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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUniversity of Michigan Will Show American Sniper After Protests
The University of Michigan will go forward with plans to show the movie American Sniper at a school-sponsored event on Friday, reversing a previous decision to cancel the showing after Muslim students protested that the movie was offensive.
The decision to cancel the showingwhich was part of a popular Friday night school-wide social event designed to provide students with alcohol-free activitiescame on Tuesday after sophomore Lamees Mekkaoui started a petition against showing the film that received more than 200 signatures from students including many in the Muslim Student Association, according to the Michigan Daily.
As a student who identifies as an Arab and Middle Eastern student, I feel that American Sniper condones a lot of anti-Middle Eastern and North African propaganda, Mekkaoui told the student newspaper.
full: http://time.com/3815308/american-sniper-chris-kyle-university-of-michigan/
dogman
(6,073 posts)Sports are more important than people, don't offend the coach.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)they were going to cancel over 200 signatures on a petition?
Anyone that doesn't want to watch it doesn't have to.
alp227
(32,060 posts)Great fucking movie and now I really want to kill some fucking ragheads, read one tweet, in a set of screenshots that quickly went viral after being collated by journalist Rania Khalek for the online publication Electronic Intifada. American sniper makes me wanna go shoot some fuckin Arabs, read another.
One tweet read: Nice to see a movie where the Arabs are portrayed for who they really are - vermin scum intent on destroying us. While the word vermin is not uncommon in threads about the film, that tweet was tagged not only #AmericanSniper but, mystifyingly, #DeBlasio as well.
It's fine with me either way the university wants to run its own film festival, as long as the Sniper lovers are willing to acknowledge some viewers will use this film to confirm their irrational hatred for Muslims. It's not censorship
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)and I'm not willing to judge it based on two tweets out of however many people saw it.
And had they not shown it due to the potential for someone being offended, then I would say that is censorship.
alp227
(32,060 posts)like Liberty University's demands that students not listen to "inappropriate" music. Censorship is NOT a university film festival choosing its own programming.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)I think a university that would make a programming decision for 40,000 based on the opinion of 200 would be practicing censorship.
alp227
(32,060 posts)The university film festival is NOT obligated to show anything and everything the students want. There are blu-rays, netflix, non-university theaters, etc.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,290 posts)likewise, there are plenty of places for the 200 to go and not have to see the film.
As I said, we'll just have to agree to disagree.
olddots
(10,237 posts)make believe bullshit that glorifies war even if it is anti war because a movie is make believe .