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Last week, student groups’ reactions to a film about war incited an ugly war of words on social media.
The fuse was lit April 8, when Student Entertainment Events announced it had swapped critical flop Jupiter Ascending out of its spring movie series, substituting American Sniper, the top domestic-grossing film of 2014.
This university’s Muslim Students Association created a petition against the screening of American Sniper, which, as of yesterday, had garnered about 350 signatures opposing the controversial film as promoting “a not-so-discreet Islamaphobic [sic], violent, and racist nationalist ideology.”
Open hostilities commenced Wednesday when SEE postponed the May 6-7 American Sniper screenings “after meeting with concerned student organizations,” according to a Facebook post. What followed was a storm of vitriol aimed at SEE and MSA, accusing them of quashing free speech and hating America and even telling Muslim students to leave the country. A counter-petition in support of American Sniper gained more than 1,600 signatures, and SEE announced Friday that it will show the film early in the fall semester.
SEE said in a blog post that it was considering holding “an event where students can engage in constructive and moderated dialogues about the controversial topics proposed in the film.” This editorial board supports the screening of American Sniper, and we feel that accompanying it with a constructive discussion is the best way to mitigate students’ concerns on all sides.
What we do not approve of are hateful, facile comments directed at members of our community from within and without. The social media discussion around this controversy has been defined by logical fallacies that we want disposed of in favor of a respectful, empathetic debate.
First of all: Those accusing the MSA of hating the military and even of enabling the Islamic State should be ashamed of themselves. MSA is opposing a film. Criticizing a dramatized portrayal of the military, a single soldier or even a war is not the same as disparaging the U.S. military, whose members risk and lose their lives for our nation.
MSA has been respectful. Its Facebook post thanking SEE for postponing the film implores readers to “forgive us for any intentional and unintentional offense.” While none of us are obligated to accept that apology or agree with MSA, there is a world of difference between that sentiment and the disgusting, profanity-laden screeds that now litter that and other posts on MSA’s Facebook page.
This sort of hate is why MSA was worried about American Sniper in the first place. No German students protested when SEE screened the World War II film Fury in January; that’s because no one is insulting or threatening all Germans because of Nazis’ actions. Unfortunately, Muslims in the United States don’t get the same respect. Whether or not you support American Sniper, at least acknowledge the challenges Muslim Americans face because many Americans view people of Middle Eastern descent as outsiders and don’t distinguish between terrorists and regular people.
Second: Those who are accusing MSA and SEE of censoring free speech misunderstand the concept. For its part, MSA has not censored anything. Its members have exercised their right to free speech by advocating against American Sniper, and if anyone should be accused of censorship, it’s SEE, for accommodating MSA’s demand.
Censorship occurs when authority figures remove a film, book or other work from the public sphere. But no one accused SEE of censoring American Sniper before it first decided to screen the film, and SEE is not stopping anyone from watching the film now.
Now that the film is on the table though, SEE should not back away from it, as it is widely admired and deals with important themes such as post-traumatic stress disorder. This editorial board would like to believe that students on this campus are decent enough to watch American Sniper without railing against Muslims afterward.
The best solution is for SEE to screen the film and then hold a discussion; that way, students can enjoy a popular cinematic work but also gain a better understanding of how it affects members of our community. Of course, anyone who has likened MSA to the Islamic State probably wouldn’t stick around for a discussion. But a civil face-to-face talk is a much healthier option than what we’ve seen on Facebook the past week.
