American Sniper as 'war porn', glorifying war in film

In the movie American Sniper, Bradley Cooper starts as Chris Kyle, who was, in real life, the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history.

American Sniper is now the most successful war movie in U.S. history. As of last week, it had grossed more than $400-million-U.S dollars worldwide.

But Peter Van Buren thinks the movie has another function too. He is a former member of the U.S. State Department who spent time overseeing reconstruction efforts in Iraq  and he thinks American Sniper is a powerful piece of propaganda capable of swaying public opinion and helping to recruit soldiers. Peter Van Buren was in New York City. 

Of course American Sniper is open to interpretation and opinions about the movie.

So for their thoughts on American Sniper and the influence war movies have on the world, we were joined by three people:

Glen Kirkland served nine years in the Canadian Armed forces until he was severely wounded in a rocket attack in Afghanistan in 2008.

Sebastian Junger is a journalist and filmmaker. Along with the late Tim Hetherington, he made the documentary film Restrepo, about a US brigade in the Korengal Valley, one of the most dangerous places during the war in Afghanistan.

Sunil Ram teaches at the American Military University. He was also a member of the Canadian Forces and served as a military advisor to the Saudi royal family. 

Have thoughts you want to share on the glorification of war in films? Add your voice to this discussion.

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This segment was produced by The Current's Marc Apollonio.