Widow Of ‘American Sniper’ Subject Chris Kyle Speaks About The Film’s Success
Despite the controversy of the new Clint Eastwood film American Sniper, the widow of the film’s main subject Chris Kyle has publicly stated that she’s very grateful for the incredible success of the movie. The adaptation of Chris Kyle’s memoir American Sniper grossed $90 million this past weekend alone, and has been widely praised by the critics. While some are criticizing the film for glorifying Chris Kyle, who killed 255 people during his life as a sniper, others are celebrating Bradley Cooper’s performance and Eastwood’s direction. Because of this, Chris Kyle’s widow has released a statement on her Facebook page about how much the support in memory of Kyle means to her, according to Time.
“I am overwhelmed with gratitude and my heart is full,” Taya posted on her Facebook. “American Sniper has broken records, which follows such an honest path of Chris’s life. We never expected anything and were always in a moment of stunned silence at the response from all the beautiful people in this world.”
Chris Kyle’s wife seems extremely relieved by the way the film turned out, especially after voicing her fears that American Sniper wouldn’t be “done right” and would damage her children’s perception of their dad. Taya Kyle isn’t the only family member who was concerned about how Chris Kyle would be remembered.
Before the film was released, the father of Kyle threatened Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood, claiming that he would “unleash hell” if they disrespected his son. But now that Chris Kyle has been memorialized by the film, many people are upset with the sympathetic portrayal of the man who openly admitted in his memoir that he loves the act of killing and didn’t “give a f*** about the Iraqis.” Kyle spent four tours in Iraq as a sniper and is considered the best sniper in American history. Chris Kyle was murdered by another marine named Eddie Ray Routh in 2013.
Chris Kyle’s widow seems to support the positive portrayal of the man and thanks the movie-goers and filmmakers for using American Sniper to show their support for the military.
“The only thing I can say is thank you,” Taya said on her Facebook post. “Thank you for the love and support of our military. Thank you for being willing to watch the hard stuff and thank you for hearing, seeing, experiencing the life of our military and first responders.” Taya added a message to Chris himself. “You are the man who I couldn’t have even dreamt of because you were/are better than I could have dreamed, the love of my life, my friend, partner and the man who laughed with me through the pain and found joy in the smallest and best parts of life.”
It might seem strange to some that Taya Kyle is so happy with the turn-out of the film, since it doesn’t completely gloss over Chris Kyle’s disregard for Iraqi life. However, she has spoken about the struggle of watching her husband Chris Kyle portrayed on film. She also admitted that Kyle would choose not to share the details of his violent profession with her for fear of scaring her, according to Fox News. But now, it seems, the widow is fully aware of how Chris Kyle spent his life and put his skills to use.
What do you think? Should Taya be proud of Chris Kyle, or does the film portray him too positively?
