The idea of Kyle and his life portrayed on film is simple. He was a regular cattle rustling ******* of a cowboy with some gruff to him. He never had any sort of success at alot of things. He joined the military because he figured he could make a difference and for no other reason. Not for benefits or because he couldn't get a job...like alot of military members. He answered the call because he wanted to, simple as that. He happened to excel at something very few people in the world are good at naturally. Now...the movie is designed to portray the act of killing in a very specific way...that it's a choice by both the shooter and the shot. Kyle enjoyed his job immensely, in the book he flaunted that satisfaction and who can blame him he really was an ace at what he did. But having read the book I can't say he ever flaunted the need to kill. He did however have the need to accomplish HIS mission and that had got him into trouble more than once, he was the first person to be investigated for not following ROE and that wasn't advertised either. But I digress.
Like anyone who's viewpoint spends long durations in areas like Iraq you develop an acute sense of what you think is evil and what is just, a jaded view of the world that doesn't apply to civilian life. I think this exposure drove Kyle to be a blowhard to his friends. And why not? The people around him sensationalized who he was to them. They treated him a certain way and he did not see himself that way. I know they put a bounty on his head, we heard about it all over Iraq. It was common practice, we'd find flyers with pictures of our hmmwv telling people what to look for and rewards for blowing us up. However even he admitted not many people worked with him and he didnt care for people in general. He had problems with fellow competitors in the rodeo circuit they don't mention. I also think having read the things he wrote and seen some of his videos, he might have had aspergers syndrome which would explain the tall tales and erratic behavior he had to get people to like him. The guy had a very hard time transitioning back to being a civilian and I think that more than anything is the issue at hand.
If there is anything to take from the movie and the book, it's that there is a struggle going on and I think it's widely forgotten we have more living military veterans who have seen combat in America than any other time in our history, excluding the civil war. Three generations of veterans who all had unique struggles. If anything...acknowledge that there is more to PTSD and the struggles even without it to our military veterans than most of us, myself included are really aware of. The movie made me realize I should be doing my part to help my fellow veterans.
Oh and every 29 minutes a Veteran commits suicide in this country.
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