find a way to express its disapproval of Seth Rogen. One awaits his apology.