Sociological Analysis Of American Sniper
American Sniper: America’s Most Deadliest and Ethnocentric Sniper
“American Sniper” (directed by Clint Eastwood) is a film autobiography about Chris Kyle (played by Bradley Cooper), the deadliest sniper in American history. Several characters are introduced such as Chris’s wife, Taya Renae Kyle (played by Sienna Miller), his brother Colton Kyle (played by Max Charles), his comrade Marc Lee (played by Luke Grimes) and many more, The film exhibits many anthropological, psychological and sociological theories such as Cultural relativism, postmodernism, behaviourism, and even conflict theory.
The Anthropological Perspective: Cultural Relativism and Postmodernism
In Franz Boas’s idea of cultural relativism, it states that “an anthropologist cannot …show more content…
As we watch Chris Kyle experience the traumatic and scarring moments during his four tours at Iraq as a sniper, we get to see his psychological behaviour change over time. On his first tour, Chris faces a disturbing situation where he has to shoot down a young Iraqi boy and his mother because they were going to throw a grenade at his peers. After, Chris displays an unconditioned response of terror and trauma; reactions that many sane individuals will show in this kind of situation. However, as he goes on his next tours, he continues to face similar situations where he has to shoot someone dead. Eventually, he becomes conditioned to the killing and begins to feel no emotion after killing someone with his sniper, which shows that Chris Kyle eventually becomes conditioned to kill without emotion. Another example of his is when Chris reacts aggressively towards the dog that appears to be “pinning” down his child or when he becomes agitated when the sound of a lawnmower is heard. Through his days in the battlefield. Chris has developed a conditioned response to act alarmed and on his feet at the sound of a sudden noise or aggressive action, with gunshots and death of comrades as the unconditioned stimulus. An example of a conditioned stimulus is then shown with the Butcher’s drill, paired up with a unconditioned stimulus (the child’s screams) which gives Kyle a conditioned response of distress to the sound of a drill being used at an auto shop. His wife, Taya Kyle also begins to notice how war is changing him, and constantly begged him to stay at home. When Taya gives birth to their first child, Taya pressures Chris into checking his blood pressure by the doctor. It was revealed that Chris Kyle’s blood pressure after two tours rose up to 110/20, which shows that he has become very paranoid. In other words, there are many moments in American Sniper where Chris
“American Sniper” (directed by Clint Eastwood) is a film autobiography about Chris Kyle (played by Bradley Cooper), the deadliest sniper in American history. Several characters are introduced such as Chris’s wife, Taya Renae Kyle (played by Sienna Miller), his brother Colton Kyle (played by Max Charles), his comrade Marc Lee (played by Luke Grimes) and many more, The film exhibits many anthropological, psychological and sociological theories such as Cultural relativism, postmodernism, behaviourism, and even conflict theory.
The Anthropological Perspective: Cultural Relativism and Postmodernism
In Franz Boas’s idea of cultural relativism, it states that “an anthropologist cannot …show more content…
As we watch Chris Kyle experience the traumatic and scarring moments during his four tours at Iraq as a sniper, we get to see his psychological behaviour change over time. On his first tour, Chris faces a disturbing situation where he has to shoot down a young Iraqi boy and his mother because they were going to throw a grenade at his peers. After, Chris displays an unconditioned response of terror and trauma; reactions that many sane individuals will show in this kind of situation. However, as he goes on his next tours, he continues to face similar situations where he has to shoot someone dead. Eventually, he becomes conditioned to the killing and begins to feel no emotion after killing someone with his sniper, which shows that Chris Kyle eventually becomes conditioned to kill without emotion. Another example of his is when Chris reacts aggressively towards the dog that appears to be “pinning” down his child or when he becomes agitated when the sound of a lawnmower is heard. Through his days in the battlefield. Chris has developed a conditioned response to act alarmed and on his feet at the sound of a sudden noise or aggressive action, with gunshots and death of comrades as the unconditioned stimulus. An example of a conditioned stimulus is then shown with the Butcher’s drill, paired up with a unconditioned stimulus (the child’s screams) which gives Kyle a conditioned response of distress to the sound of a drill being used at an auto shop. His wife, Taya Kyle also begins to notice how war is changing him, and constantly begged him to stay at home. When Taya gives birth to their first child, Taya pressures Chris into checking his blood pressure by the doctor. It was revealed that Chris Kyle’s blood pressure after two tours rose up to 110/20, which shows that he has become very paranoid. In other words, there are many moments in American Sniper where Chris